Change Management: How To Handle Change In The Work Place

Change is inevitable! The world seems to be changing so fast that no one could stay wrong all the time, even if they tried. The simple fact is nothing in life can overlook it, especially us human beings. We may try our best to avoid it like a plague, overlook it like FLS (first love syndrome) where we hear no evil, see no evil, feel no evil; or at best, pretend that we are "OK" and it's nothing but an undetectable glitch on the radar screen. So we fool ourselves to believe that our short-comings are minuscule; therefore, undetectable and will eventually work themselves out. Wake up folks! One wise man said that "Even nostalgia isn't what it used to be." Surely our faults will find us out. Don't you know they are usually the cause of our demise?

Charles F. Kettering said that "The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress." As individuals with various degrees of business acumenical skills, we MUST realize that the "C" word is unavoidable. Let's be realistic, time waits for NO man. The seasons change for a reason; the old becomes new and the new becomes old. It's a process that comes about because of TIME, and friend, TIME is no respecter of persons. It waits on no man, neither is it in the business world. We can fight it with all our might, but we will eventually loose the battle, get an extension or become extinct if we are not careful.

Change is the mother of all directional process in the business world. We can accept it, lay in bed with it or leave it. It makes no difference who or what we are. Everyone MUST make a choice, it is up to us. Sometimes it is like a runaway train that waits on no man; young or old, bond or free, experienced or inexperienced, great or inadequate; much less small, medium or large places of business. Take for example, the current Presidential race. President Hopeful, Senator Obama believes that the present government has made such a "muck" of things; he is calling for a regiment of CHANGE. Americans are listening and they believe him. The question is-what is our disposition when change is inevitable in our lives? How do we handle it?

Here are ten (10) steps or recommendations to help combat change in any place of business:

1. Envision a plan for success and implement it.

2. Keep a journal or a portfolio (or both) of your accomplishments (personal or business). It acts as a thermometer to inform you whether or not you are on track. If you are not, it will remind you to take action.

3. Review and update it frequently.

4. If you decide to make and keep a portfolio, it can be used as a tool to 'show and tell' when you are on your next promotional interview.

5. Tell yourself that technology is your friend. In spite of what others may say, keep up with it and stay ahead of your office counterparts. Use it when you can. It will only make you look more credible to the powers that be.

6. Whenever there is a strong resistance to CHANGE (you or others), examine yourself carefully and look back at your goals or objectives for life. If these changes are inevitable, there must be a reason for your opposition. Maybe the type of change necessary is not part of your overall goal. If this is so, then incompatibility exists, so you must move on. However, if there is none and these changes are for the best, then muster-up all the courage you can to improve yourself. Part of being successful is changing with the times.

7. Know the type of change you are dealing with and how best to handle it.

8. Never compromise your values. In the end, you must live with yourself, no one else.

9. Change MUST be for 'the best'. Anyone who experience 'the worst', must remove himself or be removed from the equation. There is incompatibility.

10. Change is best served when it is 'bought into' not when it is forced upon. Collaboration is the best way to go.