What do 3M and Apple have in common?

They were both on the brink of closure. Both adopted a culture of innovation – it became a job requirement for every employee. And both have become giants in their verticals.

If you want to remain in business … if you want your company to keep ahead of the competition, you need to innovate faster than your competitors. But in order to do so, you must manage that change effectively. Change for the sake of change can doom your company to failure just as surely as remaining stagnant can.

Take one company for example. It began in the 1890’s as a playing card manufacturer. By the 1940’s the card industry was saturated. So this company innovated, contracting with Disney to produce themed playing and including instructions on card games for children.

During the 60’s they tried branching out, but most of these ventures failed. In the 70’s they went back to games, but this time they ventured into video games. Between the 70’s and 80’s they produced the highest grossing and most popular arcade games.

When competition moved in, they innovated again, producing the first hand-held gaming system. Even today, Nintendo continues releasing cutting edge game systems.

In order to stay ahead of your competition, you need to constantly innovate, while maintaining control through an effective change management strategy.

Perhaps you’ve suffered through change before. Your employees were frustrated … conflict was everywhere … and everyone was filled with uncertainty and fear.

Add to that all the countless setbacks and delays. It seemed like you would never survive the process.

If you were lucky, you made it through, achieved your goals, and moved forward. But chances are good that the process didn’t go smoothly, that stress ruled the day, and things didn’t turn out the way that you wanted.

No one really likes change.

Why is your company changing?

Is it due to some crisis … like a shortfall in profits, performance, or a change in some regulation? Maybe a threat … like new technology, a merger – either pending or recent, or maybe an acquisition?

Could it be that you have a new management that is introducing change?

Or did someone decide to jump onboard with the latest trends?

Creating an effect change management strategy hinges on the following critical elements:

  • Identify why you need to change
  • Develop a vision to guide the change
  • Crafting a sound strategy
  • Following your plan
  • Focusing on your people
  • Address any barriers to change
  • Setting up milestones

Are you ready to master the secrets of change management?

Maybe you’ll be like Lloyd’s Electric Service in Knoxville, Tennessee.

“It gave us the tools to deal with issues that we had and it got the creative juices flowing. Right now my bottom line is up 180% over this time last year.” – Doug Lloyd, President Lloyd’s Electric Service, Knoxville, Tennessee.

You see, the driving force behind successful changes is exceptional leadership from all levels of management.

The difference between leadership and management.

Leaders inspire their employees and empower them to create dynamic change. Managers enforce company policy and mandate that their employees do as they are told.

Stefan Keil, CFO of LINDIG Főrdertechnik GmbH, Germany said, “It was exactly what we were looking for to empower our managers and make change happen in our company.”

Looking to create a winning change management strategy? You owe it to yourself to find out how we can help.