As a consultant, use the e-mail below sent to management on week 2 and begin to develop a strategy manual. The manual should outline (in order) the steps the company should take to move the change initiative forward.
The manual should be clear and easy to read, yet provide enough detail for the company to make progress. Submit a draft of the manual this week and submit the final version (after feedback) in week 8.
Subject:Integration of a Private Cloud Computing Service
To Whom It May Concern:
The company has experienced tremendous growth in the last several years, which has allowed it to expand and establish various food outlets in the city. However, operations have remained the same in all its outlets, and this is impacting efficiency. For instance, there is a lot of repetitive work among departments when sharing data. Leading change comes with several benefits to the company when the changes are successfully made. The proposed cloud computing services promises to centralize operations and increase efficiency. The company need to adjust and grab the growth opportunities or risk being out competed by agile competitors. This makes leading change a top priority that management needs to consider.
However, leading change is impacted by various factors that must be catered for to succeed. Although the change prospects may be daunting, the process does not have to be painful. A successful change process is then one that caters for the needs of the staff and those of the business. The change process changes the way things have always been done. As a result, resistance may develop among the staff. Some of the reasons why change may be resisted include loss of control, excessive uncertainty, and when everything seems different. Thus, it is crucial to come up with a communication strategy to create a sense of urgency. This will help the staff see the need for change and the importance of acting swiftly.
Once the employees are aware of the need for leading change and come on board, the next phase will be to train them. The company aims to integrate a clouding computing service, which will replace its current IT infrastructure. This will come with a couple of requirements that the staff need to learn. For instance, security will be an issue, and therefore, the staff must understand all the security measures to avoid data breaches. Providing adequate training will help the staff master the new ways of doing things. It is worth noting that conveying that training will be available can help reduce the resistance.
It is also worth mentioning that leading change successfully does not happen overnight. Instead of a sudden change in direction, a long and strategic rollout is usually the best alternative. This allows employees to acclimate to the shift while also allowing management to answer inquiries and handle issues ahead of time. Furthermore, people are usually slow in adopting new habits. They need time to gradually phase out their previous ways of doing things and become used to the new ways. For Company X, the change can use a top-down direction where those at the top first adopt the changes before the juniors. Leaders tend to have a higher tolerance for ambiguity than their juniors,giving the company time to create certainty.
The last step will be to monitor the change process once it is in motion. This is paramount as it helps maintain consistent oversight over the rollout toensure things go as planned and success is realized. Monitoring the potential problems and addressing them promptly will create confidence among the employees. For instance, a cloud computing system requires high-speed internet. This will eliminate any frustration due to challenges in accessing the online applications or uploading data to the cloud computing services. Any milestone that is realized calls for a celebration to encourage the process of leading change.
