Archiv der Kategorie: Change management

Here you find all about change management.

When the old is gone and the new is not yet available

After IT has been promising for years to change the world of work, it seems to be really taking off – networks cover almost every location, software is running barrier-free on various types of devices and huge amounts of data can be processed. The final attack on jobs with affinity to IT is taking place under the flag of digitization. Who actually gets hit slowly becomes clear. The probability is high that ALL “simple” activities are now actively moved into computers. Affected are

  • Workers, who perform recurring fabrication and transport work,
  • Service providers, who take over simple tasks from customers,
  • Examiners, who only determine and key in a status,
  • Retailers, offering goods that are cheaper on the Internet and are even delivered to one’s home,
  • Clerks, who sift through, categorize and store documents,
  • Employees, transferring data to a computer,
  • Sellers, who advise customers in mega-stores,
  • and much more.

We are no longer standing in line to stamp our working hours.

Business models, processes and activities are digitized. During the transition it becomes unpleasant for many, as old doors are closing and the new doors have not yet opened. We must adapt our abilities and our thinking to the new conditions. In 2013, the OECD has described three essential skills of adults in working age for processing information.

  • Literacy
    Since Gutenberg enabled for many the access to printed matters, reading has become a fundamental skill. The aim is to understand, evaluate and use all kinds of text. This means the decoding of written words and sentences, their clarification and the interpretation of complex texts – but not their generation. Reading literacy is a basic pre-requisite in business and private contexts.
  • Numeracy
    The occurrence of numbers in the form of notches can be traced back over 30,000 years. The first interpretable signs in Mesopotamia, 6,000 years ago, were agricultural lists and tables. Mathematics has evolved over thousands of years. Already the ancient Greeks hoped to derive the explanations of the world from conclusive algorithms. Today, mathematical skills are indispensable when solving problems. It takes a natural handling of numbers and their mathematical connections as well as the talent to use, interpret and communicate the results. Computational skills are mandatory in business and private environments.
  • Problem solving in technology-rich environments (Digital Literacy)
    In the eighties of the last century, home computers started an unforeseeable development. As late as 1981, Bill Gates thought that a computer would never need more than 640 KB (0.64 MB) of main memory. Today Windows10 needs eight GB (8000 MB) or even 16 GB to be on the safe side. More than half of the world’s population, who also have access to electricity, have a computer. 2.8 billion are using social media and 1.6 billion are shopping online. This requires the ability to operate the corresponding hardware and software as well as the basic functions. This begins with the dial-in to the network, continues with the operation of the user interface and the processing of the information found, to the execution of practical tasks – both business and private. Typical applications are online banking, e-business, social networking, e-government, online training, online travel bookings or Car2Go bookings.

The present handiwork and the current jobs, especially simple tasks, will be taken over by robots and automated systems. This means that the new “thinking” skills become important – reading and digital skills, numeracy skills, academic and technical expertise, problem-solving skills, critical thinking and creativity, cooperation and communication skills as well as coordination and leadership skills. But: the lack of craftsmen will greatly valorize these vital craft professions in the foreseeable future – possibly even make them more profitable than the new skills.

Bottom line: Without being able to read, calculate or operate the computer, today’s decisive channels and activities remain barred to you. No television program that does not refer to the expanded offers on the Internet. More and more transactions with the government have to be processed online. Only a few bank counters that are staffed and cost nothing. It is not surprising that many traditional professions and jobs are disappearing in this context. The future digital society and its new employment opportunities can only be guessed. When the old is gone and the new is not yet available, every man/woman for itself. In this situation it is important to actualize its reading skills, numeracy and digital literacy, since whatever comes up is based on it. Maybe we can have in the near future a look at those emerging new jobs.

P.S.: Nonetheless, the more manually gifted should not be tempted to strive for the unloved STEM professions (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), because most crafts will still be needed in the future. No one lives in a virtual castle or shower with a shower app or update his stuck window.

From nothing simply nothing comes

Common sense tells us that anything adapts to what already is there. Spheres, not cubes, come out of a sphere. In closed systems, it is unlikely that something new will emerge on its own. Except: energy is added from outside. The same is the case in human communities – working groups, departments, and firms. If something has to be changed, it needs a push to get momentum. From nothing simply nothing comes.

The following aspects outline some stimuli that the leaders can give in terms of energy supply.

  • Adaptability
    The persistence in the existing of individual people needs a framework that provides the necessary space for the new. In an appropriate atmosphere that gives employees the chance to make things flexibly on their own, to cooperate across borders and to apply new ideas without any effort changes happen. The customer’s needs are adequately addressed that way. If then the willingness to try new things is encouraged by stress-free, fault-tolerant attitudes and openness, collaborative learning takes place. Thus, all are able to adapt.
  • Participation
    Once you understand that the group creates many more opportunities than individual geniuses, you have to take care to put the team in the position to make decisions at the point of action. This requires that the relevant information is available and that, at the same time, all know that they can and are allowed to contribute positively as well as to plan jointly. This puts the team at the center – with all its objectives, distributed balance of power and group processes. The development of appropriate skills is crucial for the employees, as well as for the leaders, who must give up part of their ego. The contributions through participation of all members cumulate to a larger sum than the sum of individual results.
  • Consistency
    The interaction of many interests leads naturally to a wide range of solutions, which even contradict each other in the worst case. For this reason, conditions have to be created that reduce the divergence of the parties to a healthy degree. The well-known fish that stinks from the head has an important exemplary function. Above all, the desired manners have to be put on paper. This applies to the culture with its convictions, values ​​and the collaboration styles, as well as for the established ways of making decisions and agreeing. To ensure that the described behavior is also put into practice, the executives have the responsibility to take ownership of their expectations and to continuously act accordingly. In addition, they affect personally the employees by consistently expressing the common perspective and by coordinating the involved people accordingly. The consistency of statements, behavior and decisions prevent resistance.
  • Mission
    Eventually the clarification of the mission is the formal element in order to be able to cross the door to the new. The formulated snapshot of the future that describes the targeted final stations, shows the raison d’être of the company. Everyone will then develop its idea of the way to the destination. In the interest of joint collaboration, concrete milestones define reference points, which will again and again realign the forces to the common goal. The more the vision, the mission and the strategy are sharpened for the target group, the clearer they lead the employees. The formulated and accessible mission reduces the interpretation space to a minimum.

Bottom line: Even if the world seems to alter on one way or the other, change that is to be done more quickly or more fundamentally, needs efforts in advance. All those affected people must be able and be permitted to adapt themselves. Platforms for participation have to be created. All aspects of the business must be harmonized in a way that uncertainties concerning the right approach are avoided. And above all, a clear direction must be given. However, this has changed nothing yet. But without these aspects changes are almost impossible. Responsible for creating these basic conditions, which are an effort in advance, is the leadership team. Thereafter the actual change follows. From nothing simply nothing comes.