No business can expect to be static and prosper for long; all need to grow and develop. Sometimes the change might be a deliberate and scheduled process - expansion or restructuring of the business; a merger or takeover; a new direction or policy; a significant personnel change perhaps.

Alternatively, however, change might be gradual, a thousand small shifts that obscure the greater curve, disguising the ultimate (and often unforeseen) direction that the company will be headed in. However, change may also come from without; no enterprise is secured either against an economic downturn or the whims of a fickle market, replete perhaps with subsequent downsizing or altered priorities, and many will be potentially subject to outside takeover.

Yet any change to the whole company will take the whole workforce with it. More than that - it'll require all employees to drive the change, to steer the organisation through potentially difficult waters, to work together for an outcome that benefits all. But change can be difficult for employees to accept and work with. They may not understand the nature of the change, or the motivation and necessity for it. They may be unaware of the likely outcome.

Many will have concerns over what the change may mean for job security, or for how their job is likely to be altered in future, with different demands, different working conditions, perhaps relocation. They may also simply feel - in the normal human way - nostalgic, and reticent about the change. If this is your team, you'll have to give them the assistance they need to make the best of the situation, both for themselves and for the company - with the right change management training, you can do that efficiently and easily.

If the workforce hold the keys both to making the change happen successfully, and helping the company to keep moving afterwards, what can you do to make sure that all concerned stay with the process? How can you ensure that your team can be relied upon to stay focused, unified, and confident of the future? Ultimately, your own team, the personalities within and the situations that they face will hold the answers. But there are wider guidelines to follow, that will help point you in the right direction.

Keeping everyone in the know

If there's one sure-fire way of guaranteeing that employees will react badly to change, it would be to spring it on them out of the blue. Yet this remains a surprisingly common approach, as if staff members further down the hierarchy are separate from the whole process, there only to turn up at work and do what they're told. This attitude helps no-one, and will only lead to discontent that can disturb or obstruct the procedure.

Far better, then, to ensure that all understand where the business is heading, and why - and what this will mean for them. It's important not to let rumours grow untrammelled, as they will no doubt be at least partly (if not wildly) inaccurate. What's more, the inevitable spread of rumours can lead to widespread concerns for the future, as a lack of knowledge about the change necessarily breeds worries about what it might mean for jobs. The fear of the dark is, after all, a fear of what may come out of it.

So turn on a light. Keep your staff informed of what is and will be happening, and welcome any feedback you receive; if you have a large business, it can be difficult to ensure that those in all departments feel involved, but making the effort can have a very beneficial result as your company grows into its new position. After all, such change can make for a difficult period of transition for any company, and more than ever you'll need your workforce to be focused on helping the company forward - and yet it's a time when that focus and commitment can potentially be most at risk.

Knowing where you're headed

If the rest of your organisation is to move forward together, it's important that you know where you're leading them. It's not enough simply to know where you hope to end up, the route there has to be clearly mapped out and understood. Making sure that change is planned allows you stay in control; rather than focusing on where the company will be once the change is complete, thorough preparation will allow you to see each stage of the process, and to comprehend more clearly whether the ultimate intention is likely to be achieved as planned.

Something as simple as a to-do list can be a great help. The change will run a lot more smoothly if nothing is left either to chance or the last minute - by preparing and planning everything in advance, your business will stand the best chance of benefiting from and growing through the transition. And once you're sure of each step that you'll have to take, it'll be all the easier to guide the rest of your organisation.

The need for strong leadership

However thoroughly you've prepared yourself and your workforce for the change ahead, there will always remain the possibility of unexpected events impacting upon your transition, particularly if it's a major procedure that will take a significant length of time. Coping with the influences on the process of change can be difficult, and will often make a difficult period even more taxing. It's vitally important, therefore, that you can show strong leadership to your team.

Again, keeping employees informed is important here, making sure everyone is aware of developments and how to address them (both to motivate the workforce and keeping rumours at bay). You should also be aware of any concerns workers might have - being a good listener is a key part of being a strong leader. You might need to keep some members of your team more closely involved than you'd planned, too, as good leadership in these situations will often involve delegating key tasks in order to be able to remain in control of the situation.

But leadership in all its forms is vital in an unpredictable situation. If you can lead your team through difficulties back to the expected and optimistic curve of change and growth, if you can keep all concerned focused and diligent and committed, then the company as a whole and all in it can only benefit. Leaders aren't identified by whether or not things go awry, but how they are dealt with when they do.

Change will always come to your organisation, in one form or another. It should be seen as an opportunity, as something to be made the most of, as a chance to move forward and to develop the company, your team and yourself. A short training course can help you to get the best results from the transitions you have to deal with - and you can be sure to make a change for the better in future.