The Hindu Business Line : Surviving change

IF THERE is one thing there can be no doubt about, it is that in recent times the world has been subject to constant and considerable change. Organisations that operate successfully today may fail tomorrow. The history of an organisation has no bearing on its future. Winning in business warrants an ability to adapt and also a positive disposition towards change as an enduring and enabling strategy. Changing the culture of an organisation does not take days, but weeks and months. Communication skills enable such corporate changes. Communication must be seen as an ongoing and vital element in the process of change.

Everyone does not see things the same way. Effective and result-oriented communication depends on an understanding of the differences in perception. Employees differ in terms of their reaction time to new ideas. Different degrees of persuasion and persistence tailored to individual idiosyncrasies are required to elicit the necessary response and agreement from different people.

Content of communication — in order to come alive — must be kept simple and straightforward.

Second, it must be related to the interests of the target audience. Third, managers must appreciate the rationale for an open and transparent style of management as a prelude to effective communication.

Managers ruled by a fear complex and a sense of insecurity always hide and hoard information. The role of a manager must be transformed from one of command-and-control to that of a coach, counsellor, and mentor.

Change focuses on people. If people find good sense in the change process, they will support it. Motivated people accept responsibility for tasks they are assigned to.

Change management is an essential skill of a modern manager. It is one thing to recognise the need for change, and quite another to be able to implement it successfully.

While most managers accept and acknowledge the necessity for change, not all of them are able to play a positive role in its execution.

Senior managers who have not encountered upheavals of the change process are distraught and find themselves ill-equipped to handle it.

Unless they reconcile to the fact that it is sine qua non for progress, and fall in line, they could jeopardise the change process.

(The author is a Chennai-based freelance writer.)

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