What is Planned Change?
Planned change is a process in which an organization prepares itself to make changes in its plans, goals, policies, or strategies for new strategic operations. It is a deliberate action organizations take to stand out in the market.
Change is inevitable in an organization’s lifecycle, it is a deliberate action rather than sudden a change to organizational settings to adapt to the market circumstances.
Best organizations embrace change. Sometimes organizations have to face unexpected situations and thus they have to adapt to change immediately. Such a change might or might not give fruitful results.
As such, it is necessary to study the market and calculate all the possibilities before initiating the planned change.
Process of Planned Change
As we discussed, it is a deliberate process. It includes the following steps:
Recognition of Need
The first step in the process of planned change is the recognition of the need for change. You should first identify the weak area of your business and realize why it should need change. Your business may require such a change because of internal factors or challenges of the outside environment.
Establishment of Goal
Once you realize the need for change, it is time to establish a goal for the change. The goal should be achievable and should not be unrealistic. It should be achievable by the available resources of your organization.
Diagnosis of Relevant Variables
After the goal is set, in this third step, management should collect the information and analyze it. Diagnosis or analysis should be of factors related to your planned change goals. Usually, these variables include internal and external.
Selection of Change Technique
It is time to select a change strategy or technique. The manager must consider past experience, present situation, and future possibilities before selecting the technique. In addition, he should discuss this with his coworkers to explore the change techniques that other companies have adopted for the same purposes.
Planning for Implementation of Change
Once the selection of the change technique is completed, it is time to set an action plan to implement it. The plan should include all the necessary steps, budgets, time to finish, and roles of everyone while executing the plan.
Actual Implementation
This is the step where the plan of change is actually implemented. This step brings all the written procedures of the plan into action. The manager should guide his subordinates for its successful implementation.
Evaluation and Follow-Up
Following the completion of the implementation phase, the project manager must evaluate the entire undertaking to determine whether the original objectives were achieved. They use this phase to assess the need for additional change and to efficiently organize upcoming tasks.
Importance of Planned Change
Every company’s goal is to increase its revenue, exploit new opportunities, and be more competitive. An organization can achieve a number of benefits through unplanned change.
However, through planned change companies are more sure to realize such benefits. The following are some of its importance.
Adapt with Change
One of the benefits planned change provides to the organization is that it helps the organization adapt to environmental changes. One of its objectives is to let organizations adapt to changes that are natural in a business environment.
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Meet Customers Expectation
As the business environment factors change continuously, the needs, tastes, and preferences of customers and society also change. As such they expect new goods and services with improved features. Thus, to meet their expectations it is necessary to initiate change in the organization.
Meet Competition
Every business entity faces competition in our open market environment. Competitors may propose new tactics, rules, or technologies as time goes on to conquer the market.
The management must implement planned change practice in this case to alter the current operating processes and system. To combat market competition, it will be helpful.
Cost Reduction
Companies may measure the cost of their projects and create budgets by carefully planning and managing change. With more control, they can prevent spending too much money, which could harm their business operations and profits.
Increase the Rate of Success
With unplanned or instant change the company may or may not achieve its desired goals. However, when planned change is initiated it increases the chance of success as it is initiated by careful study and calculation of future opportunities and threats.
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