Regardless of the monetary issues of the world, businesses must undergo change. But sometimes, even when change endeavors are started with fervor, they could fizzle in a while. The solution to this dilemma is to obtain executive back up. Although executive support may be a vague term.
Normally, what happens is a business change endeavor is presented. Top management give it approval and an executive is placed “in charge” of the project. This exec does the budgeting, assigns a PM or project manager, basically sees the plan through. At this point, top management considers the project supported and takes little stock of it afterwards.
From the business change team's viewpoint, support is more than just money and approval. Like any other project, there will be problems with timetables, fires that need to be put out, and the need for input and feedback. And these problems often need the bosses' input to smooth them over. Though in the real world, this type of support is often scarce.
This happens because in the work environment, there are two conflicting needs. First, there's the need to undergo business change to avoid being outrun by the competition. Secondly, there's the need to keep the business running and the revenue coming. Usually, people opt to run the business instead of undergoing business change because it's much more practical.
Problems in running the business are immediate. A flooded store needs to be repaired right now. When running the business, the problems that arise are urgent and need attending to right away. Even so, for business change to occur successfully, the bosses should be able to balance everything out; they should be able to give support without compromising the current needs of the business.
A great way to achieve this is by designating an executive to handle only the business change initiatives. This person can regularly report on the change initiatives, has the authority to resolve problems, and is not otherwise occupied with running the business. He also has the necessary access to help keep change as a priority with the executive team.
For more information, please see our website: Business Change Management
