Change Management and Strategy Implementation

Strategy implementation plays a key role in gaining a competitive edge and achieving organizational goals and objectives. It provides you with a roadmap, plan, and course of action to reach the company’s goals. However, it allows businesses and companies to recognize their long-term goals and objectives and develop a blueprint to achieve them. Today, we’ll discuss change management and strategy implementation; key elements and components, implications, relevance, and how Change management complements strategy implementation.

Strategy implementation is the method of following the strategic plan to implement all the operational activities; achieving the company’s targets within the specific budget, resources, and timeline to satisfy the company’s goals. When the company is going through the radical transformation phase, then it develops uncertainty, confusion, and resistance among employees and stakeholders.

Elements of Change Management

• Analysis: recognizing the need for change, key stakeholders, impacted by the change, and defining the scope of change
• Planning: developing a comprehensive action plan, timeline and scheduling, resource allocation, budgeting, risk management, and communication strategies
• Implementation: executing all the steps of the action plan, achieving targets on the deadline, discussing changes with stakeholders, and managing resistance to change
• Monitoring and Evaluation: measure and analyze the effectiveness of the change project, making adjustments to the action plan

Implications of Strategy Implementation

• Organizational Structure: changes organizational structure after executing the strategy; it requires developing a new hierarchical structure, revising new roles and responsibilities, new departments, and new reporting system and structure
• Systems and Processes: The execution of a new strategy would change the new business processes, workflows, systems, and processes. It requires them to develop new accounts on the applications, integrate them into an existing system, consolidate data from multiple sources, training people to employ multiple support channels.
• Organizational Culture and Mindset: changes the mindset and organizational culture; rebranding the strategy could lead to changing the vision, acquiring new firms, recruiting new people with new skills, and new technology
• Personnel: executing of new strategy changes the organizational personnel and the hierarchy; requires the company to hire new employees with unique skills and expertise to adapt new systems and processes; drastic changes are necessary for companies to improve their performance, efficiency, and competitive edge

Relevance between Change Management and Strategy Implementation

Let’s discuss the relevance between change management and strategy implementation and how they both complement each other; they’re as follows;

Management Resistance

Top leadership and management develop business and corporate strategies with limited involvement of employees at the bottom of the organization. After executing the new changed strategies, they cause fear, confusion, and uncertainty among employees and team members. As a result, resistance among employees to the change project is developed.

The change management strategic approach helps businesses and companies to develop a comprehensive communication plan, recognize the main source and reason for resistance, build trust among employees, and make them not fear change. It allows businesses and companies to decrease the negative impact of strategy implementation.

Higher Adoption Rate

The success of the strategic implementation is heavily reliant on following and adopting the new system, strategy, and processes. A higher acceptance and adoption rate would increase the growth and success of the change project. It allows businesses and companies to connect and engage with employees and stakeholders in the change process to develop a strong commitment to the change project.

For instance, when a company plans to introduce a new product line or improve the existing products, then it requires approval from the board, investors, and stakeholders to implement changes. The change strategy helps businesses to connect and engage with stakeholder, inform them about the new strategy, welcome their feedback, and involve them in the change project.  

Risk Management

The execution of strategy always comes with multiple uncertainties, risks, and unexpected results. The change management strategic approach helps companies to recognize potential risks, preparing in advance to decrease the failure rate. For instance, when a production firm is introducing new production and manufacturing processes, then it needs a lot of changes to the current infrastructure and system.

Communication

Strategic implementation impacts everyone inside and outside the organization, communication plays a key role in bringing everyone on board for the change project. The change strategy ensures consistency and clarity in the communication. For instance, if a hospital and healthcare facility is launching a new medical record system, then it requires significant changes in storing, collecting, and maintaining the records and information of the patients. The change strategy makes sure regular communication back and forth.

Sustainability

Implementing the new strategy helps businesses and companies to achieve long-term and sustainable results. The change management strategic approach makes sure that the implementation of changes would go as planned to decrease disruption and failure results.

Conclusion: Change Management For Strategy Implementation |Change Management Complements Strategy Implementation

After an in-depth study of the change management and strategy implementation; we have realized change strategy and implementation both complement each other. If you are learning about the implication of change management complements strategy implementation; then you should keep in mind the abovementioned elements, implications, and relevant factors.