Managing Change: The Art of Balancing

This HBR OnPoint update of a 1993 HBR paper examines the dangers of organizational change and how to build trust to overcome them. Major change initiatives frequently lead to anger, alarm, alienation, and confusion among employees. Successfully managing change requires managing emotions which are traditionally banned from the workplace. The author urges change efforts that balance content, processes, and employee emotions and behaviors. Successful balancing requires employee trust which is built through predictability and capability, as well as employee empowerment.

The author argues that effective change initiatives should be led by a Transition Management Team (TMT). The TMT’s responsibilities include: Establishing context for change; stimulating conversation; providing resources; coordinating projects; ensuring congruence of messages and behaviors; providing opportunities for joint creation; anticipating and addressing people problems; and preparing the critical mass. Each of these ideas is well explained and practically outlined. The author’s suggestion comes down to a quite radical change in typical organizational processes, but deserves serious attention.