change management

Change Management Module Participant Manual

Change Management ModuleTable of Contents

CMIntroduction 2Some facts about change 2Definition of change management 3Why organizations Change? 3Some forces driving change

Internal Forces External Forces

33

Common success factors in change projects 4Levels of change

Individual Level Group Level Organizational level

445

Degrees of change 5What to change 5Change Team 5Change Models

ADKAR model (PORSCI) Freeze phases model (Kurt Lewin) Mckinsey's 7S framework Congruence model Kotter eight stage change model

68

121518

Adjustment tools to change Grief cycle Positive change cycle

2124

Why change initiative fail 25Resistance to change: A major reason for change efforts failure

Definition of resistance Why people resist change? How to overcome resistance to change?

262627

Managing organizational change development 28Categories of organizational change development

Human process applications Technological interventions

2829

Change management lessons 30

Mrs. Hala Abdel Meguid Omar CM - 1


Change and uncertainty have always been part of life but what is shocking is the quantum and speed of change that is occurring in today’s world. It is, undoubtedly, true that the impact of change has affected the business and social life of human beings. As such, change has become a primary characteristic of today’s world and those seeking to survive, become successful and ahead of competition should continuously seek and adopt new ideas or behaviors that allow

them to become leaders in their domains. It is the individual’s choice in face of change to respond in one of the following manners:

Believe that we are victims of change.

Stand and wait for change to occur and then react accordingly.

Criticize the situation and never think of ways to handle change.

Navigate into various possible behaviors after anticipating the change and, thus, take a proactive approach.

SOME FACTS ABOUT CHANGE

Change itself is a fact of life.

Change upsets the people’s understanding of the reality of things in addition to initiating risks of failure when change occurs.

Change takes time and persistence.

Change is a universal phenomenon and those willing to succeed should be proactive at all times.

Today’s world is characterized by a rapid and fast speed of change. Thus, organizations seeking survival and prosperity should continuously be prepared to quickly adapt to new situations.

Market changes are rapid and radical forcing organizations to reinvent themselves.

Success in today’s world does not depend on just surviving.

Organization should anticipate change even when things are going right.

Change should be viewed as a tool for creating new opportunities for the organization.

Successful change efforts require planning, organization, resources and actions.

Change is a sign of learning organizations.

Individuals go through different stages during change and thus have different needs at different stages.

Change is a highly personal experience that is made by individuals and not organizations.


CHANGE

MANAGEMENT


Change is situational as it involves movement to a new state and thus involves psychological changes during the transition period.

DEFINITION OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT

The movement of people from current state to desired state that leads to improvement through a set of planned and integrated interventions.

A structured process and set of tools for leading the people side of change.

A shift from one way of doing things to a different way of doing things.

A set of processes that is employed to insure that change has been implemented in an orderly, controlled and systematic way.

A structured approach, plan or methodology to managing the process of changing individuals, teams, organization or society at large.

A structured approach related to the transition of individuals, teams and organizations from current state to desired future state.

WHY ORGANIZATIONS CHANGE?

Performance improvement.

Waste and inefficiency reduction.

Management control and employee satisfaction improvement.

Quality and organization productivity improvement.

Competition and changes in the market environment.

Achievement of desired business results.

Changes in legal, political, economic or social framework.

Changes in technology leading to technological obsolescence or new product opportunities.

SOME FORCES DRIVING CHANGE

Internal forces :

Desire to increase profitability.

Reorganization to increase efficiency

Conflicting roles between departments.

Introduction of new technology.

Change in the organization strategies.

Changing organizational culture.

Implementing high performance work systems (HPWS).

External forces :

Globalization.



Technological trends.

Changes in the nature of work.

COMMON SUCCESS FACTORS IN CHANGE PROJECTS

Planning : Developing and documenting the objectives that need to be achieved by the change program and the means to achieve them.

Defined governance : Establishing appropriate organization structures, roles and responsibilities for the change that engages stakeholders and support the change efforts

Commitment : Ongoing commitment at the top and across the organization to guide organizational behavior and leading by example. A committed workforce is distinguished by the following characteristics:

A sense of belonging to the organization.

Confidence in management leadership.

Sense of excitement in the job.

Individuals willing to make things happen not just favoring change.

Informed stakeholders : Encouraging stakeholders’ participation & commitment to change, by employing open and constructive communication approaches to create awareness and understanding of change throughout the organization.

Aligned workforce : Identifying the human impact of change and developing plans to align the workforce to support the changing organization.

LEVELS OF CHANGE

Individual level

Group Level


Organization design

Group design Personal traits

Task identity Task significance Feedback on results Autonomy

Goal variety

Individual Effectiveness

Input Design components Output

Organization design

Task structure Group composition Group norms Team functioning

Goal clarity

Team Effectiveness



Organizational level

DEGREES OF CHANGE

Evolutionary : Continual improvement that takes place within already accepted frameworks, value systems or organizational structures that is necessary for the organizational survival and success. Therefore it is:

Concerned with incremental improvements

Based on existing systems

Fine tuning of already existing systems like for example process improvement.

Revolutionary : This is a rapid change that alters accepted frameworks system or organizational structures. For example, a breakthrough radical innovation

WHAT TO CHANGE?

Strategic change : This is an organizational renewal which involves change in the company's strategy, mission and vision. This change would, undoubtedly, have repercussions throughout the organization.

Cultural change : this involves adopting new values, what employees should or should not do.

Procedural change : this involves reorganizing the company department structure, coordination, span of control, reporting relationships, tasks, decision making procedures.

Technological change : Organization development practitioners are involved in changing the firm's structure, methods and job design using technologically structural interventions, for example; employees collect data on the company's current structure and then jointly redesign and implement the new structure.

CHANGE TEAM

Change committee : It must include:

Upper management.

Supervisors from affected areas.

Change leader/manager who will lead the committee.


General environment

Industry structure

Technology structure HR systems Measurement systems Organization strategy

Culture Organizational Effectiveness



Training and performance analyst who can determine the training needs for the new implemented system.

Change agent : The person who as a catalyst assume the responsibility for managing change activities i.e. anyone who possesses enough knowledge and power to guide and facilitate change efforts. A change agent applies transformational leadership in order to be able to:

Help develop a vision.

Communicate the vision.

Act consistently with vision.

Build commitment to vision.

To achieve the change agent role, the following skills:

Ability to solve complex business problems.

Excellent interpersonal skills with special emphasis on empathy, perseverance and persuasion.

Strong communication skills.

Ability to work with challenge and ambiguity.

Deal with conflict constructively.

Analytical skills.

Project management skills.

CHANGE MODELS

ADKAR MODEL (PORSCI)

It is related to the process for individual change and thus, it looks at the psychological side of change.

It emphasizes that successful organizational change occurs only when each person is able to transition successfully i.e. successful individual change leads to organizational change.

Assumptions :

People change at different speeds.

Individual change must be customized and care must be given to matching change project phases to people change phases.

Organizations must help employees during the transition phase through:

Gathering information from people on what is working (systems, processes …etc.) and problem areas.

Distinguishing between resistance to change and objections to proposed solutions and design.


A Awareness: Need for Change

D Desire: Participation and support of change

K Knowledge: How to change

A Ability: New skills and behaviors implementation

R Reinforcement: Keeping change in place


The following figure depicts the model:

Brief description of the five components of the model

Awareness:

Understanding why change is necessary is the first aspect of successful change.

Explaining the reasons and thoughts that is behind required change.

It is the stage where communication is highly essential because it allows individuals to fully understand why change is necessary.

Desire:

Individuals take a decision to participate in change.

Building a desire to participate in change efforts can only happen:

Individuals are fully aware of change reasons.

Individuals are provided with incentives which create a desire in them to be a part of change.

Knowledge:

It involves transferring knowledge about change.

This could be done through activities like training, coaching and mentoring.

Knowledge includes:

What to do during the transition?

How to perform once change is implemented


UnfreezeCreate the right

environment

Change/MoveSupport change to

desired state

FreezeReinforce to

anchor change


Ability:

Knowledge involves the theoretical part on how to change, whereas actual performance reflects the ability to implement change

This is achieved through coaching and putting theory into practice.

Reinforcement:

Ensuring that the change will stay in place – sustained change – and those individuals will not revert to old ways.

This is achieved through:

Positive feedback

Reward system

Recognition

Performance measurement and taking corrective actions.

Why use ADKAR model?

Focusing on the individual enables measurement of the progress of the change project and the provision of assistance when needed.

Communication strategies can be focused as the model directs change activities. In other words, it describes the outcome of each stage (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement)

It allows managers to identify specific roles. For example, an individual struggling with change may:

Need knowledge and information on how to change and thus training could be a means of providing the theoretical part of change.

Individuals may lack the necessary skills and behavior to implement the change initiatives and thus, managers may need to work closely with the individual, coaching them and giving them confidence.

FREEZE PHASES MODEL (KURT LEWIN)

A model that is used for planned change.

The freeze model suggests that change involves a move from one static state via a state of activity to another static status quo through a three-stage process of managing change: unfreezing, changing and re-freezing.



Stages:

Unfreeze : Creating motivation to change. Thus it involves the process of letting go of certain restricting attitudes during the initial stages of change project. The objectives of this stage are:

Encourage replacement of old behavior and attitudes with those desired by the management of the organization.

Devising ways to reduce barriers to change and thus creating psychological safety.

Demonstrating the need for change as well as communicating desired future to engender commitment.

There are a number of techniques that can be used at this stage. Those techniques aim at taking people from a state of being unready to change to being ready and willing to take the first step. Such techniques include:

Burning the platform: This techniques aims at creating a crisis. Thus, it involves showing people that staying in the current status is not an option and if no change is initiated, a disaster will occur. This is done by looking for a crisis and drawing the attention of others to it.

Challenge: A technique that aims at inspiring people to achieve remarkable things. In order to do that, it is necessary to stimulate people and show confidence in their ability to get out of their comfort zone and do what has not been done before.

Evidence: This is based on finding information, data, statistics …etc. that support the need for change. There is no doubt that core hard evidence is an effective way of changing the minds who are arguing against change.

Education: This involves teaching people about the need for change, how embracing change is an effective life strategy, the methods of change and how to be logical and creative in improving the processes and the organization as a whole.

Management by Objectives (MBO): A management approach that tells people what needs to be done and leaves them to decide how it should be done. Consequently, the success of this approach is highly dependent on setting specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely objectives –SMART objectives. Once this is done individuals are left to determine how to reach those expected results. It is important, at this stage, to



encourage them to think “outside the box” for creative new ways to achieve the objectives.

Visioning: This technique aims at forming a vision that induces change – one that can motivate and inspire a large number of people who are needed to make change happen. In order for this to happen, the vision must be memorable, exciting, short, believed and supported by top management.

Change/Move : This stage attempts to create a new state of affairs i.e. cognitive restructuring. Thus in involves an alteration of self-conception and ways of thinking. The objectives of this stage are:

Provide information, new behavioral models or new ways of looking at things.

Help employees learn new concepts.

Identify with the new vision of the organization.

There are a number of techniques that can be used at this stage. Those techniques help people on how to keep going within the framework of change project. Such techniques include:

Coaching: It is a way of helping people who are experiencing difficulty in managing change. Thus, coaching helps in exploring deeper motivation and beliefs about people then finding practical ways to change their beliefs.

Facilitation: Skilled facilitators may support the change programs as they guide people in improving themselves as well as helping them to work together as a team in a better and more effective manner.

First step: It is of ultimate importance to make the first step in the change process as easy as possible because it is at this stage people experience difficulties and many objections are brought to the surface.

Involvement: There is no doubt that involving people gives them a sense of importance. In addition, when people are part of something, they bond with it and make a part of their identity.

Open space technology (OST): This is a simple but powerful toll of getting people to openly discuss issues that are of concern to them.

Step wise change: It involves splitting the change program into packages through the following steps:

Breaking work into distinct packages.

Talking about each package separately.



Communicating change as a set of activities, each of which gains specific value.

Celebrating successful milestones.

Freeze : This stage attempts to incorporate changes through creating and maintain new organizational systems that reinforce desired change. Thus, it involves solidifying or crystallizing the changes into new permanent form for individuals. The objectives of this stage are:

Help employees integrate the changed behavior or attitude into their normal way of doing things.

Create social acceptance of new behavior and link it to self-concept.

Positive reinforcement of desired change.

There are a number of techniques that can be used at this stage. Those techniques take people from a state of being in transition to a stable and productive state. Such techniques include:

Burning bridges: A deliberate way of preventing any back sliding by removing any methods that can facilitate going to the old behaviors. Thus, managers should be strongly motivated and committed to continue with the new situation.

Evidence stream: This method aims at providing a steady stream of evidence demonstrating that change has successfully occurred. Steady stream of evidence is needed because people are not always convinced by few pieces of early evidence. This could be done by:

Getting people who have been involved in the change project to tell their success stories and the challenges they faced and how they have overcome it.

Trusted people should communicate that change is real especially to those people who are doubtful.

Institutionalization: It is essential to build change into the organization’s formal systems and structure, thus, making sure that change is an organizational standard. This could be done by:

Putting change into primary strategic plan.

Ensure that the new set of standards is those that people will be assessed against in the personal performance reviews.

Reward alignment: Individual and group rewards should be associated with the desired behavior.


SystemsStrategy

Staff

Style

Shared Values

Skills

Structure


Socialize: This means that change should be built into the organization social fabric i.e. sealing change by building it into the social structures. This could be done by giving social leaders prominent positions into change because once those leaders feel ownership of the change program, the will talk about it and sell it to others.

MCKINSEY’S 7S FRAMEWORK

It provides a framework for analyzing and improving the organization through ensuring that all parts of the organization are working in harmony with one another.

It is used to analyze the current as well as the proposed situation and thereby identifying the gap between the two situations.

The model is one that can be applied to almost any organizational or team effectiveness issue. If something within the organization or team isn't working, chances are there is inconsistency between some of the elements. Once these inconsistencies are revealed, one can work to align the internal elements to make sure they are all contributing to the shared goals and values.

The following figure depicts the Mckinsey’s 7S framework

The Mckinsey model identifies seven interrelated elements categorized as:



Hard elements : These are elements that are easy to identify and define besides the fact that management can directly influence them. These elements are:

S trategy : The plan devised to maintain and build a competitive advantage for the organization over its competitors. In other words it provides the direction and scope of the organization over a long period of time and, as such, it could be viewed as means for creating a value for the organization.

S tructure : The basic organization of the company, its departments, reporting lines, expertise and responsibilities. Therefore, it reflects the pattern of relationship among positions in the organization and among members within the organization.

S ystems : The formal and informal procedures that govern everyday activities like, for example, the ordering system, capital budgeting procedures …etc.

Soft elements: These are more difficult to describe because they are intangible and are most often influenced by culture. These Elements are:

S hared values : The values and beliefs of the company that guides the employees towards “valued behavior” i.e. the fundamental ideas of the values that organization members identify with and abide by. Shared valued are considered central to the development of all the other elements.

S tyle : This is related to the managerial and leadership styles and their effect on the overall operating approach within the organization.

S taff : The organization human capital and how they are developed, trained and motivated i.e. the employees and their general capabilities and competencies.

S kills : The dominating attributes or capabilities of an organization i.e. capabilities and competencies that exist within the organization and reflects what the organization can do best.

7S Checklist Questions : These are some questions that are needed to explore and helps in understanding the current situation of the organization as well as the proposed situation.

Strategy:

What is our strategy?

How do we intend to achieve our objectives?

How do we deal with competitive pressure?

How are changes in customer demands dealt with?



How is strategy adjusted for environmental issues?

Structure:

How is the company/team divided?

What is the hierarchy?

How do the various departments coordinate activities?

How do the team members organize and align themselves?

Is decision making and controlling centralized or decentralized? Is this as it should be, given what we're doing?

Where are the lines of communication? Explicit and implicit?

Systems:

What are the main systems that run the organization? Consider financial and HR systems as well as communications and document storage.

Where are the controls and how are they monitored and evaluated?

What internal rules and processes does the team use to keep on track?

Shared Values:

What are the core values?

What is the corporate/team culture?

How strong are the values?

What are the fundamental values that the company/team was built on?

Style:

How participative is the management/leadership style?

How effective is that leadership?

Do employees/team members tend to be competitive or cooperative?

Are there real teams functioning within the organization or are they just nominal groups?

Staff:

What positions or specializations are represented within the team?

What positions need to be filled?

Are there gaps in required competencies?



Skills:

What are the strongest skills represented within the company/team?

Are there any skills gaps?

What is the company/team known for doing well?

Do the current employees/team members have the ability to do the job?

How are skills monitored and assessed?

Using the information gathered, an examination of where there are gaps and inconsistencies between elements is performed.

The analysis process:

Start with Shared Values: Are they consistent with organization structure, strategy, and systems? If not, what needs to change?

Then look at the hard elements: How well does each one support the others? Identify where changes need to be made.

Next look at the other soft elements: Do they support the desired hard elements? Do they support one another? If not, what needs to change?

An adjustment and alignment of the elements is made, one needs to use an iterative -and often time consuming - process of making adjustments, and then re-analyze how that impacts other elements and their alignment.

The end result of better performance will be worth it.

The analysis matrix : A matrix that can be used to check off alignment between each of the elements as one goes through the above mentioned analysis steps. The matrix is made for the current and proposed situation.

Shared Values Strategy Structure System Style Staff Skills

Share

Values

Strategy

Structure

System

Style


Culture

Structure

People

WorkStrategy Performance


Staff

Skills

CONGRUENCE MODEL

It is based on the principle that an organization’s performance is derived from four basic elements, namely tasks, people, structure and culture.

It looks at the organizational components contributing to the organization overall performance and create congruence in and between the four elements. This will result in having people who are more satisfied and work will be done more effectively.

The higher the congruence or compatibility amongst the four elements the higher the performance.

The model offers a systematic way to consider the root elements that drive organizational performance.

Steps :

Step 1: Analyze each key element separately

Tasks: This involves looking at the critical tasks that are done with the organization from two perspectives: What work is done and how it is processed. This involves answering the following questions:

Doe the work require specific knowledge or skill?

What are the intrinsic rewards involved in completing the work?

Is the task mechanistic or creative?

How does the work flow?



What sort of approach is needed to do this work best? Quick? Thorough? Caring? Analytical? Precise? …etc.

People: This involves looking at the people who get the work done as well as knowing what types of people are currently performing the organization’s critical tasks. This involves answering the following questions:

Who interacts to get the work done? Managers, peers, subordinates, external stakeholders.

What skills do the people possess? Knowledge, experience, education, competencies.

Is there a demographic profile? Age, gender, ethnicity.

What are these people’s preferences and expectations for compensation, reward, career progression, recognition and organizational commitment?

Structure: This element involves looking at the formal structure, systems and processes that support the organization. This involves answering the following questions:

How is the company organized? Mechanistic or organic.

Are there distinct business units or other separations? Regional, functional, by product, by market.

How distinct and/or rigid are the lines of authority?

How standardized is the work? Rules, policies, procedures.

How is work measured and incentivized and rewarded?

Culture: unwritten rules that define how work is really done – which depends on attitudes, beliefs, commitment, and motivation and so on, as well as the formal elements of process and structure that you have already examined. This element is the hardest to define, and often the one with the most influence. This involves answering the following questions:

What do people really do to get work done?

How does information flow around the organization?

What are the beliefs and values of individuals in the organization?

What leadership style is adopted?

Is there a political network in play?

Step 2: Analyze how these elements interrelate in the organization


Establish a sense of urgency

Form a powerful coalition

Create a vision for change

Communicate the vision

Remove obstacles

Create short term wins

Build on change

Anchor the changes in corporate culture


This step involves examining how the four elements, task, people, structure and culture – interrelate in addition to looking at areas of congruence and incongruence.

Work and people: Is the work being done by the right people?

Work and Structure: Is the work done in a well-coordinated manner given the organizational structure in place?

Structure and People: Does the formal organization structure allow the people to work together effectively?

People and Culture: Are the people working within a culture that best suits them?

Culture and Work: Does the culture support the nature of the work that needs to be done?

Structure and Culture: Do the formal and informal structures work cooperatively or do they compete?

Step 3: Plan to create and maintain congruence

This step identifies areas of congruence and incongruence and then deciding on what should be done to resolve major incongruence and reinforce congruence.

It is essential to set a strategy that leads to well coordinated processes that maintain congruence between the four elements: task, people, structure and culture.

When the four elements fit together, they support high performance and the end result is an organization-wide system that functions efficiently and effectively.

KOTTER EIGHT STAGE CHANGE MODEL

The model can be applied for all top-down change processes i.e. for projects that have been decided at the top management level of an organization.



The eight stages:

Establish a sense of urgency :

Examine the market and competitive realities.

Identify and discuss crisis, potential crisis or major opportunities.

Provide evidence from outside the organization that change is necessary.

Start honest discussions and give dynamic and convincing reasons to get people talking and thinking.

Proper preparation for the change program should be done.

Form a powerful coalition :

Convince people of the necessity of change. This usually requires strong leadership and visible support from key people within the organization.

Identify true leaders in the organization.

Assemble a group with enough power to lead the change efforts. These teams are necessary within the change coalition.

Attract influential key change leaders by showing enthusiasm and commitment.

Encourage the group to work together as a team.

Create a vision for change :

Create a vision to help the change effort. A clear vision can help everyone understand why they are asked to do something.

Develop a short summary (one or two sentences) that captures what one sees as the future of the organization.

Ensure that the coalition team can explain the vision in five minutes or less.

Determine the values that central to change.

Develop strategies for achieving that vision

Communicate the vision:

Communicate the vision frequently and powerfully and embed it with everything that is done.



Openly and honestly address peoples’ concerns and anxieties.

Build alignment and engagement through stories.

Use every vehicle possible to communicate the new vision and strategies.

Keep communication simple and heartfelt.

Teach new behaviors by the example of the guiding coalition.

Apply the vision to all aspects of the organization operations, for example, performance reviews.

Remove obstacles :

Put in place the structure for change and continually check for barriers to it. Removing obstacles can empower the people you need to execute the vision and can help change move forward.

Change systems and/or structures that work against the vision.

On the one hand, recognize and reward people for making change happen and on the other hand, identify people who are resisting the change and help them see what is needed.

Take actions as quickly as possible to remove any barriers or obstacles.

Create short term wins :

Nothing motivate more than success. It is, thus, recommended that the change create short term targets and not just one long-term goal.

Each win that is produced can motivate the entire staff.

Plan for and achieve visible performance improvements.

Recognize and reward those involved in bringing the improvements to life.

Build on change :

Plan for and achieve visible performance improvements.

Recognize and reward personnel involved in the improvements.

Reinforce the behaviors shown that led to the improvements.

Anchor the change in corporate culture :

Articulate the connections between the new behaviors and corporate success.

Make continuous efforts to ensure that the change is seen in every aspect of the organization as this will help that change a solid place in the organization’s culture.


Acceptance

Shock

Denial

Anger

Bargaining

Depression


Tell success stories about the change process.

Publically recognize key members of the original change coalition and make sure the rest of the staff remembers their contributions.

ADJUSTMENT TOOLS TO CHANGE

THE GRIEF CYCLE

The aim of this tool is to help change leaders minimize the negative impact of the change and help people adapt more quickly to change initiatives.

A useful model that helps in explaining the emotional stages that people pass through during the transition phase of change process.

It is viewed as a useful perspective of understanding one’s and other peoples’ emotional reactions to change.

The model helps leaders to put their focus on individuals because they are the ones who can make or break change.

Communication and involvement needs would vary according to the phase of the change project.

It provides a roadmap for leaders who want to understand their people and provides suggestions on when to:

Provide emotional support to individuals

Determine the speed with which change should occur.

Phases of the change process:

Shock :



It is the first reaction to a change projected that is announced to people.

The initial reaction to an announced change starts when people realize what the change means to them personally.

This is a critical stage for communication:

It is essential not overwhelm people with information as they will only be able to take in a limited amount of information at a time.

People need to know where to go when they want to know more information

Enough time should be given to answer any questions that come up.

At this stage, people need:

More information about the change initiative.

To understand what is happening and how to get help.

Denial :

Denial is a conscious or unconscious refusal to accept facts, information, reality, etc., relating to the situation concerned.

It's a temporary natural defense mechanism: people may resist change actively or passively.

Some people can become locked in this stage when dealing with a traumatic change that can be ignored.

Anger :

It is recognition that denial cannot continue and thus a person would experience misplaced feelings. For example, a person would pose questions like:

Why me, it is not fair

How can this happen to me?

Who to blame

People dealing with emotional upset can be angry with themselves, and/or with others.

This is considered a “danger zone” for the organization” and if managed ineffectively may lead to a serious crisis or chaos.

At this stage, change leaders need to:

Carefully plan and prepare for the change project taking into consideration the impacts and objections that people may have.



Clear communication and support is required to minimize the problems that people may experience.

The reaction to change may be personal and can be emotional. Consequently listening skills are required.

Development of mechanisms that help in responding to the unexpected.

Bargaining :

The hope that the individual can somehow postpone, delay or neutralize the change or get an adequate compensation. For example, the individual would ask questions like:

What is in it for me?

What can I do?

It is at this stage that individuals seek to find compromises for the situation.

Depression :

It is at this stage that people start to understand the certainty of change. Therefore, it is a state of emotional acceptance.

At this stage people may:

Become silent.

Refuse dialogue and much time with peers who feel the same.

It is an important time for grieving that must be processed and individuals, at this stage, may pose questions like:

Why bother with anything?

What is the point and why are they doing this?

Acceptance :

The organization starts to come out of the “danger zone” and is on the way to making a success of the changes.

People buy-in and start to become proactive i.e. people’s acceptance grow as they will need to test and explore what the change means.

Individuals become emotionally objective.

Changes start to become second nature and people embrace the improvements to the way they work.

The change leader role:



Make sure that people are well trained and are given early opportunities to experience what the change will bring.

Build contingency time so that people can learn and explore without too much pressure: Become aware that this stage is vital for learning and acceptance and that it takes time i.e. people are not expected to be productive at their full capacity.

It is important to note the following:

The cycle is not a sequential process as people may move back and forth from one stage to another.

The intensity of each stage is dependent on the person’s personality.

The Extended Grief Cycle can be shown as in the chart below, indicating the roller-coaster ride of activity and passivity as the person wriggles and turns in their desperate efforts to avoid the change.

THE POSITIVE CHANGE CYCLE

Not all people experience change as a bad thing: some will benefit from the change, whilst others just find change in itself intriguing and exciting.

The following chart provides an overview of stages of positive change:



Uninformed optimism :

In the first stage of positive change, the person is excited and intrigued by the change. They look forward to it with eager anticipation, building a very positive and often over-optimistic view, for example that it will be much easier for them and resolve all of their current issues.

Though people are positively happy with the change but unfortunately this honeymoon period does not last for a long period of time.

Informed pessimism :

Individuals find that things have not all fallen into place:

Other people have not magically become as cooperative as they expected

Things are just not as easy as they had expected.

This pushes them over into a period of gloom when they realize that perfection is not that easy to attain. This may evidence itself in mutterings and grumblings, but still does not reach the depths of the depression stage of negative change perception unless the person flips into a delayed negative cycle.

Informed optimism :

The original optimism starts to reassert itself, now tinted by a resignation to the reality of the situation because a positive sense of potential begins to come back.

People start making realistic plans and move forward with an informed sense of optimism.

Completion :

Things reach a relatively steady platform of realistic and workable action.

The person is probably happier than they were before the change started and, with their realistic vision, have the potential to reach higher levels of happiness as they achieve more of their potential.

WHY CHANGE INITIATIVES FAIL?

The organization had not been clear about the reasons for the change and the overall objectives.

Organizations had failed to move from talking to action quickly enough. This leads to mixed messages and gives resistance a better opportunity to focus.



The leaders had not been prepared for the change of management style required to manage a changed business or one where change is the norm. "

The mentality of "now we're going to do change and then we'll get back to normal" causes the failure. Change as the cliché goes is a constant; so a one off program, which presumably has a start and a finish, doesn't address the long-term change in management style.

They had chosen a change methodology or approach that did not suit the business.

The organization had not been prepared and the internal culture had 'pushed back' against the change.

The business had 'ram raided' certain functions with little regard to the overall business i.e. they had changed one part of the process and not considered the impact up or downstream. In short they had panicked and were looking for a quick win or to declare victory too soon.

They had set the strategic direction for the change and then the leaders had remained remote from the change leaving the actual change to less motivated people.

RESISTANCE TO CHANGE: A MAJOR REASON FOR CHANGE EFFORTS FAILURE

Definition of Resistance: It is any conduct that tries to maintain the status quo in face of pressure to change.

Why people resist change?

Announcing what the change will be and expecting people to comply :

Failure to recognize that people are creatures of habits who are usually satisfied with their status quo. Hence, people initially resist change.

People may have had past negative experience with change efforts.

Organizational change initiatives involve changing people who have to take the decision to change.

Distinction between the change situation and transition period:

Change is a situational event that occurs as a result of new technology introduction or new policy initiation or new team roles …etc. As such, it involves a transition – a psychological process that people go through to come to terms with the new change.

Organizations generally fail to minimize the negative consequences of transition because of the following reasons:

Employees fear to succeed in the post change work environment.



Employees cannot understand the scope of change and how their jobs will be impacted.

Death of the employee status quo and thus change leaders must attempt to portray that the current status quo is unacceptable, undesirable and that change aims at creating a better future.

Uncertainty created by the announcement of the impeding change : Change involves disruption of expectations as it disrupts the certainty and order of the individuals’ work life.

People have a stake in their status quo : People do not strongly express resistance when the proposed changes are initially unveiled because there is widespread denial that change will be pushed through.

How to overcome resistance to change?

Unfreezing the status quo:

Portray the proposed change is a better alternative than maintaining the status quo. This involves explaining the importance of planned change.

Creating a burning platform for change in order to make it easy to let go of the status quo by making it impossible to maintain the current status.

Reinforce the absolute necessity for change:

Portray the positive aspects of the organizational life one can expect once the change initiative is completed.

Some flexibility is needed where change makers may participate in refining the implementation plan.

Spot examples of “trial behaviors” and positively reinforce these to produce more of the same type of behaviors that is considered appropriate for change initiatives.

3 C’s communication strategy:

Context:

Why make these changes?

What is happening with customers, competitors, stakeholders …etc. that make these changes so important for us?

Content:

What exactly are we changing?

What are the scope, nature, and timing of the planned change initiatives?



Consequences:

What is in it for the individual personally if he/she demonstrates compliance with the proposed change initiative?

MANAGING ORGANIZATION CHANGE DEVELOPMENT

Definition: A special approach to organizational change in which employees themselves formulate and implement the change that is required, often with the help of a trained consultant and handled by Human Resources.

Characteristics

Involves action research which includes:

Data collection about groups, departments and/or the organization

Feeding information back to employees to analyze it and develop a hypothesis about what the problem might be.

Behavioral science knowledge application to improve organizational effectiveness.

Changes in the organization directions, especially in improving problem solving, responsiveness, quality of work and effectiveness.

CATEGORIES OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE DEVELOPMENT

Human process application:

They aim at improving human relations skills through providing employees with skills to analyze their own behavior and the behavior of others.

Tools:

Sensitivity training (laboratory or t-training) is the most widely used technique in human process application. Its process is as follows:

1. 10 – 15 people meet away from work with no specific agenda for the meeting; rather the focus is on feelings and emotions of the group members during the meeting.

2. The facilitator encourages open expression of feelings and participants are asked to portray themselves as they are.

3. The success of t-group depends on the feedback each person gets from other members of the group.



4. It is an effective tool for teambuilding but it has to be administered in a climate of psychological safety and voluntary participation.

Advantages:

- Understanding one self and others.- Discovering feelings and emotions related to different

situations and relationships.- In depth understanding of personal factors and its

effect on thinking and behavior.- Changing and developing trainees’ behavior- Understanding the behavior of others.

Disadvantages:

- Uncovers the relationship among participants- Negative feedback especially among those with high

emotional sensitivity.

Survey research requires:

1. Employees fill an organization wide attitude survey.

2. Data is, then, analyzed by the facilitator to identify problem areas and recommend means to overcome them.

3. It is a convenient tool during the unfreezing stage in change process.

Technological intervention: Organization development practitioners are involved in changing the firm's structure, methods and job design using technologically structural interventions, for example; employees collect data on the company's current structure and then jointly redesign and implement the new structure.

HR management: Organization development practitioners use action research to enable employees to analyze and change human resource practices, for example; performance appraisals and incentive systems.

Strategic organization development: They aim at achieving a fit among the firm's strategy, structure, culture and external environment, for example; integrated strategic management which includes the following steps:

1. Managers and employees analyze current strategy and organizational design.

2. They choose a desired strategy and organizational design.

3. Design of a strategic change plan: A strategy of moving the organization from its current status to its desired one.

4. Implement and review results of change.



CHANGE MANAGEMENT LESSONS

Most of the problems in organizations are fixable through organizational changes - structure, process, culture - and learning – training and practice.

Change is continuous: Change Management is a fad that in many respects may or may not work. It is clearly the measurement of change that organizations are most interested in as they wish to drive and direct it.

The workplace change causes great difficulty as it appears to accelerate beyond, in many cases, the human capacity to keep up with, especially if people within the organization are not prepared to embrace change at the same speed as most organizations wish to embrace.

The imposition of change in a formal fashion causes great change shifts to go in the wrong direction. Change that is aligned with true individuals’ motivation is the most positive and profound process

Change will deliver positive impact if it implemented through involvement and acceptance rather than enforcement.

The key to any change process is to take into consideration the organization’s perspective as well that of the individuals. This requires leadership that builds on strong reflective process and trust between the organization management and those affected by change. This could be done by:

Developing a strategy that could be understood by all organization members.

Open and honest communication as well trust, especially during crisis times.

Expect tough times ahead; everyone expects that after the initiation event, it should go smoothly, but the most painful part is yet to come - the transition period. Recognizing this early on in the process will help weather the storms ahead.


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