Principles of supporting change in a business environment Essay

You should use this file to complete your Assessment. The first thing you need to do is save a copy of this document, either onto your computer or a disk Then work through your Assessment, remembering to save your work regularly When you’ve finished, print out a copy to keep for reference Then, go to www.vision2learn.com and send your completed Assessment to your tutor via your My Study area – make sure it is clearly marked with your name, the course title and the Unit and Assessment number. Please note that this Assessment document has 3 pages and is made up of 3 Sections. Name: Section 1 – Understand why change happens in a business environment 1. Explain why change happens in a business environment. You should include at least three reasons in your answer. There are few factors which constantly pressure organizations to adapt and they force change in a business environment. We can apply here PEST acronym, it means that changes in business environment happen for political, social or technical reasons. Political changes are out of business’ control. They need to adapt to the all law changes. If not, they can even be prosecuted. Economic changes are dependable i.e. from the exchange rate due to its high influence on import and export. Economic change is also a change forced by a competition on the market. Products or services need to be competitive in price or/and quality, otherwise company will not prosper well. Social change comes from customer’s attitude and buying preferences. It can be shaped by media and big events. Technical change is forced by new technologies. To be competitive, and to be ahead of the competitors means, that company has to be up to date with modern solutions. Section 2 – Understand the purpose of supporting change in a business environment 1. Identify the main reasons for reviewing working methods, products and / or services in a business environment. Business environment is very changeable. Services or/and products have to be constantly efficient, so they have to be continuously reviewed. It ensures that company stays competitive and meets the targets. One of reasons of reviewing working methods is a change in a service/product. All related procedures need to be updated to be sufficient. Company has to make sure that all methods are updated and best possible from currently known. They has to agree with all standards. In ensures, that company is competitive and meet customers’ requirements. 2. When a business is going through change: a) Describe the different types of support that people may need. There are people, who can adapt to change really well and those, who can not. It is really important for company to make sure, that all employees feel comfortable with new changes. There are some universal ways of supporting people within a business change: Effective planning helps to avoid a chaos during the change. It shows all employees that everything was well planned and considered. Participation makes it easier to adapt. It is very important for team members to feel valued part of change. Clear communications and expectations. People have to be well informed and know what is happening, why and how things will look like after. Training or  retraining. There will be new work methods, new equipment, procedures. Employees need to receive training to be able to work effectively. Encouragement and other supportive behaviours are important for team members. Positive attitude is needed, smiling, encouragements and understanding. b) Explain the benefits of working with others. Working with others gives a wide range of different ideas and opinions. Different people will have different approaches to same problem. Different skills are brought to one project by all the team members. In time of change working with others may be really helpful, team members know each other and can help one another when it is necessary. When we do not work as a part of a team communication an relations get worse. The team is unsuccessful as well as individuals. Such a behaviour does not benefit anyone. Section 3 – Understand how to respond to change in a business environment 1. In relation to your current business environment (or one that you are familiar with): a) Explain why you should respond positively to changes in working methods. Changes happen for a reason and are unavoidable if a company wants to remain successful. It is very helpful to keep positive attitude in all this situation. Positive approach will help us to adapt faster and will influence other team members. Negative response will create difficult environment to work in by financing others in a bad way. b) Explain why you should respond positively to changes in products or services. We should respond positively to changes in products or services to positively influence and motivate others. Positive attitude helps to ensure that change is coming through smoothly and without unnecessary disruptions. c) Identify ways of responding positively to change. First positive response is recognizing the change as something positive, a possibility to gain new skills, to grow as an employee and possibly make a career progression. We should try to attend all offered trainings and motivate our colleagues to do so. We should avoid getting involved in negative conversation and try to spread a positive attitude and always look for support from other team members or a manager if we feel it is necessary.  Once you have completed all 3 Sections of this Assessment, go to www.vision2learn.com and send your work to your tutor for marking.