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Don’t let change overwhelm your organization!

The phrase, “the world is shrinking,” symbolizes the global influence of technological growth and innovation. While most people stress over these ongoing changes, developing thorough and consistent change management procedures often restores a much needed sense of control in the workplace.

While change affects every work sector, nonprofits in particular often view change in two opposing viewpoints—either as opportunity for mission advancement or as a risk for total organizational downfall. By analyzing the most predominant changes seen throughout the nonprofit world, these organizations can better predict and prepare for such adjustments.

Changes prevalent throughout the nonprofit workforce include:

Increasing demand for high-tech information technology
Greater focus on efficient administrative and cost practices
Staffing changes
Restructuring of job requirements or work practices

Though change can be difficult, it can be an asset used to further a nonprofit’s overall development, as long as proper procedures are followed.

Here are a few methods to help you cope with change:

Have your managerial staff rate your organization’s competencies, relevant to change management. Evaluate things like your organization’s readiness for change, board attitude towards change, executive leadership, and your financial stability.
Once you know change will occur, determine all potential effects. It’s important to decipher what factors influenced the change in the first place, to help identify future changes. Additionally, looking at every anticipated effect can help you counteract a negative impact.
Communicate with your staff and encourage feedback, when warranted. In order to avoid feelings of panic or unease among your employees, be sure to inform them what changes are likely to occur and when. Be sure to explain how change will affect both individual positions and the organization as a whole. Allowing your staff to provide feedback will not only give them a sense of control, but also allow you the time to alter changes based off of employees’ suggestions.
Evaluate all changes and review the success rates. Decide whether or not the change was successful and beneficial to your nonprofit’s growth. Be honest with yourself—learn from the mistakes made when the change was implemented and adjust future procedures accordingly.

While you can’t always control change, you can control how you react and integrate change within your organization. Because change is often unexpected, it’s important to learn from your mistakes and keep tabs on what was done right. Remember, without change, the world is static. And change is what gives your nonprofit the ability to move forward.