There is nothing permanent in life but change, a phrase that has proven to be particularly on-the-nose for the business world over the past two years.

Change is a certainty, but it can be difficult for many organisations to adapt to new processes, systems and culture, unless they absolutely must. How many companies had their hand forced by the global pandemic to implement a digital transformation strategy, that included their communication platform

Many businesses can also be wary of adopting change management practices in a world of intense competition, increasing complexity, and raised expectations from employees

“People deal with change in different ways, whether that’s organisational change or new things in life,” said Marko Stevanovic, Adoption & Change Management Practice Lead at CPS.

“Change management makes sure that everyone in the business is on the same page and that the organisation is actually undergoing change. If you don’t have everyone on board with what needs to be done, then the organisation won’t realise the benefits of the change.”

Not only has the practice of work changed fundamentally for most organisations, as many employees opt to work in a hybrid manner, says Stevanovic, but managers also must contend with a workforce that spans five generations, and the specific manner in which those demographics prefer to work.

Last September, Microsoft said its Teams collaboration platform had 250m monthly active users, with Teams Phone hitting 80m. Microsoft Teams provides a cohesive manner in which each generation can engage with change management practices, Stevanovic says.

“For example, Gen Z are very familiar with mobile devices and smartphones, and it doesn’t matter what type of device they use to work on, whereas older generations often prefer to have everything on computers,” he explained.

Change management is important because it ensures organisations see a quicker return on investment in their IT strategies, said Stevanovic.

He said: “We try to understand the benefits for companies in delivering that change, helping the technical team to release and deliver the functionalities in order to cover the most benefits requested from the senior stakeholders.

“If you’re just deploying Teams without considering the proper adoption and change management approach, you won’t realise the benefits as quickly, so you won’t have a quicker return on investment.”

“You might deploy something new with a good approach that takes four months, but if it takes you 12 months to get to the same place with a bad approach,” said Stevanovic, “then the question is whether such ‘benefits’ are still benefits because they are delivered late.”

The ubiquity of Microsoft Teams in the Office 365 landscape means it provides a “single window”

for companies to promote changing operational and culture practices among their workers, he maintains.

CPS offers organisations a change management strategy and delivery plan catered to their specific needs, from global transformations and complex organisational restructuring, to implementing new workplace cultures and operations. Its change management consultants assess an organisation’s entire operation – from staff, customers and partners to systems and processes – to ensure the company is truly ready to undergo a successful change.

 

 



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