The key to fine-tuning your organisation is to follow a well-thought-out business plan or a Business Change Programme.
There are six reasons for any business to change:
- To improve efficiency
- To achieve more with less money
- To enhance the reputation of the organisation
- To improve the quality of goods and services
- To improve the morale of the organisation
- To improve customer satisfaction
During difficult economic times it is inevitable that businesses find it more difficult to make a profit and deal with the disruption caused by politics. Successful organisations who learn to be very pragmatic about changing do not become wedded to ways of working.
Just because you change now does not mean that your previous methods were wrong. It might just mean that you are reacting to different circumstances.
Management practices that work well in one phase may bring on a crisis in another.
Greiner, L. (1998) Evolution and Revolution as Organizations Grow. Harvard Business Review.
The golden rule of change is:
Never change for the sake of it. Only change the strong operational benefits.
The benefits of change
- An improvement in the quality of the goods or services provided by the organisation – all organisations have scope to improve their quality.
- An increase in efficiency and productivity – it is always possible to find better ways of achieving the same result.
- An increase in the range of goods or services provided – there is always a decision to be made about whether there is a case for diversification or concentrating on core services.
How to devise a business change programme
Continuous improvement programs are not “one size fits all”. It is important to take account of your Organisation’s status in relation to the environment in which you now find yourself. There will be periods of “evolution” (where you make a number of small changes that have a beneficial cumulative effect) and periods of “revolution” (where you carry out a major overhaul of some of your systems).
A successful continuous improvement programme often has an element of both. Successful organisations constantly focus on their customers, looking for ways to improve things. They do not look outwards in the hope that the world will change to suit them.
It is often said that “70% of change programme do not work”. However, make no mistake – change programmes can deliver extraordinary results – and all super-successful companies have a programme for continual change.
If you’re interested in learning more about your business and are interested in change management, please get in contact with us today!