How to Lead Change Within Your Company in 8 Simple Steps

Does your company struggle with making changes stick? Many companies have learned how to lead change through an eight-step approach that continues to gain advocates almost 20 years after its inception.

This eight-step change management model, developed by John P. Kotter, has been used countless times to implement successful business transformation.

How to Lead Change: The Kotter 8-Step Model

The eight steps are divided into the three activities that are most important for leading change:

• Creating a climate for change.
• Engaging and enabling the organization.
• Implementing and sustaining change.

To successfully complete an activity, you must complete each of the steps within that activity. In the brief summary of Kotter’s model below, you’ll find the activities and steps required to make it work.

Creating a Climate for Change

The first three steps in the model are concerned with preparing to embark upon a change journey.

• Step 1: Create a sense of urgency.
• Step 2: Build the guiding team.
• Step 3: Generate and communicate a vision.

Engage and Enable the Organization

Having assembled a team and set the scene for change, the next three steps include activities to motivate and mobilize the change agents and stakeholders to build change momentum.

• Step 4: Communicate effectively to attain buy-in for the change.
• Step 5: Empower your people to act.
• Step 6: Set out to achieve short-term, easy wins.

Implement the Change and Sustain it

This is where many businesses fail – people are often afraid of change – and, as a result of such resistance, it may feel like fighting a losing battle to keep changes in place.

The final two steps in Kotter’s model serve to prevent these issues and ensure that the new way becomes the “normal” way.

• Step 7: Keep your foot on the gas.
• Step 8: Make sure those changes stick until the changed behaviors or practices become the norm.

How to Lead Change With Asyma Solutions

If you’re considering some process changes or planning to invest in new business software, Asyma Solutions offers consulting, project management, implementation, and support.

We understand change management and will help you overcome resistance and ensure a successful implementation. To arrange a consultation or find out more about our services, please don’t hesitate to contact us today.