How to Make Effective Change

By Better Employees.  

Eduardo Figueroa coaches us on how to lead your team through a lasting, positive change to your company. 

In a video series, Eduardo Figueroa, an effective supervisor, teaches us about change and how you can lead one within your business. He starts by reminding us that in order to establish effective change we first have to recognize that we need to change. If we don't recognize it or we're not honest with ourselves, it's going to be hard to make change happen.  

Changes exist in technology advancement, equipment, processes, systems, leadership styles, etc. Eduardo tells us we need to collaborate with our team to reach the goal effectively and achieve a change. This means that everyone will have to embrace the change to develop that team. 

Eduardo reminds us that change is the norm. Every business requires changes constantly otherwise the company will stay stagnant and perhaps even fail. Yet, change is the most common challenge businesses encounter.  

That is why it is so important to have a plan with the support from all related parties. Make this plan with your main goal, the reason to change, in mind. Ask yourself: ‘where is my company now?’ and ‘where does it need to be?’ to give yourself a better vision of what changes you need to adapt and adjust.  

Get input from any involved department that could be affected by the change. They will know their strengths and limitations and ultimately are the people who will make the change happen. Ask for their honest opinion and take their straightforward input to your ideas of how to find the best solution. Any changing project needs to generate multiple ideas to add more value. Stay open minded to other solutions that might work better. 

You want to effectively communicate your ideas and why you are implementing them. Give them the reasons why the change needs to happen. The key is to clarify the plan to everybody involved and make sure you are all on the same page.  Make sure your employees know the expected return on investment with this change, it’s best for all stakeholders to learn how this change will benefit the company in general. You want to know that they are as committed to make the change as you are.  
 
After collecting all possible ideas and getting everyone's feedback, you will have a clear objective and goal to work towards. To implement your changes, you will need a clear action plan. It helps to create a calendar for all the tasks that need to be done, as this both sets a timeline for the change and notified your team on expectations of what should be done by when. 

Measurements like deliverables, benchmarks, deadlines should be used in your plan, keep track and measure your results. Assess your plan as you go, if it does not get where you want to be, consider building another action plan. Make sure you recognize everyone’s efforts in the change. Let your team know that you value their effort in the change process and they will be much more engaged in making a successful change. 

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