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Main Components of Change Management in Organizations
Main Components of Change Management in Organizations
Main Components of Change Management in Organizations
NAME:
REG NO:
HD333-C002-3768/2015
NAME:
ELIZABETH WAHITO
REG NO:
HD333-C002-/2015
NAME:
CAROLINE WAMBUI
REG NO:
HD333-C002-/2015
NAME:
ROBERT
REG NO:
HD333-C002-/2015
COURSE:
UNIT CODE:
Adapting to change
Controlling change
Effecting change.
A proactive approach to dealing with change is at the core of all three aspects.
For an organization, change management means defining and implementing procedures and/or
technologies to deal with changes in the business environment and to profit from changing
opportunities.
Components of change management
Change management can be defined by three main components:
1) Adapting to change,
2) Handling the change
3) Effectively putting forth that change.
All of these components must be dealt with before any change is instituted. If not, you will not
be successful.
Assessment step of the change management cycle
1) Identify the obstacles you will face when trying to implement your change.
Conduct a brainstorm to list all the obstacles you may face when trying to implement your
change. For example, obstacles against change could include: employee attitudes, cultural norms,
bureaucracy, lack of technology to support the change, etc. Once charted, assign a numeric
strength to each obstacle. This exercise quickly identifies areas that will impede your success, so
you can address them. For example, if group performance norms are a force against the change,
you should focus on helping members learn new skills.
2) Conduct surveys, interviews, and focus groups to assess the current state of employee
engagement compared to your desired state.
There are two main areas for which organizations are recommended to gather feedback:
a) Employee engagement
Employee engagement research is more advanced than employee satisfaction surveys, which
only give you insights around if an employee is content with their job and work environment.
Employee engagement surveys go further to measure the extent to which employees feel
committed and passionate about their jobs and are aligned with your organizations strategy. The
difference is asking questions to determine if your employees are motivated to go beyond the
standard call of duty, do they love their work and look for ways look to improve their work
experience, or are they just there to collect a paycheck.
b)Employee communications
This research measures employee understanding of an organizations vision and the path to get
there. It also gives you insights into how well you are communicating items to employees and
the best methods for doing so.
3. Outline who needs to know about the change and when they need the information.
Dont assume everyone needs to know everything about the change. Employees are already
overwhelmed with too much information coming from their employers. Identify and segment
employees based on who will be directly, indirectly or not impacted at all by the change. Plan to
adjust outreach and tailor communications accordingly. As youre going through initial planning
for the change, you may want to limit communications to high-level supervisors and managers,
so they are prepared to answer employee questions if information leaks. However, if information
is unavailable, you may want to hold off on communicating more broadly to any employees until
more details are available. You want to be able to answer the main questions employees will have
before you start communicating with them.
4. Establish ongoing feedback mechanisms.
As an ongoing cycle with overlapping chapters, change management is a constant mix of
communicating, listening, analyzing and adapting. Its important to gather insights throughout
the change process to confirm your communication strategies are having the impact you want.
Try pulse checks each quarter that focus on the top five questions for measuring employee
engagement or employee communications throughout the change process. Establish an employee
advisory board representing a cross-functional team of company representatives that meet on a
regular basis. Have them offer feedback for addressing issues and concerns based on their
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experiences in different departments. Its also important to measure progress against benchmarks
from your original assessment. This will illuminate areas where you need to prioritize your
efforts and help you demonstrate progress.
KEY DRIVERS OF CHANGE
Introduction
As a change leader or consultant, you must understand the catalysts that are driving the needed
changes in your organization in order to design and implement an effective change strategy.
There are seven different types of catalysts, or drivers, of organizational change, all of which
must be addressed to accurately scope your change effort and plan its roll out strategy. The seven
drivers are shown in the Drivers of Change Model and defined below. This tool assists you to
identify the specific drivers of your particular change and formulate them into a story that paints
a compelling and integrated story about why your change is needed. Once you identify the
drivers of your change, you can use the information to help you:
A change plan is an explanation of the proposed changes and the steps needed to achieve them
(Lorri Freifeld, 2013)
Change management process
The picture below depicts the three-phase change management process and the associated
outputs of the process. The change management pilot is built on the process, including all of the
associated templates and assessments for each phase of the process.
1) Preparing the Change
Process involved in this stage
a) Define your change management
b) Prepare your change management
c) Develop your sponsorship model
Outputs in this phase
2) Managing change
Process involved in this stage
a) Develop change management plans
b) Take action and implement plans
Outputs in this phase
Communications plan
Training plan
Coaching plan
Outputs
Transition plan
might react to the change and what will have to be done for successful adoption and execution.
Get feedback from everyone you deem necessary.
Determine what is working and what isnt, as well as improvements and changes that could be
made by asking well-crafted questions. Importantly, while youre checking in with your team,
also get their perspectives on the company, the marketplace, the competition, and your
customers.
Develop an Effective Communication Plan
To manage sustainable change, you must communicate a clear vision of the project. Begin by
developing an effective communication strategy for company-wide adoption, which is the
cornerstone for the support, execution, and success of the plan.
You will have already informally introduced the proposed project and received feedback, so now
you can finalize and deliver your formal communication plan. Set an upbeat, energized tone from
the get-go. Be open and freely share all information about the pending change.
Follow up with your people with these essential steps:
Discuss what the change may look like and how it may affect departments and individual
employees
Speak in terms of how the company and everyone will benefit from the change
Establish roles and responsibilities for how the change will be achieved; that is, who is
going to do what, when, why, and how
Whenever possible, have all the appropriate people involved in any change discussion, and do it
in a timely fashion to eliminate information vacuums, rumors, and resentment. Make them part
of the entire process.
Eliminate Implementation Barriers
Everyone perceives change in different ways. Keep in mind that change can be disruptive and
upsetting to people. There will be those who are stimulated by the change and welcome it, but
you cant expect everyone to be happyit just isnt going to happen. The truth is, some people
will complain and some will view the change as a weapon of mass disruption and resist its
implementation. Be prepared to maneuver through some minefields and to deal with a plethora
of fear and concern when introducing change.
In our consulting practice, we create significant change in many companies we work with.
Interestingly, the first barriers we often face are from the very executives who call us in to make
the changes. They are tentative about taking on the unknown, disruption, fears, and concerns that
accompany the change process. We help them prepare for the tidal wave of potential opposition
with an overwhelming, compelling, and persuasive plan to ensure successful adoption.
Understand the potential obstacles from all quarters for the change plan you have in mind. To
give the project and yourself the highest level of credibility possible, anticipate problems and
peoples objections, and prepare viable answers and solutions. Its likely youll encounter
resistance, so be prepared for concerns from managers and employees.
Factor into your execution plan the time to deal with potential resistance. If the project is
thoroughly planned and youve communicated it well to the organization, youll have less
resistance. Regardless how well you plan and present the project, you still may encounter some
degree of opposition, so be patient and prepared to deal with it. Make a point to give the straight
facts continually; regularly resell everyone on the benefits of the change and offer wholehearted
support to everyone, whether theyre for or against it.
Develop the Change Plan
In its simplest form, a change plan is an explanation of the proposed changes and the steps
needed to achieve them. Length and formality depend on your particular situation. Here are the
essential elements:
Understand what youre looking to change and its scope, and how it will affect other
areas
Determine risk factors and all potential downsides for the proposed change
Design an action plan that includes who is going to do what, when, why, and how
Create your change plan with a clearly expressed written document that provides the necessary
road map to ensure flawless execution.
It is reasonable to expect employees to react since the process of change involves going from the
known to the unknown, and when employees react, it is important to distinguish between the
symptoms of their reactions and the causes behind them.
All change involves letting go of something, and it is important to actively create space for this
to happen.
The Change Curve is a popular and powerful model used to understand the stages of personal
transition and organizational change. It helps you predict how people will react to change, so that
you can help them make their own personal transitions, and make sure that they have the help
and support they need.
The Change Curve
The Change Curve model describes the four stages most people go through as they adjust to
change.
Stage 1
At this stage, people may be in shock or in denial. This is when reality of the change hits, even if
the change has been well planned and you understand what is happening. They need time to
adjust. Here, people need information, need to understand what is happening, and need to know
how to get help.
This is a critical stage for communication. Make sure you communicate often, but also ensure
that you don't overwhelm people. They'll only be able to take in a limited amount of information
at a time. But make sure that people know where to go for more information if they need it, and
ensure that you take the time to answer any questions that come up.
Stage 2
As people start to react to the change, they may start to feel concern, anger, resentment or fear.
They may resist the change actively or passively. They may feel the need to express their feelings
and concerns, and vent their anger.
For the organization, this stage is the "danger zone." If this stage is badly managed, the
organization may descend into crisis or chaos.
So this stage needs careful planning and preparation. As someone responsible for change, you
should prepare for this stage by carefully considering the impacts and objections that people may
have.
Make sure that you address these early with clear communication and support, and by taking
action to minimize and mitigate the problems that people will experience. As the reaction to
change is very personal and can be emotional, it is often impossible to preempt everything, so
make sure that you listen and watch carefully during this stage (or have mechanisms to help you
do this) so you can respond to the unexpected.
Stage 3
This is the turning point for individuals and for the organization. Once you turn the corner to
stage 3, the organization starts to come out of the danger zone, and is on the way to making a
success of the changes.
Individually, as people's acceptance grows, they'll need to test and explore what the change
means. They will do this more easily if they are helped and supported to do so, even if this is a
simple matter of allowing enough time for them to do so.
As the person managing the changes, you can lay good foundations for this stage by making sure
that people are well trained, and are given early opportunities to experience what the changes
will bring. Be aware that this stage is vital for learning and acceptance, and that it takes time:
don't expect people to be 100 percent productive during this time. Build in the contingency time
so that people can learn and explore without too much pressure.
Stage 4
This stage is the one you have been waiting for! This is where the changes start to become
second nature, and people embrace the improvements to the way they work.
As someone managing the change, you'll finally start to see the benefits you worked so hard for.
Your team or organization starts to become productive and efficient, and the positive effects of
change become apparent.
REFERENCE
Lorri Freifeld, (February 4, 2013). Training magazine. How to Create and
Execute a Plan for Successful Change.(Pg. 8-9). Retrieved from:
http://www.trainingmag.com/content/how-create-and-execute-plansuccessful-change
Margaret Rous(2015). Change management. Tech Target.
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Prosci and Adkar (2014). Five levers of organizational change management. Prosci Inc.
Retrieved from http://www.change-management.com/tutorial-5-levers.htm