Why this is important

There are many times when you will want to make changes to improve your business. It is important that you make them effectively so that they disrupt your business as little as possible and achieve what you want.

Who might do this

You might do this if you:

• have recently reviewed a business or social enterprise;
• have identified changes in your business or social enterprise, or its market to which you need to react; or
• wish to change the way your business or social enterprise works or take it in a new direction.

What it involves

Making changes to improve your business involves:

• identifying what changes you need to make and how to make them;
• making sure they do not have a negative effect on the people or your business; and
• monitoring and evaluating the changes to make sure they happen as you intended.

Other units that link closely with this

Links to other standards

If your business grows and develops a management team it may be appropriate to consider the following units from the Management and Leadership Standards.

1. Use reliable information to identify changes in line with what you want for your business.
2. Think about anything that may stop you achieving the changes, and identify ways of dealing with them.
3. Decide what risks you are prepared to take and make sure they are worth it.
4. Give opportunities for relevant people to comment on proposed changes and contribute to planning change.
5. Explain proposed changes clearly, accurately and in good time to anyone who needs to know about them.
6. Plan changes accurately and in detail and clearly identify the implications for all those involved.
7. Think about what resources you need to make your change happen.
8. Check and confirm people's understanding of the implications of the change and their commitment to their role in the process.
9. Allocate resources and support so that the changes can take place.
10. Monitor the changes and solve any problems that arise.
11. Make sure that work is not affected whilst the change is happening.
12. Make sure that changes have achieved what you wanted them to.

Planning

1. How to assess changes, before they are made to make sure they are likely to achieve the results you want, by reviewing the costs, benefits and risks that you are prepared to take.
2. What problems could prevent your plans being achieved and how you might deal with them.
3. The importance of planning for the management of change and how to plan for it.
4. What resources are needed to carry out your plans, how you will get them and how much they will cost (for example, products, staff, finance, premises, plant, equipment, marketing and administration).

Motivating others

5. The value of consulting all relevant people (for example, business advisers, partners, shareholders, stakeholders, staff, customers and suppliers).
6. How to communicate with everybody involved in your business about your plans and how to motivate people and encourage them to put your plans into practice.

Monitoring

7. The importance of monitoring and evaluating change and how to make sure it does not have a negative effect on current work or your business.