8 Benefits of Change Management

The benefits of change management are associated with how you manage change. So to answer this question you need to make some assumptions about how you manage change. For there to be benefits you have got to manage change well! So the assumptions we have made are based on articles we have written about change.

Firstly in define change management we stressed that change should be viewed as combining:

Context - the environment in which change is taking place

Content - what the change actually is

Process - the activities and approaches being applied to manage change relevant to the context and content

People - their view on change, their ideas and commitment

Purpose - clear reason of why the change is taking place to help realise the benefits of change management

If you define change this way then the potential benefits of change management increase.

Secondly, in a definition of change management we argued that change should be more than following a process and implementing steps, it should be guided by principles which help to shape the changes you wish to make. We proposed 4 principles to help shape change:

The principle of care: "First, do no harm"

The principle of the golden rule: "Do as you would be done by"

The principle of admitting you don't know: "I don't know and don't think that I do."

The principle of insufficient mandate: "those unable to change themselves cannot change those around them."

Thirdly, in a change management model a strength based approach to change, we looked at appreciative inquiry as a positive approach to change management.

In doing so we argued that much of the change in our organisations would benefit greatly from starting from a strength-based position, rather than a deficit mind set of focusing on what is wrong.

Building from the strength of what is currently done well in the organisation is both a positive way forward and is far more likely to engage staff to help shape the changes.

8 Benefits

These three articles form a basis for the assumptions we have made about what is change management. With that in mind the benefits of change management when the approaches we have discussed are applied are:

Managing change puts you in a position of being ready for change.

Developing an understanding of the kind of change required: understanding that different characteristics of change need different approaches.

Implementing a process to navigate the change required

Gaining clarity about what is being achieved - why we are changing

Building commitment to work together to bring people with you

Appreciating the best of the way things are done now so that the future is built on current strengths in the organization

Shaping change through principles which establish how you manage change: the principles upon which you shape change.

Delivering change that makes improvements

Take some time to think about what you see as the benefits of change management. What are the benefits of the approach you intend to take to manage change?



If you want to read more about change management, see our article that looks at some of the ideas behind a Theory of Change Management. We have also explored more closely the nature of change in "What is Change Management".

Go to Site Map from what are the benefits of change management

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