by Therese Johansson

The joy of working with the change process, "Change Management", is total, but to be honest, it's not always party fun. Depending on the assignment, you are already disliked when you arrive or else the victims are blissfully unaware of what awaits and then you enter the "Honeymoon phase". The honeymoon phase is always so very "cute" to then quickly end up in the questioning phase, and with a deep sigh I think "STORMING". Then all you have to do is roll up your sleeves and with all your innovation, ensure that the organization with its leaders, teams and employees comes out of the change intact.

Why change organizations?

Do you recognize companies that start a reorganization before the old reorganization has time to take root in the entire "chain". What is this, one wonders then... to be completely honest, I'm not sure of the right answer. The right reason for this, in my opinion, is when a company or organization has reached the phase of "stagnation" - then the soup needs to be stirred to get started with new development and new thinking. Otherwise, there is a risk to the company's continued development. I specialize in change work, if I think back on my career, I would probably like to say that I am an "organizational cleaner". I was always appointed to positions that needed to leave AB, in one way or another.

The change process is step by step

I will tell you an example of an assignment where I had to move an organization that was working on one thing so that they would do something completely different. There is a golden rule not to introduce too big changes too quickly as a newly appointed leader – I did not have the conditions to adapt that rule, so I had to adapt beautifully to the reality that applied. Either way, Step 1 is to motivate the sell-in to the change to the team and its employees; Step 2 is to create ambassadors for the change; Step 3 create a strong vision that creates innovation; Step 4 first we need to know what we will gain from the change in order to then justify this in the sales; Step 5 start making the obstacles that exist start to make movements; Step 6 focus on any gains made and highlight them to create motivation to continue the often tough journey – create joy; Step 7 Now it usually starts to get easier, this is how we create forward thinking Step 8 Change A to B to create a greater opportunity for the organization (Kotter method).

What specialties are needed as a change leader?

In addition to having organizational knowledge, you need to be a confident and competent leader who understands what happens with people in change. In the example above, the stress was so high that one employee lost an eyebrow and had other major stress effects. As a leader, you also need to understand and have knowledge of what is happening in the team, you cannot be afraid to stand alone when the wind is at its strongest. The stronger the wind, the more confident you need to be to bring the "ship to the right port". The ability and strength is to develop the resources to understand that they have the skills and ability to cope with more than they themselves think they can. By keeping the focus on the positive development that everyone is making, the motivation to get through the obstacles that appear on the way is created. It is always better with development than with dismantling and the feeling when you have got through the change together is indescribable. The pride I feel for those with whom I have gone through the change is overwhelming. It's better to take one for the team and let it sting for a while than to bury your head in the sand and pretend the challenges don't exist - preferably if it's about increasing the profitability of the companies or maybe even survival.