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Managing Forced Change
By Mike Thom, Independent Consultant
It is not often in business when management is put in a position where changing the fundamentals of current practice is forced upon them.
U
ntil recent pandemic events it has been perfectly possible to run
a business with the illusion that you have everything under control.
In normal circumstances there are very sound reasons for a business to regularly review their current practices, and assess what changes, if any, could be made to improve performance.
One might turn to such established luminaries on the subject of Change Management in Business such as Kurt Lewin a social psychologist, Kōnosuke Matsushita the founder of Panasonic, or more recently Dr John Kotter, Professor Emeritus of Harvard Business School.
For those of you - like me - who missed out on their Business Studies A Level studies Lewin’s Force Field Model is a useful tool he developed in the 1940s for examining the opposing forces driving and resisting change in business that still holds good today.
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Matsushita and Kotter have written numerous tomes on how to effect change through leadership. I will leave you to dip into their volumes as you wish.
In our scenario things are a little different; the decision to change has been made for you, and it may not just be a pandemic that can put you in this position.
Factors out of your control There will be some of these for all trading entities. A quick examination of any business will uncover the uncomfortable truth, as they all interact with third parties somehow.
These dependencies are not necessarily obvious, but an overall awareness of any potential impact should they, not you, decide to change the relationship with your business is essential.
• Government/Legislation • Trade Organisations • Unions • Landlords
• Insurers • Banking/Finance • Suppliers - Systems/Software
- Communications/IT infrastructure
- Outsourced operations - Carriers - Product Suppliers - Payment Providers - Utilities - Professional Services
• Customers
That is quite a long list already, and you may think of more that are relevant to you.
Clearly, it would be normal for some notice to be given of any impending changes, but this could range from days to weeks, months or even years. The key thing is to anticipate and be ready if at all possible.
Contingency Planning Once the vulnerabilities to your business have been established, a closer look at the potential impact to your business is necessary.
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