Preparation for change
- Environmental analysis.
- Set out the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation
– Resources
– Roles and responsibilities
- Identify the change required
- Determine the major issues
- Identify and assess the key stakeholders
- Win the support of key individuals
- Identify the obstacles
- Determine the degree of risk and the cost of change
- Understand why change is resisted
- Recognize the need for change, identify current position, devise a suitable method
Building the vision
- Develop a clear vision
- Make it people clear about what a change involves and how they are involved in it
- What is involved
- What is the proposed change
- Why should we do it
- What the major effects will be
- How we can manage the change
Plan the change
• Devise appropriate strategies to introduce change
• Design the change
• Identify the significant steps in the change process
• Discuss the need for change and the full details of what is involved
• Allow people to participate in planning change
• Communicate the plan to all concerned
• Produce a policy statement
• Devise a sensible time scale
• Produce action plans for monitoring the change
• Allow people to participate in planning change
• Get all parties involved in and committed to the change
• Inspire confidence by forestalling problems and communicating regularly
• Devise a sensible time scale for implementation of change
• Anticipate the problems of implementation
• Understand why change is resisted
Implementing the change
• Check on and record progress
• Make sure that change is permanent
• Evaluate the change
• Improve on any weak areas
• Overcome resistance
• Involve all personnel affected
• Keep everyone informed
• Devise an appropriate reward system
• Be willing to compromise on detail
• Ensure that strategies are adaptable
• Select people to champion change
• Provide support and training
• Monitor and review
Two types of change
(1) Step change
- Dramatic or radical change in one fell swoop
- Radical alternation in the organisation
- Gets it over with quickly
- May require some coercion
(2) Incremental change
- Ongoing piecemeal change which takes place as part of an organisation’s evolution and development
- Tends to more inclusive
Step v incremental change
Techniques to help implement change
Teams building across units
Internal communication
Negotiation
Action planning
Change agents or champions of change
And a certain amount of compulsion manipulation and coercion
Change agents
Managers should be able to act as change agents:
- To identify need for change
- Be open to goods ideas for change
- To able to successfully implement change
Advantages of using a change agent:
- Forces trough change
- Becomes the personification of the process
- Responsibility for change is delegated thus freeing up senior managers to focus on future strategy
Helping people to accept change
- Consider how they will be affected
- Involve them in the change
- Consult and inform frequently
- Be firm but flexible
- Make controversial change as gradually as possible
- Monitor the change
- Develop a change philosophy
Six ways of overcoming resistance to change
- (1) Education and communication - if people understand the needs for change and what is involved they are more likely to co-operate.
- (2) Participation and involvement - to encourage people to feel ownership of the change.
- (3) Facilitation and support - listening to the real concerns of people affected.
- (4) Negotiation and agreement - agreement and compromise if necessary.
- (5) Manipulation - e.g. “buying off” leaders of resistance.
- (6) Explicit and implicit coercion - threats where necessary but this is a high risk strategy.
(source: Kotter and Schlesinger In HBR 1979)
Monitor and review
- Adapt as necessary
- Recording and monitor the changes
- Measure progress against targets
- Have the desired results been achieved?
- Has the process been successful?
- How do those affected feel about the new situation?
- What might have been done differently?
- How can those not responding well to the change be helped?
- Sustain the change.- prevent any back sliding
Kotter’s change phases model
- Establish a sense of urgency
- Create a coalition
- Develop a clear vision
- Share the vision
- Empower people to clear obstacles
- Secure short term wins
- Consolidate and keep moving
- Anchor the change
Change management failures
What not to do
Ways to increase resistance to change:
Managers can increase resistance by:
- Failing to specific about a change
- Failing to explain why change is needed
- Not consulting
- Keeping people in the dark
- Creating excess work pressure
- Expecting immediate results
- Not dealing with fears and anxieties
- Ignoring resistance
Reasons why change can fail
- Employees do not understand the purpose or even the need for change
- Lack of planning and preparation
- Poor communication
- Employees lack the necessary skills and/ or there is insufficient training and development offered
- Lack of necessary resources
- Inadequate/inappropriate rewards
Eight common reasons for failure of change management:
- Allowing too much complexity
- Failing to build a substantial coalition
- Failing to understand the need for a clear vision
- Failure to clearly communicate that vision
- Permitting roadblocks against that vision
- Not planning for short term results and not realising them
- Declaring victory too soon
- Failure to anchor changes in corporate culture
(John Kotter)
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