Managing Change
Managers are, first and foremost, employed to be leaders. It is squarely on their shoulders to provide leadership in respect of any change initiative and therefore motivate the people who implement the change. Executives must have confidence in its line management to do the job and they in turn must know they will be backed all the way, no matter how ever rough the going. There can be no compromise!
Successful management of change requires agility, confidence and determination that necessitate having to take decisions which can sometimes be difficult and contentious. Doubters (there will be many) will lose no time in pointing out that the adoption of such a style will cause management to be highly unpopular and inevitably lead to hostile reactions and deep seated resentment rather than cooperation. Decisions should never be mistaken for action. It is one thing to move from an indecisive approach to a proactive approach, quite another to translate decisions into action and tangible outcomes. It is all too common to find situations where there is too much procrastination and not enough action. Only action changes things for the better and achieves results.
The difference between good management and bad management is profound. Bad managers will delay or tinker with a decision over a long period, allowing or rather abetting the incumbent managers to under-perform. Good managers will quickly assess a decision and then take firm action to implement.
The strength of a company lies in the quality of its management. Managers must be effective at every level throughout the company in order to perform well. Designing cost effective winning products is simply not enough in today's highly competitive world. Unless the company builds quality products that differentiate them from the competition together with first class ‘after sales’ support and ‘customer service’, they will quickly fail to be competitive and likely lose customer respect.
Every manager must be aware of their responsibilities in delivering change. In turn it is incumbent on managers to ensure their charges know exactly where they stand in delivering change. Accountability and responsibility are paramount as without, nothing will ever get delivered on time and within budget. No one has an inherent right to manage anybody else unless they earn their place by contributing to the objectives of the company. People are not in business to fill a gap in an organisation structure, they are there to achieve business results.
Management must win the hearts and minds of the company’s employees so that everyone is pointing in the right direction in order that change is successfully delivered. It is no use managers looking at each other wondering who will take the lead, or worse still assume it is someone else’s responsibility and do nothing. Everyone must share the ‘imperative of change’ if a company is to be competitive and successful, and managers should spare no effort in communicating that message and leading by example!