While there are many different factors that lead to a lack of productivity in the workplace, poor management is often identified as the leading cause. However, what if poor management is not the cause of lower productivity, but an improper balance of change management and leadership? Having this improper balance within an organization can hinder change, progression, and growth.
What is Change Management & Change Leadership?
Change management can be defined as a structured framework or process for describing and implementing change within an organization. Proper change management will help you identify challenges and layout plans for a particular change. However, strong change leadership is necessary to create a sense of urgency and develop a holistic approach to cultivating productivity at work. Change leadership is an approach that understands the fundamental elements of change, creates and shares the vision for change, and ensures that there is an understanding of the importance of change.
Balancing Change Management & Change Leadership
Change management alone is inadequate to deal with competitive pressures that now require faster, bolder responses. Change managers typically drive incremental change, while change leaders are less averse to taking risks.
It’s important to have a balance. While management will coordinate people and efforts to accomplish goals efficiently and effectively, leaders build an engine around the whole change process and empower teams to fight for the change. Managers know what will work while leaders are driven by good, yet unproven ideas.
What is the Function of a Change Manager & Leader?
Core Functions of Change Managers:
- Process and methodology of change stay under the change manager’s control.`
- Ensures all the projects stay on budget.
- Manages the smaller scale change goals.
- Creates the vision for change and verifies it is planned and deliberate.
Core Functions of Change Leaders:
- Ensures the organization’s vision of the future is clearly articulated.
- Resources are actively mobilized.
- Manages the larger scale change goals.
- Inspires stakeholders to believe in the change.
- Make sure that the vision for change is unique and inspires speculative action.
Issues with productivity in the workplace arise when your organization lacks a proper balance between management and leadership. While the processes might be in place and executed properly, if the vision of the change driving the processes isn’t communicated to the team, they will be less excited about their day to day work and feel a lack of purpose.
Characteristics of a Change Leader
If your organization is looking to recruit or identify more change leaders, it is important to look for the following characteristics:
- Influential
- Participative
- Charismatic
- Inspirational
- Transformational
There are also many ways to identify potential change leaders that are already working in your organization. One of the most effective ways of finding employees with leadership potential is through team building activities. There are many leadership activities that are designed with the purpose of exposing leadership qualities in individuals.
Strengthen Organizations Through Team Building
TeamBonding has decades of experience in helping companies create a more productive workplace culture through team-building initiatives. Reach out to us today and explore our unique team building activities that can help you identify change leaders and managers in your organization while also strengthening your team.
