Negotiation and Organizational Change
When things are changing at work, everyone involved in the change needs to be able to deal with a new situation.
During a change process, it’s important that employees do not simply accept what they are told, but question the change. A good change manager should always be open for suggestions.
Then when the change manager and staff deal with each other and discuss these suggestions, they need to be able to come to an agreement. By doing this, they increase the chances of a successful organizational change.
And this is where negotiation is important. There is no space here for me to go into detail, but here is a link to a test from Edinburgh University Business School that will help you determine your negotiation style.
Good change managers are good negotiators – fact!
Business English Resource
These days, a lot of the world talks in English when they are doing business.Are you involved with companies outside Germany? Or do you deal with parts of your own company where they speak English?
Change management programmes often have international components where the change manager needs to speak English. How good is your business English?
FT Deutschland has a good page with material here.
Communicating and change management
‘Facetime’, ‘fokussieren’ and many more…
It’s normal that each area of life has its own specific terms. The Financial Times Deutschland collected some of the words and phrases that are less meaningful than others. They are the kind of words that you can use in meetings if you want to sound as if you know what you are talking about.
But beware – these particular words and phrases are empty of meaning!
More seriously, it has been shown that managers who rely too much on buzzwords like these are less well regarded than people who use clear and concise language.
It’s not only what you say, it’s the way you say it.
Language and Organizational Change
In my work, I often comment on the importance of communication for organizational change management. This insight is based on both practical experience and research. Here is an extract from an article I wrote about language and organizational change.
Theorists started to study the relationship between language and organization in the 1980s, when language began to be understood not simply as a mechanism of communication, but rather as a fundamental aspect of organization and organising.
Language-in-use is often referred to as discourse. In its narrowest and most traditional definition, discourse refers only to spoken dialogue. A fuller understanding of discourse, however, includes both speech acts and written texts. The most radical view is that organization exists only through language, leading to views of organization as text, or as narrative, or as constituted in discourse.
It has been shown that there is great value in looking at discourse during change processes. Language, in the form of conversations, stories and rumours, is a significant factor in the way change is conceptualised. The way in which organizational members negotiate meaning in the change process is through discursive practices and textual objects. Indeed, coherent language use can play a significant role in the outcome of change initiatives. One study of the introduction of new technology on the London Insurance Market demonstrates that there are fragmented and competing discourses within an organization. Consequently, competition between groups takes place through discourse.
Conversation is one of the most common forms of communication in the workplace. Studies of managerial activities have shown that managers spend a large part of their time in carrying out oral communications. The act of conversation and the content of conversation produce action, which indicates why conversations can play an important part in a change process.
Stories play a significant role in the creation and maintenance of meaning in organizations and hence in the development and maintenance of organizational culture. The informal nature of storytelling does not mean that it is not important. It has been shown, for example, that the use of stories enables change to take place, as when an executive’s storytelling enabled him to convince colleagues to move in new direction.
Discourse – communication – is a mechanism through which change happens, and it should therefore be considered in an investigation of change processes.
Managers and consultants should also pay attention to language when leading and managing change processes.
Good questions for organizational change management
“What kind of employees do you want? What kind of organisation do you want?”
These questions are posed in an FT book review that you can read here. No matter how you answer them, you need to do some organizational change to have the kind of organization you want.
But before you decide, here’s a tip — speak to the employees first. They will tell you what organizational change is needed.
Corporate Blogging
An interesting article in manager-magazin (in German) about corporate blogging – Corporate Blogging: Kommunikation 2.0
During all kinds of change initiative it is important to keep staff members informed at all times. They should be told before the change starts why the change is happening at that particular time. Then while the change process is unfolding, they ought to be kept up to date with the progress of the change. Tell them what challenges are being encountered, and how these are being addressed.
Then when the change process is over, let them know how the goals of the change are being met. And if they are not being met, say what you’re going to do about it.
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