Structured change in entrepreneurship

By Farai Chigora | May. 12, 2024

The role of the entrepreneur here is to keep them motivated and energised to do more even in the process of change.

IN business, change is inevitable. Entrepreneurs survive through adjustments and adaptation. Situations are not forever so we must comply.

We usually talk about change that is macro in relation to our national/global business environment with a little focus on the acceptance by those who are within the enterprise.

Change is broad and a key agent for business growth/downfall.

In this edition, we focus on the needed preparedness to accept change by all members, especially those at a lower level through well calculated entrepreneurial leadership.

Most of the existing discussions talk about resistance to change as a barrier to business success.

The same applies in our entrepreneurial businesses, which makes us go back to the drawing board in order to come up with leadership inspired change for acceptance by all and business sustainability.

Some practitioners developed models/matrices for structured change here we infuse all for a simplified application by our entrepreneurial businesses.

Together everyone achieves more as from the TEAM acronym which then calls for a systematic/integrated approach when handling change. No one should be left behind in business re-engineering.

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It is worrisome that the leadership of most entrepreneurs creates silos for one reason or another, yet they anticipate growth in capital and profitability.

This time we re-think and structure for an entrepreneurial business that is ready to move on with new doings as inspired by both positive and negative forces.

To start with, there are some key human resource transferable skills that need to be part of the entrepreneurs’ daily practice, where treating people fairly for any role(s) should lead the way.

Remember even in the advent of Artificial Intelligence(s) humans are still an asset for business prosperity.

The role of the entrepreneur here is to keep them motivated and energised to do more even in the process of change.

There is a need to have effective communication at all levels of the entrepreneurial business structure.

Some leaders just change systems/processes without clearly informing their subordinates and other key stakeholders the reason(s) for such.

Naturally, people have fear of the unknown such that they react negatively in their attitudes, feelings and overall performance when changes come as an uncommunicated surprise.

As aforementioned, teams are critical as they make or break viability the entrepreneur should then have rapport for a cooperative engagement with all members when internalising change in the business.

This will then help in managing the conflicts from some misunderstandings that might arise in the processes.

Here the overall role of an entrepreneur is to manage and promote positive social interaction that is spearheaded by change.

Going on with our discussion, resistance to change has derailed entrepreneurial business progression as mentioned earlier.

Systems, equipment and technologies are easy to adjust during change as long as there is enough capital to do so.

But humans have feelings, perceptions and experiences that are difficult to control for conformity, making the majority of employees sceptical when proper change strategies are not applied.

Consequently, we have to come up with more clinical and psychological approaches to minimise doubts especially by the low level staff as implementers who are usually on the interface to deal with customers directly.

There have been some identified stages in managing change by individuals and groups where the first one is to control shock in whoever feeling to be negatively affected by change.

It is through talking, interacting and in-depth searches where the entrepreneur is made to know this status level in his/her team(s).

Boardroom talks are not enough.

There is a need to do workshops, simulations, mentoring and even talent identification within the teams.

This does not only end on shock identification but goes on to know group leaders, influencers, advocates and ambassadors for change.

It is a shared process indeed where delegation can be practiced in spearheading change.

The process goes on such that if the first stage of shock/denial is not managed, there will be high resistance and defence against any change that is required by the entrepreneurial business.

An individual or group will be asking questions mainly why they have to change and what is there for them.

There should be benefits associated with the transformation. If the process is well managed up to the end through support and experiments, the members will know the benefits up to a stage where they will have confidence in the new state of affairs.

Ultimately, as the entrepreneur engages into what I call successfully mentored change, then the business will thrive with everyone accepting adaptation and commitment.

Till then, let’s give it a try. This might be the reason why your ship is capsising.

Dr Farai Chigora is a businessman and academic. He is the head of management and entrepreneurship at the Africa University’s College of Business, Peace, Leadership and Governance. His doctoral research focused on business administration (destination marketing and branding major, Ukzn, SA). He is into agribusiness and consults for many companies in Zimbabwe and Africa. He writes in his personal capacity and can be contacted for feedback and business at [email protected], www.fachip.co.zw, WhatsApp mobile: +263772886871