Brainstorming as a Tool for Change Management
Brainstorming is the process where people come together and creatively contribute solutions towards identified issues at work. Making changes in an organization is a critical process that requires creativity, members’ contributions, and the generation of new ideas to ensure that the modifications made positively impact the employees and the organization in general (Baran & Woznyj,2020). Human Resource managers, therefore, rely on brainstorming as a tool to make organizational changes, as discussed in this article.
Teamwork among all employees, regardless of their positions, is required for effective organizational change management. Brainstorming is an effective tool that allows room for team building, encourages collaboration, and calls for everyone’s contribution, where all members are given a common ground. No one has ownership over the results. Similarly, HR managers must ensure that employees’ welfare is well maintained and comfortable in the working environment. Therefore, any change introduced must be structured to ensure that all employees’ needs are addressed, and this can only be achieved by seeking the thoughts of the employees who will be affected in the long run. Brainstorming in such a situation allows everyone to air their ideas on what they believe will be best for everyone, and the HR managers can gather content on what to incorporate and what not to.
To make effective changes, rich ideas are required. Through brainstorming, people are likely to generate innovative and large numbers of views faster, which the HR managers can refine and merge to create an ideal organizational change. Also, it is through brainstorming that all employees bring their different perspectives and think outside the box. Moreover, during brainstorming, employees unlock their creativity and give HR managers a chance to pick these genius ideas and implement change based on them to make better changes (Baran & Woznyj,2020). Therefore, through brainstorming, HR managers may get great ideas for the change program that they could not have had without involving everyone.
In all organizations, employees need to feel appreciated and included in the matters of the organization, such as decision-making. Brainstorming is a tool that allows employees to offer input and insights and feel more comfortable bouncing ideas which make them feel included in the change initiative and not besieged or alienated (Ratnawat,2018). The last thing that HR managers want to see or hear of is employees resisting change. When employee’s opinions are picked during the brainstorming process and included in the change management, it is guaranteed that the difference will face zero resistance and instead will receive full support making it easier to implement. Also, introducing change is likely to be met with frustrations and mistakes as people try to adopt the new strategies when they are involved. The ideas they contributed in the brainstorming will be less frustrating or mistakes because they will be enforcing their ideas, which also leads to more productivity despite the new changes.
In conclusion, change management aims to successfully implement an innovative new process in the organization while minimizing adverse outcomes. The best strategies should synchronize with the needs of the employees to be successful and receive no resistance. Brainstorming is an effective strategy that ensures the most innovative ideas are garnered and incorporated into the change process. This encourages employees, makes them feel valued, and introduces the concept of collaboration and teamwork that makes implementing change easy and successful.
References:
Baran, B. E., & Woznyj, H. M. (2020). Managing VUCA: The human dynamics of agility. Organizational Dynamics.
Ratnawat, R. K. (2018). Competency based human resource management: Concepts, tools, techniques, and models: A review. Competency.
David Lovell
Master of Business Administration
Festus, Missouri
