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Change Vs. Change Management

‘Change is the only constant in life’, and the same also holds true from a business perspective. While it is vital to implement changes in your organisation, it is even more significant to undertake change management to manage those changes efficiently in order to survive the current competitive marketplace.

According to a poll about effectively positioning change management, around 57% of organisations find the concepts of change and change management quite confusing, and the words are often used interchangeably.

In reality, change and its management are completely different from each other, while still being closely interlinked. Business owners therefore must be aware of this fact before doing any kind of modifications in their organisations. If there is lack of clarity between these two concepts, they might end up misinterpreting the terms, which will eventually pose a barrier to the implementation of the same.

So, let’s talk about why change and change management should be treated differently in an organisation.

‘Change’ – The Act of Transition

Change is basically the movement to a future state from the current state through a state of transition. It can either be anticipated or unexpected. But being a phenomenon that is continuously happening all around us, it cannot be ignored.

Implementing anticipated change in an organisation essentially means:

  • Transitioning from multiple legacy systems to one integrated system
  • Merging two or more enterprises
  • Transitioning from ad hoc processes to well-documented processes
  • Launching a new product in the market
  • Introducing new equipment into the manufacturing processes
  • All the projects here have transitioned from clear current states to defined future states and this is what ‘change’ is all about.

    ‘Change Management’ – Managing the Transitional Impact

    On the other hand, change management is about managing the impact of the transition to the desired future state from a particular current state.

    Change, being a series of interlinked events, could lead to catastrophe if not managed properly. Every act of change has a positive or negative impact on the health of the organisation. This is because it influences the way an employee executes his or her day-to-day job. Moreover, people in an organisation often tend to resist changes for a variety of reasons, which makes organisational changes a big failure. This is where change management comes into play.

    The practise of change management typically revolves around the reduction of resistance to changes that are happening in an organisation. This may include process redesigning, mergers, acquisitions, streamlining processes, and cultural transitions. In most cases, companies try to implement new strategies and techniques to establish a culture where any change will be readily embraced for the sake of the business.

    When it comes to maximising business process management benefits, change adaptation is considered as one of the key factors. However, implementation of changes without having proper management strategy in place can be detrimental for any enterprise. The good news is that recently, a number of business process management tools already come equipped with change management tools to direct the change from current to desired business processes.

    In a nutshell, change is good when you can manage it successfully. So are you ready to adopt changes and manage the change in your organisation?