The Importance of Celebrating Milestones

When a milestone is achieved at the place of work, there is a need to celebrate as it gives the members involved morale. For a short-term win to be celebrated, there is a need to identify and consolidate the win throughout the change process.

Setting Goals/Targets

            When initiating change in an organization, there is a need to set goals or targets that should be met within a given period of time. It is therefore essential to establish a sense of urgency to meet the target and help the other members understand the need for change. This would convince the members of the importance of change, thereby the true urgency will be appreciated. The employees will be clearly focused and make real progress. Hughes (2015) asserts that leadership is appreciated when a person efficaciously frames and defines the reality for others. Therefore, as a leader should explain what the target is to be met and the timeframes. Assembling a team with enough power to lead the change effort has to be established, this is a team that has the right vision and is dedicated.

Developing a Change Vision

                  The direction of the route to be taken by the team to achieve the desired changes has to be established and communicated to the team. This also entails informing the member that each achievement would be celebrated. The effort of each member has to be recognized while the project is in the progress. This serves to motivate the employee and see that their effort is acknowledged. When an employee take action in the right direction even if the first step is not desired, let their effort be recognized and appreciated. Coordination of the efforts made by the members in a fast and efficient way would see the desired changes achieved. The effort made by a single staff has to be identified when the employee demonstrates that he has understood what the future is like, that is, he is imaginable. Identification of the short term achievement would be made where it is established that the team appeals to the long-term interest of the enterprise.

Teamwork

                  It would be evident that the change is being embraced when the staff adopts a teamwork when working towards achieving the set goals. Certain people in the group would be acting as guide or leaders in accelerating the achievement of the bigger goal. When there are volunteers who are willing to lead others in the team without coercion, then it denotes that there are achievements to be celebrated. It is not easy to have people embrace change without resistance. According to Caulfield & Senger (2017), the result of change is mainly reliant upon leadership. It is thus stipulated by Moutousi & May (2018) that change is frequently met with opposition from change receivers. The study further found that unethical leadership can activate supporter opposition to change.  This, therefore, indicates that when the employees are working as a team without resistance to the change, a milestone has been achieved that need to be celebrated.

Generation of Short-term Wins

                  This is through the creation of visible, unambiguous success. This is met by establishing visible achievements that would be met by the employees who would, in turn, be rewarded. The win helps in ensuring that the overall change initiative is successful. The win has to be related to the change effort employed by the staff. This is because the win would provide evidence that the sacrifice made by the employee is paying off.

Continuing with Momentum

                  The effect of rewarding achievement of the members of the team is that it increases the sense of urgency and optimism of the staff making the changes happen. Provision of positive feedback boost the morale of the employees and motivation and this causes them to continue working to achieve the intended change. When the effort of the team or member is recognized, it helps to fine tune the strategy and keeps the members in the correct track. Recognition and awarding of short-term wins lowers the credibility of self-serving resistors, thereby causing them to abandon their resistance and combine effort with others to continue working towards the change.

                  The momentum from this short-term win should be adopted in the organization and adopted as permanent element through continuously recognizing the effort of the employees. The reward would be in form of money or acknowledge the effort of the employee, naming one as an employee of the month or appreciating their effort and requesting other to emulate that employee as the role model. Since it is difficult for a short-term win to happen by themselves, it would require elaborate planning and effort by dedicated people who have adequate management skill. It would be impossible or challenging to achieve both short-term and long-term wins if there are no committed managers. At times, it would require pressure for change to be embraced in an organization. This, therefore, requires consolidation of gains to produce more change by hiring, promoting and developing employees. In the long run, the senior leaders should be focused on giving clarity that aligns vision of the organization and the purpose of change.

References

Caulfield, J. L., & Senger, A. (2017). Perception is reality: change leadership and work engagement. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 38(7), 927-945.

Hughes, M. (2015, July). How did Bernard Bass and John Kotter frame transformational leadership and leading change?. Developing Leadership Capacity conference.

Moutousi, O., & May, D. (2018). How Change-related Unethical Leadership Triggers Follower Resistance to Change: A Theoretical Account and Conceptual Model. Journal of Change Management, 18(2), 142-161.