When it comes to making crucial changes to boost operational growth, time waits for no business. Change of any nature can breed resistance within your leadership and core teams and because people rarely relish the prospect of upsetting the status quo, the road to transformation can become a rather long-winded process.

But choosing to manage resistance out of your business is not always as clear-cut as it might first seem and it could lead to further obstacles along the way.

Facing facts that change is needed is only the first step towards new beginnings, but it is seldom the case that everyone is as positive as you are about making it happen.

Making impactful change often goes hand in hand with making difficult and sometimes awkward decisions and it is this aspect that can lead us down the wrong path initially or at the very least, an unnecessary detour.

Managing resistance out of a business, particularly if the resistance is coming from a place of influence and authority, can be very tricky and it may take six months or more to remove that barrier.

Then if things don’t pan out the way you had hoped, you could be looking at a further six months to appoint a replacement and then the same again for that new recruit to get to grips with the business and its objectives.

Don’t delay the inevitable

Before you know it 18 months to two years have passed before that barrier is removed and the appropriate set up is in place. Very few businesses will have the luxury window of 18 months or more to implement critical change.

Change, once it’s agreed, tends to be instant and immediate in nature, particularly if that change is driven by failure or financial concern. Adding bottlenecks simply delays what is inevitable and helps nobody in the long term.  Leading transformational change is always about leading with intent and not persona.

For example, it might feel uncomfortable to remove someone from your team that you have a great personal connection with, but if you aren’t on the same page, you’re banging your head against a brick wall in what will fast become a losing battle.

Clarity in leadership speaks volumes because it builds trust and confidence, which are vital if you expect everyone around you to jump aboard for the ride. You need likeminded people that are motivated by the need for change.

If you notice real barriers and threats to your future business objectives you have to deal with them quickly and respectfully keeping your overall intent in mind. In short, you have to cut once, but cut deep.  This could be in the form of redundancies, team changes, reduced earnings or changes in business structure or reporting line.

Changes with impact must have purpose

Once the tough decisions have been made, the impact is always softened if you are able to explain and justify your actions and show how that fits with the overall goal for the business.

If people can see that you have made a specific change for a valid reason, they are less likely to revolt against it, leaving you to continue on the journey with the support you need.  A good analogy is that if something integral is broken you take all reasonable measures to fix it.

The key is straight, visible communication at all levels, delivered quickly.  Waiting too long to announce changes may appear devious from an outside perspective, could cloud reactions and often leads to assumptions and negativity, not to mention lack of trust.

For change to be successful it has to be associated with positivity, empowerment and honesty.

It is important for people to feel like they are part of the ongoing success and the proposed strategy for change and a strong and happy culture therefore, becomes a major element of transforming a business.

If people can start to understand and recognise that difficult changes are made in line with putting people at the top of the agenda, any initial negativity will heal. If changes are made to secure growth or improve chances of survival into the future, any cuts made will have purpose behind them and in turn, will encourage support from the wider team.

Change becomes self-perpetuating

Once the change journey is in full swing and you have around 40% of your workforce behind you, people start to see the benefits of change and it becomes self-perpetuating and tends to manage itself. But it’s important that you continue to celebrate success as well as face up to errors in judgment if necessary.

However, if mistakes are made during the process of change (and it does happen), it’s best to acknowledge these but avoid dwelling on them because that is an even greater waste of time, as mentioned - something that you simply don’t have the luxury of.

Before long change should become normality, or close to it and that is when the real business transformation starts to take shape.

Kevin Watson is managing director at Amadeus, a catering solutions business.