Business Change Management - Getting Middle Managers Included in Your Change Initiatives by Antoine Daugherty

It is very important to know how to convert change resistors in the ranks of middle managers into supporters. One method for accomplishing this goal is by employing the Quad A technique. There remains a second component of which to be mindful. Some of business change management entails an awareness of what to avoid. If you would like to make lifelong enemies of middle management, feel free to stop reading. If you would like to make middle managers into allies please continue reading.

Failing to include middle management in the planning of a change is going to increase their resistance. Including them usually results in less problematic plans. It is an effective means to engender their support. There is some truth in the idea that people like things better when they have had a hand in the creation. Remember, middle managers are not the enemy. Be mindful that they are going to be put under significant pressure during the changeover. The objections they have are primarily related to their firsthand experience with run the business.

When you encounter resistance, don't assign a judgment to the managers that it's a character flaw on their part. No one is trying to get out of their jobs, quite the opposite in fact. There is a high probability that there are no personal issues involved. Therefore, try to not brush aside their issues as though they were madmen. They are in the work environment every day. They have valuable information and their objections should be written down and treated seriously. Consider it to be a to-do list.

Do not act as though middle management don't have busy schedules. No, some of those managers may not have their noses to the grindstone all day long. A great many of them are in that exact situation. Their time is valuable and they will be opposed to business change management initiatives that look to be time wasters. If an assumption is going to be made, figure that every manager in that room is busier than you are on a given day.

In terms of the bigger picture, here are two things to try to steer clear of to protect the business change management effort. Avoid project stalling at all costs. Though analysis is important, it cannot be allowed to bring the project to a halt. The change is not optional. The project has to move to see fruition. The other thing you should avoid is rejecting fast workaround solutions. These solutions may lack elegance, but elegance isn't getting the project into action. If you don't like the initial solution, institute a better one after the fact. While you wait for the better solution, use the inelegant one to enable project movement. That's the result that really matters.

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About the Author

Antoine Daugherty writes regularly about business related topics. I hope you enjoy this article.