Chapter 11

Managing Organizational Change, Resistance, & Conflict

Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.11-1

Change and Organizational Impact

Projects often cause changes in organizations, and some people may lose their jobs when a project is completed.

Project managers must learn to identify, understand, and work with a variety of stakeholders

Examples of Stakeholder Impacts from cases

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Reactions to Change

We have all been through change - but how do we think about and manage it?

Dealing with the people issues, or soft side of technology, is an area that most technical people do not enjoy.

Many technical people and managers naively believe that the users within the organization will gladly embrace a new system if it is built properly.

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Managers & Technical People May Have The False Beliefs

People want this change.

Monday morning we’ll turn on the system and they’ll use it.

A good training program will answer all of their questions and then they’ll love it.

Our people have been through a lot of change – what’s one more change going to matter?

We see the need for helping our people adjust, but we had to cut something.

They have two choices. They can change or they can leave. 11-4

In Reality, …

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Change Management

Defined by the Gartner Group The transforming of the organization so it is aligned with

the execution of a chosen corporate business strategy. It is the management of the human element in a large-scale change project.

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Assimilating Change

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ChangeThreshold

Ass

imila

tion

of c

ha

nge

req

uir

e

Time

Change is a Process

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PresentState

TransitionState Desired

State

Driving Forces Resisting Forces

Unfreezing Changing Refreezing

Force Field Analysis – Lewin, 1951

Emotional Responses to Change

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shock

denial

anger

bargaining

depression

testing

acceptance

Time

EmotionalResponse

pass

ive

activ

e

stability

Elizabeth Kubler- Ross, 1969

Five Stages of Grieving

Denial Shock and disbelief

Anger Blaming others for the change

Bargaining Attempts to make deals to avoid the change Looks for ways to extend the status quo

Depression Admits that change is inevitable and understands the

impact

Acceptance Coming to grips with the change Moving on to the new state

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People

Technology

Task

Structure

Impact of Organizational Change (Leavitt’s Model)

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Reactions to Change

Change may Be an ending Mean giving something up Be stressful Be easier for those initiating the change Be the basis for resistance and conflict Change the “rules for success”

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Change Management Plan

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Assess Willingness, Readiness, and Ability to Change

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Develop or Adopt a Strategy for Change

Rational–Empirical Approach

Normative-Reeducation Approach

Power-Coercive Approach

Environmental-Adaptive Approach

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Implement the Change Management Plan and Track Progress

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Evaluate Experience and Develop Lessons Learned

Experiences should be documented and made available to other project teams

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Best Practices

Provide consistent communication and involvement – WIIFM (What’s In It For Me)

Determine support needs - where do people go for help and information?

Measure and communicate progress (Quick Wins)Build the need for change (“Burning Platform”)Ensure visible, consistent sponsorshipAllow the disenchanted to vent

Listen, listen, … and listen some more

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Resistance and Conflict

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Why Do People Resist Change?

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Conflict Management

Focuses on preventing, managing, or resolving conflicts.

It is important to identify potential conflicts as early as possible so that the conflict can be addressed.

Although conflict can be positive and help form new ideas and establish commitment, negative conflict left unresolved can lead to damaged relationships, mistrust, unresolved issues, continued stress, dysfunctional behavior, and low productivity and morale.

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Although conflict is one of the things most of us dislike intensely, it is inevitable. Most often when we try to avoid conflict, it will nevertheless seek us out. Some people wrongly hope that conflict will go away if it is ignored. In fact, conflict ignored is more likely to get worse, which can significantly reduce project performance. The best way to reduce conflict is to confront it.

(Verma, 1998, p. 367)

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Conflict Management Style Quiz

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Add the corresponding statements for each of the styles below to find out how you would handle conflicts:

Style 1: 1, 5, 7Style 2: 4, 9, 12Style 3: 6, 10, 15Style 4: 3, 11, 14Style 5: 2, 8, 13

Types of Conflict

Traditional View

Contemporary View

Interactionist View

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Approaches to Conflict

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Approach to Conflict Situation

Each conflict situation is unique and the choice of an approach to resolve conflict depends on:

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Conflict and the Project Team

Project managers must lead their teams in performing various project activities

After assessing team performance and related information, the project manager must decide: if changes should be requested to the project if corrective or preventive actions should be

recommended if updates are needed to the project management plan or

organizational process assets.

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Conflict Handling Modes

1. Confrontation

2. Compromise

3. Smoothing

4. Forcing

5. Withdrawal

6. Collaborating

28http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xCkhV7zhuw

Can Conflict Be Good?

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Common Sources of Conflict

Work scopeResource assignmentsScheduleCostsTechnical opinionsPriorities of resource timeAdministrative proceduresResponsibilitiesPersonality clashes

Part 3 - Project Teams & Conflict 31

Root Cause of Conflict

The PM has final responsibility to resolve or manage any conflict that affects project success.

For example, suppose two people are yelling at each other during a meeting. Asking them to not yell fixes the symptom, but not the root cause of the conflict, which may be a difference of opinion about an issue due to different assumptions being made by each person.

Five Dysfunctions of a Team

The five dysfunctions of teams are1. Absence of trust2. Fear of conflict3. Lack of commitment4. Avoidance of accountability5. Inattention to results

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*Lencioni, Patrick, “Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, CA (2005), p. 3.

General Advice on Teams

Be patient with your teamFix the problem instead of blaming people Establish regular, effective meetingsAllow time for teams to go through the basic team-

building stages Limit the size of work teams to three to seven

members

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