4 Tips For Implementing Change In Your Business

The process of evolving your business and optimizing how it operates involves more than just knowing what you want to change. The methods you implement to bring about those changes will greatly impact your chances of success.

I’ve sat through and led my fair share of strategic planning sessions and rallied to follow-through afterward. There’s nothing more discouraging than spending all that time brainstorming, dreaming, and getting excited only to have efforts and motivation fade after a few months. These results are typical when leaders fail to employ a systematic approach to their efforts.

Below are a few tips to keep in mind when implementing new strategies to help your business evolve. They’re based on some of the more common mistakes I’ve seen organizations, and their leaders, make.

Identify Clear Goals

Clear goals don’t leave much room for interpretation. I appreciate the simplicity of SMART goals, those that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Articulating a goal using these five elements creates a common understanding of the work to be accomplished, defines how success is measured, and sets guardrails around when an outcome should be achieved. Additionally, the ‘relevant’ component ensures the goal is serving a true purpose that aligns with broader company goals.

Goals should be formally documented in a location easily accessible by all, and progress towards achieving them should be revisited frequently throughout the year.

Know Your True Starting Point

Before launching any new initiatives, be sure to take inventory of your company’s current ability to achieve new goals you’ve set. If you don’t have the right resources, talent, and processes in place, acquiring them will be the true starting point in your plans. This article discusses the importance of including this critical step in the change process. 

I recommend performing a gap analysis to find the delta between your goal and your company’s current ability to achieve it. Involving employees who will be doing the actual work in this process is a great strategy for reducing resistance to change. Doing so provides them a voice in the work they will be asked to do later on. Additionally, this group can provide ground-level insight to how work actually gets done, which may uncover assumptions made by business leaders higher up the chain.

Know It’s All Connected

Implementing something new in one part of your business will likely impact other parts too. Businesses with highly siloed teams (those who tend to work in isolation from, rather than in tandem with, other teams) really struggle with this concept.

Take steps to understand the systemic impact of the improvements you want to make. Do this by involving individuals from all departments in the early planning stages. Not only will it keep all relevant stakeholders informed, but it also helps identify each group’s requirements needed to achieve the goal you’ve set. Identifying and understanding these needs gives you a chance to address them in your planning. The benefit is a reduction in the number of unplanned surprises later on down the road.

Document Your Plan of Attack 

A well-articulated project management plan is easily accessible to all involved and helps:

• Break large complex ideas into smaller actionable tasks
• Adds a level of accountability by identifying who’s doing what and by when 
• Sets timeframes for project and sub-task completion
• Everyone track progress over time

If you’re unfamiliar with formal project management strategies, you may want to explore offerings from the Project Management Institute and resources on their associated site projectmanagement.com. They offer great templates to help get you started, though membership is required.