BSBINN601 Assessment

Assessment 1: Short Answer Questions

Question 1
What are the steps involved in the change management process or cycle, the
components of a change management project plan (planning) and the procedures for
embedding change?

Question 2
Explain how organisational behaviour and the external environment might impact on
change strategies.

Question 3
What organisational barriers might need to be overcome and what strategies might be
put in place to overcome resistance to change, embed it and support acceptance of
change in an organisation?

Question 4
Describe the process of developing a change management project plan.

Assessment 2: Project
You work as a Change Manger for ABC Company. In this project you are required to
demonstrate your skills and knowledge through identifying change requirements and
opportunities, developing a change management strategy, and implementing a change
management strategy. You can demonstrate evidence of your planning by providing the
communication strategy and action plan to ensure consultation and participation,
stakeholder analysis, risk treatment action plan, a work breakdown analysis, a
responsibility assignment matrix and a project schedule. Read the instructions below
and answer all the questions.
You receive an email from the Business Operations Manager at ABC Company.

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As you may be aware, the current financial standing of the organisation is little less than
satisfactory. We have faced various issues over the past 3 months and have been unable to
make a recovery. I believe that change is inevitable at ABC, so we are delighted to have you on
board and hope that you will lead the way for ABC during this necessary period of change.
You need to consider how you will work and communicate effectively with other departmental
managers and the human resources department to develop a corporate culture that accepts
your proposed change.
Please start by examining the key points from the business report that follows and report on
your proposed changes. Prior to commencement you may want to ask yourself the following:

 What is the change?

 Why is the change being made?
 How is the change going to affect ABC?
 How will you prevent change from challenging ABC’s ability to create value and
regain relevance?
 How will you lead, manage and sell change effectively?

In the ABC Company Business Report, the key points are:

 Over the past 3 months, ABC has lost several of its key managers. This has
had a serious effect on the corporate culture.
 Executive management have not yet found qualified replacements for these
managers. Instead, they have been hiring unqualified trainees to cut further
operational costs.
 Competitors have begun to take market share and ABC has not implemented
the required changes to products and services to stay relevant in the market.
As a result, ABC is finding it very difficult to stay competitive.
 New technologies have been purchased but not yet implemented throughout
the organisation because the required training has not been organised. As a
result, resources are either lacking or not being used effectively.
 As a result of the financial standing, cost cutting has been inevitable. This has
been very emotionally taxing on staff and ABC has had to sublet part of its
office space.
 Due to the business downturn, ABC has been left with no other option but to
introduce the Lean Manufacturing System. This has significantly impacted the
way the company orders raw materials, which has created issues with the
shipping and receiving schedule.
 Manufacturing habits require a redesign in the manufacturing division as a
consequence.
 Staff morale and productivity are at record lows. Management intervention is
vital in maintaining time lines and ABC milestones.
 The ABC vision statement is outdated and does not reflect current situations.
You are required to answer all the questions below.

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 1. Identify strategic change needs through an analysis of organisational
objectives and the corporate and/ or competitive strategies.

Ans. To determine strategic change needs, managers need to analyse the

organisational objectives and the corporate and competitive strategies. This
information is presented in the strategic plan. The strategic plan outlines the
organisation’s desired outcomes for a period, usually five years, and the
strategies to achieve them. Following the identification of objectives and
strategies, managers can identify the operational or functional plans to meet
these objectives.
From the strategic plan, managers can identify:
• the goals or objectives of the organisation, which establish the purpose of the
organisation and the basis for the organisation’s activities
• the corporate or top-level strategies, which determine the area of business the
organisation is in or wants to be in
• the competitive strategies to achieve competitive advantage in the
organisation’s markets over the competition.
Strategic objectives, often referred to as goals, are the desired outcomes
identified by senior management for the entire organisation. The objectives are
what guide management planning, organisation, leadership and control
functions, and all of these functional activities are designed to achieve them.
Broad strategic objectives are generally officially communicated in
organisational publications and on its web and social media pages, to
communicate to employees and other stakeholders what it wants to achieve.
There are also detailed objectives that are communicated internally and are
specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time framed. These are known as
SMART objectives (or goals) and they assist in driving organisational activity.

A review of the organisational structure can identify whether the current levels
of management, divisions, departments and teams enable the organisation or
area to achieve its objectives. This review can also highlight issues in
performance and provide information on structural elements that work well.
Those that work well, such as a project team structure within a unit to develop
and deliver a group of products, can be replicated in another area. Where
productivity is low and/or costs savings need to be achieved, a review may
identify that a particular management level could be eliminated to speed up
the decision-making process and therefore improve performance. This may
also involve a redesign of jobs at the team manager level to accommodate the
need for increased responsibility.
Here are the areas of organisational design that need to be reviewed.

Structure and Size

• What is the existing organisational structure? What does the organisational

chart look like?
• What is the size of the organisation? How does this affect the achievement of
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 objectives? For example, a change in strategy may require downsizing.
• Is the design of the organisation rigid, with little participation in decision-
making at the lower levels? How does this mechanistic design affect the
effectiveness and efficiency of practices? With such tight control, can the
organisation meet its objectives?
• Is the organisation flexible in structure and easily able to meet changing
needs? With a flexible design, do a change in objectives or a specific
performance issue that needs to be addressed mean structural change is
necessary? Does this mean the issue can be addressed in the process,
technology or people area?

Chain of Command

A chain of command is the line of authority throughout the levels of

organisation. It describes who reports to whom and why. In an organisation
with a tight structure, the chain of command may have a number of levels of
responsibilities, with strict requirements on how decisions are made and by
whom.
Consider the following:
• How does the chain of command affect the speed of decision-making?
• How does the existing chain of command affect the culture of the
organisation and employee empowerment?
• If there is little employee empowerment in decision-making, how responsive
is the organisation to change?
• Is a tighter or a more relaxed chain of command required to meet objectives,
respond to external environmental shifts or resolve a performance issue?

2. Identify change requirements:

a) Conduct an analysis of the organisation’s internal and external
environments to identify impacts on the new strategic objectives using
appropriate analytical tools such as the PEST framework for external
analysis.
Ans. Political Factors
When looking at political factors, you are looking at how government
policy and actions intervene in the economy. These include the following:

Tax Policy
Labour Law
Environmental law
Trade Restrictions
Tariffs

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 One of the reasons that elections tend to be a period of uncertainty for a
country, is that different political parties a have diverging views and
strategies for policy on the items above.

Economic Factors
Economic Factors take into account the various aspects of the economy,
and how the outlook on each area could impact your business. These
economic indicators are usually measured and reported by Central Banks
and other Government Agencies.

Economic Growth rates

Interest Rates
Exchange Rates
Inflation
Often these are the focus of external environment analysis. The Economic
outlook is of extreme importance for a business, but the importance of the
other PEST factors should not be overlooked.

Social Factors
PEST analysis also takes in consideration social factors, which are related
to the cultural and demographic trends of society. Social norms and
pressures are key to determining a society consumerist behavior. Factors to
be considered are the following:

Cultural Aspects
Health Consciousness
Populations Growth rates
Age Distribution
Career Attitudes

Technological Factors
Technological Factors are linked to innovation in the industry, as well as
innovation of the overall economy. Not being up to date to the latest trends
of a particular industry can be extremely harmful to operations.
Technological Factors include the following:

R&D – Activity
Automation
Technological Incentives
The Rate of change in technology

PESTLE Analysis: An extension of PEST Analysis

What is PESTLE Analysis? PESTEL analysis is an extension of PEST that
is used to assess two additional macroeconomic factors. These factors are
the Legal and Environment conditions that can have an impact on the
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 company. Examples of PESTLE analysis are similar to those of a PEST
analysis, but they would include the following:

Environment:
Changes in weather and climate
Laws regarding pollution and recycling
Waste management
Use of green or eco-friendly products and practices
Legal:
Discrimination laws
Health and safety laws
Consumer protection laws
Copyright and patent laws

b) Provide a SWOT analysis summary of the organisation’s strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities and threats in relation to the organisational
objectives and corporate and/ or competitive strategies.
Ans.
To perform a SWOT analysis, the change agent, along with the change
planning stakeholders, needs to brainstorm the findings of the internal and
external analyses to develop a clear list of what will help or hinder the
organisation in meeting its objectives. You should discuss and record the
results, relating the analysis to the change requirements and to the ability
to meet organisational objectives.

The following is an example of a SWOT analysis for the introduction of a

new product, which provides information in terms of change requirements.

Strengths •Strong marketing team with experience in managing new products

•Sales team with the appropriate knowledge and experience
•Good supplier networks
•Technological resources
•Current business process able to support introduction and delivery
Weaknesses •Limited budget for marketing activities
•Technological resources that need replacing in 12 months
•Warehouse concern about additional workload and space required

Opportunities •Growth in existing client revenue

•Access to new markets
•Increased acceptance of e-commerce enabling us to sell more easily online
•Increased uptake of social media (use for promotional activities)

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 Threats •Pending changes in consumer legislation that may affect e-commerce
activity
•Possibility of competitor getting to market first, affecting sales volumes
•Difficulty sourcing a component from only supplier – may have to consider
manufacturing component in-house

c) Provide a list of prioritised change requirements to meet organisational

objectives. Identify who was consulted to determine priorities.
Ans. Prioritise the change requirements, in their order of impact on meeting
organisation objectives. For example, the team could apply the Pareto
technique and assign a score to each requirement and then group them
according to structure, process, technology and employee. The group with
the highest score becomes the first priority.
Pareto analysis is a formal technique useful where many possible courses of
action are competing for attention. In essence, the problem-solver estimates
the benefit delivered by each action, then selects a number of the most
effective actions that deliver a total benefit reasonably close to the maximal
possible one.

A few of the 80/20 rule examples from daily practice which are often correct
are:

 80% of the customer complaints ensue from 20% of the products or

services delivered.
 20% of the products or services yield 80% of the profits.
 20% of the people responsible for sales generate 80% of the
operational income.
 20% of the system failures are caused by 80% f the system
problems.
The principle of the Pareto Analysis is based on the Zipf distribution (pattern
in linguistics and a discrete probability distribution with parameters λ and
N). In addition to being a static technique, the Pareto Analysis is a creative
and practical way of looking at the causes of problems. It stimulates ideas
about thinking and organizing. This method of analysis (Pareto Analysis)
helps identify the main causes (20%) that lead to 80% of the problems that
need are to be solved. As soon as the main causes have been identified, the
diagnostic techniques such as the Ishikawa diagram or fishbone analysis can
be used to identify and address the deeper causes of the problems.

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 3. Select the highest priority change requirement and conduct an analysis of the
impact of the change. To demonstrate the change impact, provide evidence of:
a) findings from a gap analysis of the current and ideal future situation

Ans. GAP analysis often used by the project managers or product managers
in order to identify the gaps causing the problem in organization’s growth.
It could be more beneficial for the small organization to keep improving the
performance by identifying the GAPs and addressing them on time.
Organization can use the maximum of resources, money, and technology.
Simply it’s a process of analyzing the processes which need to be improved,
finding the existing GAPs and based on result taking appropriate action to
achieve your GOAL. It provides a foundation of measuring investment of
time, money and human resources required to achieve particular output.

GAP analysis often conducted on a piece of paper with four columns, each
representing Present state, Future State, GAPs and
Recommendation/Solution. Before doing GAP analysis, one need to
construct organizational goals. Effective goals are specific, measurable,
attainable, realistic and with the timeline. Before starting gap analysis, all
goals must be clear and quantifiable so that the gap can be measured.

Present State:
You need to understand the process/organization completely which needs
improvement in order to understand the present state. It’s always better if
the result of an analysis is quantitative or something which highlights trend
and is comparable.

Future State:
In future state, you need to find your goal by exploring your present
position and where you want to go in future? Like the present state, the
future state could draft in quantifiable terms or something which could be
compared with Preset State.

Identify GAP:
This column should first identify whether a gap exists between a
company’s current and future state. If so, the gap description should then
outline – what constitutes the gap and the factors that contribute to it. A
complete gap analysis can usually be summarized in one sentence.

Proposal/Solution:
This final column of a gap analysis report should list all the possible
solutions that can be implemented to fill the gap between the current and
future states. These objectives must be specific, directly speak to the factors
listed in the gap description above, and be put in active and compelling

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 terms. It should be like the executive summary that quickly gives the
observed versus desired results for each goal category and then briefly
addresses the reasons believed to be responsible for those gaps. Each goal
should then be addressed fully in its own section, followed by a conclusion
that summarizes the report and calls for action, usually in the form of a call
to create an improvement plan to address the gaps.

b) findings from a cost-benefit analysis

Ans. Step One: Brainstorm Costs and Benefits

First, take time to brainstorm all of the costs associated with the project,
and make a list of these. Then, do the same for all of the benefits of the
project. Can you think of any unexpected costs? And are there benefits that
you may not initially have anticipated?

When you come up with the costs and benefits, think about the lifetime of
the project. What are the costs and benefits likely to be over time?

Step Two: Assign a Monetary Value to the Costs

Costs include the costs of physical resources needed, as well as the cost of
the human effort involved in all phases of a project. Costs are often
relatively easy to estimate (compared with revenues).

It's important that you think about as many related costs as you can. For
example, what will any training cost? Will there be a decrease in
productivity while people are learning a new system or technology, and
how much will this cost?

Remember to think about costs that will continue to be incurred once the
project is finished. For example, consider whether you will need additional

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 staff, if your team will need ongoing training, or if you'll have increased
overheads.

Step Three: Assign a Monetary Value to the Benefits

This step is less straightforward than step two! Firstly, it's often very
difficult to predict revenues accurately, especially for new products.
Secondly, along with the financial benefits that you anticipate, there are
often intangible, or soft, benefits that are important outcomes of the
project.

For instance, what is the impact on the environment, employee

satisfaction, or health and safety? What is the monetary value of that
impact?

As an example, is preserving an ancient monument worth $500,000, or is it

worth $5,000,000 because of its historical importance? Or, what is the
value of stress-free travel to work in the morning? Here, it's important to
consult with other stakeholders and decide how you'll value these
intangible items.

Step Four: Compare Costs and Benefits

Finally, compare the value of your costs to the value of your benefits, and
use this analysis to decide your course of action.

To do this, calculate your total costs and your total benefits, and compare
the two values to determine whether your benefits outweigh your costs. At
this stage it's important to consider the payback time, to find out how long
it will take for you to reach the break even point – the point in time at
which the benefits have just repaid the costs.

For simple examples, where the same benefits are received each period,
you can calculate the payback period by dividing the projected total cost of
the project by the projected total revenues:

Total cost / total revenue (or benefits) = length of time (payback period).

c) findings from a risk analysis

Ans.

Identifying risks Analysing risks

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 Risks can be identified by the change planning
group through brainstorming likely risk
scenarios and consulting with area specialists or
experts and staff in identifying issues. The group
can also review documentation related to
previous change initiatives to identify indicators
of risk, which may include the following:
•Loss of production capability
•Loss of key staff or staff resistance
•Delays in installing new equipment
•Budget overruns
•Resources not made available at the
appropriate times
•Impact on current service delivery to clients
•Impact on suppliers if different resources are
required
The change planning group needs to determine
a risk’s likelihood and impact. The likelihood of
the risk occurring may be very likely, likely or
unlikely. Some organisations may use different
words such as ‘expected’, ‘probable’ and
‘improbable’. The consequences of the risk may
be major, moderate or minor. Other rating
terms commonly used are ‘disastrous’, severe’,
‘extreme’, ‘minimal’ and ‘negligible’.
Risk analysis is generally directed at the negative
consequence of risks. However, risk
management is also able to identify and
prioritise opportunities. For example, analysis
may reveal that a member of the group has
relevant expertise that has not been taken into
account previously

The following provides a description of how a software development company classifies the likelihood
and impact of identified risks.

Likelihood Impact
Very •Incident will probably occur Major •Financial impact would be
likely under almost all $100,000–$500,000.
circumstances. •Potential for significant injuries
•Risk has a 75 per cent chance to staff.
of occurring. •Significant impact on ability to
•Will occur within 6–12 meet objectives.
months.
•Example: having no virus
protection software or
password protection will put
files at risk.

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 Likely •Incident may occur under Moderate •Financial impact would be
certain circumstances. $10,000–$100,000.
•Risk has a 25–75 per cent •Potential injury of people.
chance of occurring. •Requires effort to deal with
•Will occur within 24 months. consequences.
•Example: software to •May affect more than one area
develop new product requires of operations.
modification. •Moderate impact on ability to
meet objectives.
Unlikely •Incident will probably not Minor •Limited financial impact: less
occur. than $10,000.
•Risk has less than a 25 per •Limited impact on timing and
cent chance of occurring. people.
•May occur within 48 months. •Risk consequences are handled
•Example: change agent within routine operations
resigns.

Evaluate risks
A risk assessment matrix can be used to evaluate a risk: likelihood and impact are
identified to determine the level of the risk where these intersect on the matrix. High
risks become the priorities for treatment and may require attention by senior
management. Moderate risks need management focus. Some low-level risks may be
seen as low priority as they can be resolved through routine procedures.
Consider the likelihood and impact of an activity you have been involved in and use
the matrix below to estimate the risk level.

Very likely Acceptable risk Unacceptable risk High Unacceptable risk

Medium Extreme
Likelihood

Likely Acceptable risk Low Acceptable risk Unacceptable risk High

Medium

Unlikely Acceptable risk Low Acceptable risk Low Acceptable risk

Medium

Minor Moderate

Impact

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 4. Conduct a change readiness assessment:
a) Explain what methods you would use to gather information relating to the
change readiness of the organisation

Ans Through the following mentioned table we can get information of

change readiness of the organisation:

Change Readiness Assessment:

How to Use the Checklist:
1) Answer each question for column A by ticking the status (yes, somewhat, no).
2) If the tick in (A) is in the ‘somewhat’ or ‘no’ box, move onto column B.
3) In column B note any comments or questions you may have.

A B
Status Comments

Yes Somew No
hat

A. LEADERS
1) Do leaders
understand the drivers
and vision for the
project?
2) Do leaders and the
project team work well
together?

3) Is there a
communication plan for
leaders to deliver?

4) Is this project co-

ordinated with all other
initiatives/projects etc?

5) Can leaders
describe the change
process?

6) Will the organisation

culture support the
changes?

7) Are leaders
demonstrating the
necessary commitment to
the project, i.e. walking
the talk?
8) Are leaders’
concerns being
identified and
addressed?

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 B. INFRASTRUCTURE

1) Have the key

business drivers for the
project been identified?

2) Have all of the

impacts on the
organisation been
identified and
considered/addressed?

3) Is the
communication plan
reaching target
audiences?
4) Can current HR
processes handle
impacts when
required?
5) Is there a training
and education plan?

6) Have we developed
performance
indicators to
reflect/suggest new
ways of doing
business?

C. INDIVIDUALS

1) Do employees have
an opportunity to give
input?

2)Are we getting
enough employee
buy-in at all levels?

3)Are people getting all

the
support/information
they need in a timely
way?

D.TEAMS

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 1) Are team members
enthusiastic and
achieving their
personal goals?

2) Are we celebrating
milestones/wins?

3) Are Change
Management tasks
integrated into the
Project work plan?

b) Conduct a force field analysis and provide a summary of the driving and
restraining forces for change

Ans.
Change is very difficult to accept for people and they would much rather see that
everything remains ‘the same’. This also applies to companies and organizations where
it is important to implement changes.
After all, inertia is tantamount to decline and in order to generate as little resistance as
possible, Kurt Lewin developed the Force Field Analysis (FFA). This is a method in
which a team or an organization can predict in advance what the expected resistance
will be to the proposed change.

Change within an organization can be effected in different ways. For example a

reorganization, the introduction of a new technology, introduction of new machines,
adjustment of production or changes in work processes. Using Force Field Analysis, it
becomes clear what forces could possibly influence the change. These might include
resistant people, inoperative processes and structures, negative attitudes, habits,
insufficient knowledge and skills. All these force may have an impact on the individual
employee, a department or the entire organization.

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Force Field Analysis is a powerful strategic instrument that is used to understand what
is needed for change to take place in both a business and a personal environment. Force
Field Analysis makes clear what the possible obstacles are that could hinder change. It
enables an organization to become aware of the difficulties that may be involved in the
envisaged change. By consulting thoroughly with each other, Force Field Analysis
ensures that teams will feel responsible. They will be better able to implement the
change and to identify and eliminate any obstacles prematurely.
Force Field Analysis distinguishes driving forces and restraining forces. The restraining
forces are obstacles that get in the way of change. They have an impact on the change
and they will try to restrain this. The driving forces support change and encourage
positive effects. Force Field Analysis can be used as a tool to understand why, for
example, the introduction of a new working method does not work which makes it
possible to draw up an improvement plan. The Force Field Analysis also contributes to
the improvement of internal communication.
In moving an organisation from its current position to the desired position, the strategies
used to increase the driving forces and overcome the restraining forces, which have
been identified during the implementation planning, need to be actioned. In moving
employees to the new state, change leaders need to ensure that activities are
participative and that employees are constantly supported by the change team and
relevant managers.
During the implementation stage of the change process, the strategies to increase the
driving forces and overcome the restraining forces identified during the implementation
planning need to be actioned.

c) Provide a list of strategies to increase the driving forces and reduce the
retraining forces.

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Ans.
For Transformative Change to take root, we should emphasizes two principles:
 Survival anxiety must get greater than learning anxiety.
 Learning anxiety must be reduced (not survival anxiety increased).
Let’s look at a classic Change model that has been in place for over half a century

As shown in Kurt Lewin’s Lewin's Force Field Analysis, ‘Driving Forces’ are positive
while ‘Restraining Forces’ are negative. In other words, he saw survival anxiety as a
positive, driving force, learning anxiety as a negative, restraining one. We believed that
whenever the positive forces were stronger than the negative ones, the status quo could
change (for ‘Desired State’).
CRITICAL QUESTIONS
The first question is for anyone wishing to drive Change in their
team/group/organization:
1. What can I do to grow the driving force (+), and reduce the restraining one (-)?
Here are a few key elements Schein recommends:
 Compelling vision of the future
 Formal training
 Practice fields & coaching
 Feedback systems

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2. What key elements, actions or interventions can support the learners in your
team/group/organization?
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS
1. Think of a difficult Change you had to make in your organization and ask yourself
these 3 questions:
What were my survival anxieties?
What were my learning anxieties?
What helped me to change?
2. Ask your people the same questions (don’t assume you know their anxieties!).

CONCLUSION
People are capable of Change. They should be treated like adults capable of having
mature conversations. As leader and manager, you often need to look below the surface
of what is going on to uncover real, possibly hidden thoughts and feelings.
Once aware of where your people are, you can plan and implement effective
interventions. On this point, people require effective systems and strategies to respond
positively.

5. Develop the change vision statement and identify the methods you will use to
communicate the vision to motivate staff.

Ans. To communicate the need for change and to present a picture of the future, a
change vision statement should be developed. To ensure the achievement of the change
vision, a change management strategy is required. From this, the change
management plan can be developed.

Create the change vision

The change vision sets the direction for the change, providing a picture of what the
organisation hopes to look like in the future. The vision creates a sense of purpose
and helps to communicate the reason and the urgency for the change. It should
include the desired change outcome and needs to be clear and concise to ensure
that it motivates the organisation’s employees to embrace the change.

Change leaders, with relevant managers or an allocated change team, can

brainstorm the meaning of change and need to clearly answer particular questions.

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 When brainstorming the meaning of the change:

• What are the benefits for the organisation and each unit/team?

• What will change in terms of structure?

• What are the benefits for the customers?

•What are the benefits for employees?

• What processes will actually change?

• What behaviours and attitudes need to change?

• What is the impact on the organisational culture and climate?

• What are the key dates for the implementation of the change?

Finalise and communicate the vision

When the change planning group or team has clear answers to the vision
questions, the vision can be developed and sent to stakeholders for feedback and
to build support. It is important to build into the vision a clear statement of the
need for two-way communication throughout the change process and for
stakeholder contributions to the plan development and implementation process.
To finalise the vision, feedback can be sought through meetings, group sessions
and forums. Participants should be asked to check the vision’s clarity and
understanding. They should check that the vision is inspiring and will motivate
employees.

The vision can also be communicated via meetings, group session and forums.
The organisation’s internal social media tools can also be used. Participants
should be encouraged to provide feedback and to ask questions.

6. Formulate the change strategy, identifying the guiding principles and high-
level or broad tactics to realise the benefits of the change.

Ans. A change strategy is the high-level document that presents the

framework and guiding principles to realise change. In developing the
strategy, the following need to be outlined.

Elements of the change strategy

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 •The change characteristics, including the scope of the change, what and who will be changed and
the time frame for change
•The affected groups or people and how they will be affected
•Who will implement the change and the team roles in implementing the change and managing
resources
•The senior management support coalition, which may be considered the sponsors, to promote and
enable change in different areas of the organisation
•The risk factors and specific risks
•Anticipated areas of resistance
•Tactics to manage resisting forces for the acceptance and uptake of change

Without an effective plan to guide implementation of the change, the organisation has
little chance of successfully embedding the new behaviours, structures and/or processes.
Some organisations have a procedure and template for developing a change
management plan. The plan should be developed in consultation with relevant
managers and/or sponsors and also with those who are responsible for guiding the
implementation, which may be a formally appointed change team. Following
development of the plan, it needs to be reviewed by relevant senior managers for their
approval.

Identify, analyse and estimate resources

For the change implementation, leaders need to indicate to senior management and/or
sponsors what resources are required to achieve the change.

RESOURCES NEEDED

•Human resources, such as specialist or expert staff or consultants, team members, and
their skills, roles and responsibilities

•Physical resources, such as equipment, technology and workspace

•Time required to implement, measure and achieve change

•Financial resources, such as funds to buy new equipment, update technology or training,
provide coaching or mentoring of staff to address skill gaps

RESOURCE ANALYSIS

•What are the skills and experience necessary to do the work? What are the results of the
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 gap analysis?

•Is a training needs analysis required? If yes, allocate responsibility for analysis.

•Who should do the work?

•How long will each activity and task take to complete?

•What equipment or facilities are required to undertake each task?

•What are the availability and cost of each resource?

•Are there alternatives available? What contingencies need to be developed?

RESOURCE ESTIMATE

The total estimate for the change implementation is calculated by multiplying the resource
effort by the resource unit rate for all the tasks listed in the WBS. It is important that all
costs are included, allowing for contingencies. For example, there may be breakdowns in
equipment or staff movement that will involve additional costs. The finance and human
resources teams should be able to provide costs relating to such issues and any standard
percentages for contingency required in planning budgets. The total estimated cost of all
activities, generally by month, until the project is finished becomes the cash flow, which is
the project’s budget.

Develop a list of proposed changes

Once the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats have been determined, you
can identify the change requirements to take advantage of the opportunities, minimise
the threats, and build on the strengths. A prioritised list of change requirements should
be developed to inform change impact assessment and change strategy formulation.

Here is what the change planning team or group needs to do.

DESCRIBE CURRENT GAPS

Describe the structural, process, technology and/or employee gaps between the current
and future needs. For example, does the organisation need to move to a more
decentralised structure to increase the effectiveness of decision-making?

IDENTIFY AND DISCUSS HIGH-LEVEL CHANGE IMPACTS

Identify and discuss the high-level impacts, such as risks and barriers to change. Detail is not
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 required at this stage, as change impact can be assessed later. For example, automation may
require substantial investment with a payback period longer than usually acceptable to the
board, or the members of a department may be resistant to even small structural changes.

PRIORITISE CHANGE REQUIREMENTS

Prioritise the change requirements, in their order of impact on meeting organisation

objectives. For example, the team could apply the Pareto technique and assign a score to
each requirement and then group them according to structure, process, technology and
employee. The group with the highest score becomes the first priority.

ANALYSE CHANGE IMPACT

In preparing for change, managers need to analyse the actual impact of the change in
order to gain a high-level understanding of the major change management issues. By
analysing the impacts of the proposed change across the organisation, managers can
identify the consequences of the change and therefore the areas that require greater
management focus to ensure successful implementation. The information obtained
from the impact assessment provides the input for the change readiness assessment,
which determines the organisation’s capacity to change, the level of understanding
required, and the acceptance and commitment of employees likely to affect the success
of the change. With this information, the change strategy can be formulated and the
plan developed.

To analyse the impact of change, managers can:

• identify gaps between the current and desired situations relating to the high-priority
change requirements

• prepare a cost–benefit analysis of the requirements

• conduct a risk analysis to identify and prioritise risks

• identify barriers to change, which can be analysed during the change readiness assessment.

7. Develop the change project management plan, incorporating the following

components:
• The change activities, including communications activities and organisational
development interventions
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 •
• Time lines, including milestones
• Responsibilities for change actions, including eporting protocols, and their
approval/ sign-off
• Resources, including human, time, money and materials/ equipment, required for
each activity
• Risk control and treatments
• How resistance will be managed, identifying how you negotiate to win support and
what interventions will be used
• How the change will be monitored, and what methods will be used to identify issues
and incorporate any correction actions
• How change effectiveness will be evaluated and what measures will be used
• How the actions/ methods you have identified for new behaviours will become the
norm to ensure change is embedded

Ans

Benchmarking research shows that employees prefer to hear messages from two people
in the organization:

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The sponsor of the change (person at the top of the change) about the business issues
and reasons for change
Their immediate supervisors about the personal impact of the change

2. Answering the questions, "Why is this change happening?" and "What is the risk of
not changing?”
When individuals learn of a change, their first question is, "Why is this happening.”
Senior leaders tend to focus on the vision of the future state, and project teams tend to
focus on sharing their great new idea. However, the first communications about a
change should focus on why the change is happening. And don't forget to continue and
reinforce the 'why' throughout the entire project, especially if time elapses between your
first communication and the start of implementation.

3. Answering the question, "What's in it for me (WIIFM)?”

Making a change is a personal choice, no matter what senior leaders believe.
Communications about change must resonate. To be effective, communications must
get at what an employee cares about and values. To gain their support, you must provide
a compelling case for how they will be better off or what they get out of engaging in
the change. Answer WIIFM (what's in it for me?) early and often in your
communications.

4. Resisting the urge to communicate through the project team?

Employees prefer to hear messages from two people in the organization, and neither is
the project leader. One of the biggest and most common mistakes you can make is to
have a project team sending all of the communications.

5. Using face-to-face communication?

Face-to-face communication was identified as the most effective form of
communication. While it is more time intensive, do not underestimate the value that
face-to-face communication creates.

6. Repeating key messages five to seven times?

It is important to repeat key messages a number of times. The first time you announce
a change to employees, they are often wondering how it will impact them and not
focusing on the details of what you are communicating about. Repeating key messages

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ensures that what you want to get across is heard by employees. Share messages more
often than you think you need to.

7. Creating opportunities for two-way communication?

You need to craft and plan for two-way communication. Give employees the
opportunity to share their concerns, provide their feedback and ask questions. Two-way
communications create buy-in and provide answers in real-time.

8. Preparing the communicators to deliver effective communications and have the

necessary conversations?
One of your key roles will be to prepare the preferred senders (such as managers and
supervisors) of change messages. This includes sharing with them the important
messages that need to be delivered, creating alignment between different senders, and
planning the delivery sequence. It also includes educating them on how to deliver key
messages.

9. Finding effective ways to reach your audience?

A holistic communication plan uses numerous channels to reach employees. This could
include meetings, one-on-one conversations, newsletters, presentations, brainstorming
workshops, lunch and learns, Intranet Q&A forums, CDs, screen saver messages, etc.
Be creative in how you communicate and gather feedback from employees.

10. Using assessment tools to evaluate the effectiveness of communication messages?

Communications cannot be viewed as an activity that is planned, delivered and then
checked off the list of work to be done. You must find ways to ensure that employees
are hearing and interpreting the messages you are trying to send. Assessment tools will
help you identify when you haven't communicated effectively, or when the message is
being misinterpreted, so you can continue to correct and refine your communications.
Some OD Programs may use only one or a few of these interventions, while other
programmes may use several of them simultaneously. Some of the many OD
interventions are.

1. Diagnostic activity:
This activity involves collection of all the pertinent information about the state of the
organization. This can be done through the organization’s operations records,
observation of task activities, meetings with subordinates, and interviews with workers
and so on. This could establish the current health of the organization.

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This information is analyzed and the information as well as the analysis is
communicated to members. Based on this information, as well as the feedback obtained
from the members, some action plans are designed which are intended to improve the
health of the organization. The feedback from members is intended to measure
perceptions and attitudes such as job satisfaction, supervisory style and so on. It would
help the supervisors to understand better and improve upon their relationship with their
subordinates.

2. Team building:
Team building activities are designed to enhance the effectiveness and satisfaction of
individuals who work in groups in order to improve the effectiveness of the entire group.
It is important to recognize work group’s problems as early as possible so that solutions
can be applied before the problems can do any damage.

Key processes in risk management are risk assessment and risk treatment; together
these comprise the four steps of risk identification, risk analysis and risk evaluation and
risk treatment. These aim to determine:

What could happen, where and when?

Why and how it could happen?
What could be the consequences if it happened?
What controls are in place to enhance gains and prevent or minimise adverse impacts?
How effective are these controls?
What is the level of risk?
How do we best treat the risk further?
There is no one method for risk assessment and treatment. As a general rule, the type
and rigour of the risk assessment process adopted depends on the potential severity of
the consequences and their likelihood. For the greatest severity consequences or where
there are high levels of risk, very rigorous risk assessment is required. On the other
hand, where the consequences are less serious or the level of risk is low, simpler
techniques can be used

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 Communication and consultation
Managing risk necessarily involves people because:

The interests of people are part of the organization’s objectives

People will need to take (or not take) particular actions in order for risk
to be managed effectively
People have most of the knowledge and information on which
effective risk management relies
Some people might have a right to be informed or consulted.
Communication and consultation are therefore key supporting
activities for all parts of the risk management process. Communication
and consultation are processes and not outcomes. They normally take
place with stakeholders, defined as those persons or organizations that
can affect, be affected by or perceive themselves to be affected by a
decision or activity.

Monitoring and review

Monitoring and review are two distinct processes intended to detect
change and determine the ongoing validity of assumptions. Both are
necessary to ensure that an organisation maintains a current and correct
understanding of its risks, and that those risks remain within its risk
criteria. Both require a systematic approach, integrated into an
organisation’s management systems, that reflects the speed at which
change occurs within the internal and external environment.

Risk treatment
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 At its simplest, risk treatment involves a process to modify a risk by
changing the consequences that could occur or their likelihood. This
process requires creative consideration of options and detailed design,
both inputs being necessary to find and select the best risk treatment.

Once implemented, risk treatments will either create new controls or

amend existing controls.

Risk treatment takes place in two distinctive contexts:

In the proactive context, where an organisation has successfully

integrated risk management into a system of management, risk
treatment is integral to and effectively indistinguishable from decision-
making. Therefore, at the time a decision is finalised the risk created
by the decision will be within the organisation’s risk criteria.
In a reactive context, the organisation is looking retrospectively at the
risk created by decisions taken and implemented previously, and so
any risk treatments found necessary will be remedial in nature.

- Listen to Feedback

The team’s voice must be heard. And chances are, many people on the
team have most likely been begging for change and know what is
needed. Getting their feedback will assist in smooth transitions and
gaining their buy-in.

There are varying forms of change that occur in organizations. The

first type needs no explanation and everyone understands the need and
why it’s happening. The next type is similar in that the team generally
understands the need, but the “why” requires more explanation. Other
types of change are either misinterpreted or have an adverse effect.
Gaining feedback throughout the change process will hold everyone
accountable and help maintain alignment.

- Acknowledge the Feedback

Collecting feedback from the team is important but even more

important is acknowledging that feedback. I recommend obtaining
team feedback during the beginning, middle and end of the change
process. The after-action-review is important for the learning process.
Don’t leave that part out!

This doesn’t have to be a formal process. Getting feedback during

casual conversation is fine. But I do suggest having an anonymous
survey at some point during times of change. Employees will feel more
comfortable being transparent. The last step is the most important. The
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 leadership team must reflect on the feedback, tell the team what they
are “hearing” from the feedback, and then some kind of action must be
taken.

- Use Emotional Intelligence

Leaders must lead by example in this regard. Change can be scary for
the team and showing compassion and empathy are important. Leaders
must communicate clearly, show discipline and be transparent.

Emotional intelligence is not a soft-side leadership strategy as it may

sometimes be perceived. Leaders that actively practice improving their
emotional intelligence are better equipped to drive positive change and
guide the team through the inevitable obstacles.

- Explain the Why

Everyone wants to know the purpose behind organizational change. In

my last company, we decided that we needed a better project
management solution and better data as to where people were spending
their time. This would lead to improved financial decisions and
efficiencies. So we rolled out new software and a time-tracking tool.
Holy hell! Let’s just say that this threw everyone for a loop.

It became very apparent that we needed to be doing a better job

explaining the “why.” Once the team understood the reasoning behind
this change and that the goal was to improve their work balance, the
revolt slowly subsided.

- Define Clear Roles

Defining the roles and decision-makers is very important. Everyone

with a role in driving change must understand who is accountable,
responsible and informed. Specific team members must own certain
aspects of the change process.

Once rolls are assigned, make sure that milestones are set, regular
check-ins scheduled and a rhythm of communication established.

- Provide Training

Most of the time, training will be required. Whether it’s a new system,
process, software or an overhaul in customer service, the team needs to
be well-trained for the changes to not only stick, but to be effective.

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 Do not forget this part. And yes, time and budget have to be carved
out. This is where companies fail much of the time. Leaders have to
provide proper time and resources during the roll out period.

- Reward Acceptance

Some team members will take well to change and proactively aid in its
acceptance while others will be slow to adopt. Have a plan in place to
publicly reward those that make the time and effort to embrace change.
Especially those that do it with a good attitude and get other team
members on board.

Change is inevitable. It’s much less painful doing it right the first time.
Following these steps will help increase the speed of change and keep
morale high during the process.

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