It’s always interesting to hear people discuss the question “How do we manage change?”  As an organizational specialist, change presents a constant concern. Even when I’m training organization executives and managers, the question of change brings up the idea that change is often something that suddenly is out of hand and uncontrollable.

Here’s the business and organization reality; change is a part of growth in organizations and in life.  In fact, change is happening on a constant basis.  You can find ways to measure this change so it doesn’t happen by surprise.  In fact, it seems that the lack of forecasting some rather obvious changes by leaders in major US corporations is what resulted in a lot of our current economic crisis – but I digress.

Here are a few basic concepts to know about change and change management.

• The first concept is that organizations are “open systems.”  That means they are a part of the world around them and they are open to the influences of the world around them. Recognizing changes for organizations means staying aware of what’s happening outside as well as inside of the organization.
• An open system is influenced by both internal and external forces.  Internal forces can be controlled from within the organization while external forces effect the organization but these can’t be controlled by the organization. 
• Internal forces that affect any organization include its products or service lines, leadership and management structures, policies and procedures, human resources, marketing strategies, and operations.  These are directly controlled by organization leadership and should be influenced by external changes.
• Some external forces include the political, economic, financial educational, societal changes that directly affect the organization’s industry, location, product, people and stakeholders.
• Both internal and external forces can be watched and monitored in order to predict to the best of the organization leaders ability, the impacts any changes in these forces will have on the organization.  For instance, if politicians change a law that directly affects how your industry exchanges goods and services, this will change internal operations of the organization.  If prices of gas and oil increase and the income levels of people who purchase cars remains relatively the same, the car industry would need to make adjustments to respond to the needs and economic situation of the buying market.
• All parts of a system must work in harmony for greatest effectiveness.  Change often goes array in organizations because the effects of that change on various departments is often overlooked.  In other words, change in one area of the organization has a ripple effect on other areas.  Say for instance, marketing decides that products need to be shipped faster in order to increase customer service. The marketing department creates marketing materials promising faster shipping. However, the shipping department is the ones that have to make the faster shipping happen. They need to inform the marketing department about whether or not faster shipping is possible. This means also looking at the production department to see if products are available faster on a regular basis. It also includes accounting and of course human resources. In other words, every part of the organization system must get involved in a change for it to be effective.
• Society influences changes in the desires of your target market. It is important to watch how society is influencing the buying habits of people in your target market group. While your company provides a particular type of product or service you have to be sure you’re relating in a contemporary manner to the rapidly changing ideas of what’s in or out for your target market group. For instance, if you target young people, you’ll have to constantly change your inventory to keep up with their changing interests.  Some companies fail to make change quickly enough at price points that fit the buying ability of their target group.
• Keep your finger on the pulse point of the consumer market.  In other words, keep looking outward in order to bring new ideas inward.  Hold focus group meetings of people in your target market or let consumers ‘touch” your products.  Companies that set up stations that allow people to try their products have a way to conduct real time research by watching reactions and seeing what keeps people coming back. Even in highly self service industries, company sales people can be trained to ask more questions about buying interests and what the consumer wants. Collect this data to recognize coming changes you need to meet.

Change is going to happen because the world will never stand still.  Setting up systems to collect information is an important and basically simple way to stay informed of coming changes. Awareness for change takes place at all levels of the organization. You can move from simple data collection and awareness systems to more complex forms of forecasting to be sure you are controlling change instead of it controlling you.

Internet based business sites are growing in popularity with more organizations from around the world. They are using the Internet to promote what’s going on in their operations and to respond to the needs of more consumers. 

Being effective on the Internet means developing a website that works to bring in the business you need to succeed. Here are 7 top tips to help organizations design a website that works to attract the clients and business needed for success in any business. 

1. Use your website to let people see who you are.

When you say you are a professional, people want to see you and determine if you project a professional image. That means carefully selecting the photo you put on your website so you will look like the professional you say you are.  

2. Have a simple layout that is easy for the web visitor to navigate.

This doesn’t mean you have to hire an expensive website designer unless you really want to. It’s possible that you could create a basic website in house, particularly if the site is simple and used to generate leads for other types of products or services.  Look for a basic template to use that attracts attention without taking away from the content on the page.  

3. Let your website be attractive to your target audience. 

If you are in a serious profession, don’t use a cartoon or comic look but instead opt for the professional look even using professional settings or people in the graphics. Of course, use the cartoons or other images if that fits your audience.  

4. Consider the age and generation of your target group. 

If you focus on an older audience and even senior citizens, you should avoid using flashing icons and a lot of clip art that will make the site look busy and overwhelming. If you have a young audience this might work just fine. For the Boomer professional audience, consider either a well-suited business professional or keep the design casual if it works for your business.  

5. Use search engine optimization (SEO) techniques.

SEO techniques are essentail in your web writing and web content. This will let your web visitor immediately know that he has reached the correct site. SEO means using the right keywords and those are the words your site visitor will look for when they land on your home page. Using these techniques lets people find you so they can buy from you. Keep your content fresh and updated. Research the keywords that work best for your content and webpage headings and use them  

6. Make sure the pages load quickly.

Some web research says you have 4 to 7 seconds to get the attention of your web visitor. That means if the person has to wait a long time for you site to load, she might click away. Use small optimized photos to show your products that don’t take a long time to load.  

7. Keep your site focused on the obvious topic of the site. 

Visitors will get confused on a site that splits its focus between several unique products. If you are selling coaching, resist the urge to also sell crafts and jewelry. Maintaining a tight focus at first will help you build a customer base. Besides, the customers interested in coaching may not be the same customer that would buy jewelry online. If you want to sell another product, place each on a separate webpage or start another website for it.  

Creating an effective website is important for success for an organization. After doing all of these steps, be sure to keep the navigation easy so visitors can find their way around your site. The Internet and websites in particular are intimidating to some people so keep you site basic. Opt for a simple point and click method of navigation instead of using fancy graphics that are not obviously links and navigation menu items. Test new links before going live in case they don’t work. If your site looks complicated, many customers will simple click away. 

Use these 7 top tips will help you design a website for your organization that  works.