However, there are 5 fundamental steps which need to  be part of any effective change management program.  These steps form the foundation for managing change.  The steps below provide insight into how to manage change effectively:

Step 1 – Build The Case For Change

The first step in any change management program is to establish the case for change. This provides the foundation for the whole change process. You know when you have done this successfully when team members can explain why they, and you, are implementing the changes.

Step 2 – Share The Vision And Values

Once you have established why change is necessary, the next stage is to communicate the vision for the future. What will the organization look like once the changes are implemented? How will things be improved? What are the positive benefits for the organization, team, individuals and customers?

Creating a set of values and sharing these in the early stages of the change process will help to prepare people for the impact of the change and make dealing with challenges and setbacks less problematic in the later stages.

Step 3 – Resources And Information

Change management programs need to be adequately resourced and effectively project managed in order to achieve their objectives. Resources include people, finance, facilities, IT, MI and many other elements. Change fails when these things have not been considered and change is not prioritized effectively or given the commitment it requires.

Step 4 – Management And Leadership Capability

Ensuring that managers and leaders possess the capability to manage change is crucial. It is important to consider the specific skills and behaviors which will be required from managers and leaders in order to direct and drive the change through the organization. Attending a good change management training course will equip people with the essential skills to implement and manage change well.

Step 5 – Communication

Good communication throughout every stage of the change process is vital to keep everyone informed and motivation levels high. The extent to which the change is effectively communicated will have a direct bearing on whether it succeeds or fails. Inevitably, change will involve delivering some difficult messages and these need to be communicated in an empathetic and supportive way.

Following these 5 fundamental steps will dramatically help you increase the chances of shaping and implementing your change management program successfully.

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It sounds fairly straightforward doesn’t it?

However, great leadership requires a complex set of skills which have to be continually honed and fined tuned. Great leaders all share common characteristics which make them successful. They operate based on truths which underpin all of their behaviors and actions.

Here are 5 truths that every great leader knows:

Truth#1: You Cannot Motivate Someone, You Can Only Inspire Them To Motivate Themselves

Motivation comes from within a person. All the motivation techniques in the world will not work if the people you are trying to motivate don’t buy in to the idea.

Inspiration is different as it appeals at a deeper level than motivation and is designed to win hearts as well as minds. Great leaders know that to truly engage employees you need to inspire them and then they will be motivated.

Truth#2: Combining Talents, Skill And Abilities Will Achieve More Than Working Sepreately

Great leaders know that they can’t achieve what they want to independently, nor do they want to. They inherently understand that human beings can gain better results from pooling resources and utilising the strengths of others to complement their own skills.

Working in this state of interdependence produces far greater outcomes than could ever be achieved by working separately.

Truth#3: Being The Change You Want To See In Others Is The First Step To Improving Things

If you want employees to adopt certain behaviors, develop specific skills and display particular attributes then you have to model them yourself first. Leaders who have a strong set of principles and guiding values, and who live by them, command much more respect than those who don’t.

A leader should always display the kind of behavior that he/she would expect to see from others.

Truth#4: People Have Unlimited Potential And They Will Generally Do Their Best

Believing in people’s potential is vital in a leadership role. After all, you have to trust that your employees are up to the job or can be developed to their full capability in order to achieve your organisational objectives.

Having this kind of mindset and positive expectation will help to foster a high performance culture in which people can excel.

Truth#5: To Know And Understand Yourself Is The Best Way To Achieve Excellence As A Leader

Having high degrees of self awareness and emotional intelligence are characteristics common to all great leaders. This means that they operate as their authentic selves at all times and that they behave in accordance with their own set of inner principles or values.

To be authentic you first have to know and understand who you really are and what makes you tick. You also have to be fully aware of your strengths and flaws.  Having a complete self understanding means that you can manage yourself and your emotions, develop your weaknesses and capitalize on your strengths.

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That said, although this is a softer approach, it is no less rigorous as it encourages people to take responsibility for themselves and become accountable for their actions. In a way, managers have a tougher job now than they did in the past. A more subtle approach requires a more refined skills set and many “old style” managers are finding it difficult to adapt.

To stay ahead of the game, managers need to possess a high degree of emotional intelligence (EI). In the past, IQ was enough to get you to the top but in our current business environment, your emotional quotient (EQ) is just as vital and, in some cases, more so.

In an environment where IQ levels are likely to be comparable (such as an accountancy firm) your EQ could be the differentiating factor that sets you apart.

Many organizations are now measuring EQ at the recruitment stage and when developing management capability. A good emotional intelligence course is the ideal way to learn how to increase your EQ and become a better manager.

There are 4 areas of EI, all equally important for a manager. These were developed by the originators of the Emotional Intelligence theory – Professor Jack Mayer and Professor Peter Salovey:

1)     Recognizing Emotion

Good managers are able to recognize emotions in themselves and others. This requires an openness to emotion to be able to answer the question, “how am I feeling today” with a one word answer. Recognizing emotion also involves the ability to recognize emotion in others through their facial expressions.  Are they happy, sad, angry scared or surprised?

Our facial expression often reveals what our words do not and is vital for telling us how people really feel about our plans, proposals or opinions.

2)     Using

This is about the link between emotions and cognitive thinking. Successful managers know it is not possible to make a decision “with our heads or our hearts.”  Emotions are involved in every decision that we make and we need to pay attention to them.

If you know which emotions are useful for which tasks and can switch moods, create a mood task match.  Then you will be more effective and efficient in your day to day jobs.

3)     Understanding

Understanding the combination of emotions we feel at a deeper level is a vital element of EI. Understanding also involves identifying the causes of emotion as well as tracking how our emotions change over time.

Emotions follow logical patterns.  Knowing these patterns will greatly enhance your emotional “what if” planning.

4)     Managing

Finally, our skills at managing our own and others’ moods will determine how well we deal with difficult situations. Rather than ruminating or suppressing emotion, to be effective we need to go to the emotion (recognize it), get insight (through using and understanding) and then go through the emotion.

We can do this by implementing short or long term strategies to achieve the optimal emotional outcome for ourselves and others.

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Good employee engagement training focuses on teaching the skills which are needed to do this effectively.

During an economic downturn, it is tempting to slash or even remove training budgets. However, this is a short term view which will inevitably produce dire long term consequences. Thriving organizations rely on their people to perform consistently well.  This can only be achieved if they are feeling engaged and motivated.

Nuture Talent, Help People Learn And Improve

The right training and development can greatly enhance employee engagement by nurturing talent and helping people to learn new things and improve their performance. Most people want to feel that they are doing a good job and that they are valued by their organization for the part they play.

In addition, few people like to remain static in a work environment and prefer to have variety in their work and see development potential in their role.

Learning and development provides a way to address all of these human needs and greatly improves employee engagement. Companies who invest in their people through training and development are also viewed more favourably by employees than those in organizations who don’t.

However, if training and development is to make a significant impact on  employee engagement, employees must see the benefits to themselves of undertaking training activities. This is where many good intentions fall short.

Show The Benefits

Organizations who are keen to demonstrate their commitment to their people can sometimes get carried away with the “sheep dip” approach to training – leaving some people confused about the rationale behind attending it.

In order to harness the positive effects of training, employees have to see the link between where they are now and where they want to get to and how training is going to bridge this gap.

It sounds obvious but without this being made explicit, organizations run the risk of training and development being viewed as a chore instead of a reward.

The answer is to link training and development to specific objectives and the only way to make this work effectively is for managers to have one-on-one conversations with their people about the purpose of training and what’s in it for them. Asking people what they think they need and setting specific learning objectives is crucial at this stage.

Done efficiently, learning and development will then provide the means to motivate and engage employees like never before.  People will feel valued for their contribution and they will understand that the organisation supports them to be the best that they can be.

Developing people really is key to having an engaged workforce and achieving business success.

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