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There can be many reasons why you need to make structural changes in your business. It may be that growth has meant that the business can no longer operate under the current structure, or perhaps recruiting people to fill some roles has become more difficult, or your customers’ needs have changed over time. Regardless of what might have prompted the need for change, significant changes in the structure of a business will always bring with it significant challenges that will need to be overcome. The key to implementing successful structural change is to follow a process. In this article we will take you through our step-by-step guide to implementing successful structural change in your business.

Step 1 – Defining the need for change

Without doubt, the most important step in implementing successful change is to ensure you are clear on why the change needs to happen. The stronger the need for change, the more successful it is likely to be. This is because you are more likely to have the support of those around you if the need for change is clear and easy to understand. We recommend that you read our article “Drivers for Change” if you need some help in defining what is driving your need for change.

Generally when a business decides to restructure, it is because something is not working as well as it could or should be. It is important to investigate it thoroughly and determine the cause. Too often businesses look to restructure as a first option when the cause may be something entirely different. Let’s take a look at the following example.[wlm_ismember]

A business experiences a decline in customer satisfaction ratings and this has resulted in the loss of several long-term customers. Management decides that it will restructure a department to reduce the number of customers each staff member looks after as a way to increase service levels. This seems like a reasonable assumption. But what if the cause is not the number of customers staff are managing, but how the customers are being managed. Perhaps over a period of time, experienced people have left the business or have been promoted, leaving the front-line customer service to be delivered by new and less experienced staff members, resulting in a decline in customer satisfaction. In this case, rather than a restructure, what is needed might be additional training and a more thorough orientation program.

Once you can determine the need for the change and you are clear that a restructure is the best option, you can move onto the next step. If you are still not 100% clear on what you need, you could work though our article called “The 5 Whys”, which is an excellent tool for getting to the root cause of a problem.

Step 2 – Planning and research

It is important that you carefully explore all aspects before commencing a restructure. Some of the things you need to consider are:

• Who will be impacted by the change? This goes beyond simply the staff members who will be directly affected.
• What other roles in the business might be impacted?
• How will the change affect customer relationships?
• Will there be any implications for contractors and suppliers?

One of the easiest ways to determine who will be impacted is to conduct a “stakeholder analysis”. You will find a step-by-step guide in this section of the website.

• How will they be impacted by the change?
• Will people have to physically move workstations in the business?
• Will job roles and responsibilities change?
• Will remuneration packages be altered?
• Will customers and suppliers still be dealing with the same person?
• What will the cost be?
• Do you have to outlay capital for new equipment?
• Do you have to employ additional staff?
• Will there be additional costs in training and education?
• What are the risks? Before embarking on any change it is important to think about all of the risks and any obstacles that you might face. Forewarned is forearmed; it is important to consider how you will deal with each risk factor.

The more work you do during this stage, the more successful your change is likely to be. It is important for you to have a clear picture of how things are going to work, as this will allow you to move onto the next step, communication.

Step 3 – Communication

For any change, and in particular a restructure, it is important to view this step as a two-way process. Most humans are to varying degrees averse to change, and this can become severe when they feel change has been forced upon them. This step may have begun in the planning stage, as input from those directly impacted by the change is vital to successful implementation.

Prior to any communication, you should be clear on why the change is necessary and have a vision for the restructure based on your planning and research. The last thing you want is for your team to get excited about ideas that you have already researched and know are not viable due to cost or other restrictions. It is also essential that you can clearly demonstrate the need for the change. If you can get agreement on this, you will have a more successful change initiative.

Start your communication process well in advance of your proposed date for implementation. It is important to remember as the leader it is likely you have been thinking about this for some time. Therefore, you need to give those impacted by the change some time to get used to the idea also. You need to be open to discussion and give ample opportunities for people to ask you questions in groups and in individual sessions. You may find that the initial enthusiasm dwindles as reality hits and you get closer to making changes, which brings us to the next step.

Step 4 – Dealing with resistance

Change can be difficult for many people, and this can be even worse when it impacts their day-to-day roles, responsibilities and routines. People tend to fear what they do not know. Think about a fear of the dark; people fear what they cannot see. Change is a little like being in the dark; we can talk about it and rationalise it, but until it happens it is an unknown. You will find that some people will deal with change better than others. The key to dealing with resistance is to deal with it as early and as often as you can. Look for signs that someone is not dealing with the change. Here are a few examples of signs to look out for and suggestions for how to deal with them:

• Missing in action – Watch for people calling in sick or taking annual leave days during the implementation phase. Of course people do fall ill; however, you will usually recognise when this is happening more often than usual, and it could also be that the change is genuinely affecting the person’s health. Have a one-on-one session with the person as soon as possible. Perhaps do it outside of the office to help break down any barriers or fear. Ask them some open-ended questions and ensure that you spend the majority of the meeting listening. This is not a time to be “selling” the change, but a time to get to the heart of the issue.

• One bad apple – There is an old saying that “misery loves a friend”, and often when change is happening you will find that someone who is struggling with it tries to rally some support from the troops to validate their feelings. A manager may feel like reprimanding this person for spreading gossip and for causing upset among the team; however, the best way to deal with this is to show the person that you are there to support them. Take them aside – once again it may be outside of the office –and give them a chance to vent their feelings.

• Silent but deadly – Watch out for the person that sits back in every meeting without saying much. This person is often the one that gets overlooked because their silence is taken for compliance. Insist that everyone participates and gives their opinions in meetings. Again, a one-on-one discussion may be required to ensure this person is on board with the change.

• The doomsayer – We all know one of these people. They are vocal, they are confident and they are happy to tell you what is wrong with any and every idea. It is essential to get these people on board as quickly as you can. The good thing with these people is that once you get them onside, they are equally as vocal and happy to get publicly behind something that they believe in.

Some resistance is inevitable even in the most well thought-out and logical restructure. The key is to try and anticipate where the resistance will come from and to deal with it as early as you can. Dealing with resistance can become frustrating, but it is essential to remember that everyone’s feelings are real and to never underestimate how difficult change is for some people. Your job as a leader is to bring them through the change as painlessly as you can.

Step 5 – Support

On of the most important aspects of a restructure is to ensure that you offer an adequate level of support through the change. Ensure that you provide adequate training and that any new staff are provided with a complete orientation program. Being over-staffed or over- supported in the short term while the change is in the early stages may be a worthwhile investment over the longer period.

Ensure that you take time to meet regularly with as many of those impacted by the change as possible throughout the process. If you do not have the time to do one-on-one sessions with everyone, you should at the very least take some time each week to have an informal chat. Our “Management by Walking Around” article will give you some guidelines to work from.

Be careful not to put any additional pressures on the team by way of new technology, systems and processes until the structural change is in place. Trying to implement too many changes at once can be too overwhelming for some people, and you will find that while it might seem like time-saving to “kill two or three birds with one stone”, it will actually slow your process down.

Step 6 – Review and refine

It is unlikely that everything will go 100% according to plan. It is important to communicate with everyone regularly, and to set up a formal plan for ironing out any issues and problems that might crop up. Depending on the extent of your restructure, you might have a weekly, fortnightly or monthly review meeting. In this meeting you simply need to ask three questions:

1. What is going well?
2. What is not going so well?
3. What are we going to do about it?

This format allows everyone first to focus on what is working well. This is essential to ensure that these meetings do not simply become a forum for complaints. Once you get onto the issues, it is important then to back them up with solutions. The meeting should end with setting a clear action plan before the next meeting. By keeping a solution-driven mindset you will keep your change initiative moving forward.

Summary

Implementing structural change is not easy. However, in many cases not implementing change can be fatal to the long-term success of the business. The key to successful change comes down to ensuring the need for change is strong enough and that you spend an adequate amount of time planning prior to the implementation of any change. In today’s fast-paced world, there are very few businesses that will operate for any length of time without having to make some changes. Therefore, having the ability as a leader to drive change is an essential skill. Look for other articles in this section of the website to help build your skills in this area.[/wlm_ismember]

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