Whats Change Mangement ?

A set of processes employed to ensure that significant (important) changes are implemented in an orderly, controlled and systematic way to effect organizational change. Organizational Change Management should begin with a systematic analysis of the current situation in order to determine both the need for change and the capability to change.

FORCES OF CHANGE

Change Management Cycle

The seven C's of change

Crafting the vision and the path. Communicating. Choosing a team. Consulting stakeholders. Coping with change. Connecting organization-wide change. Capturing learning.

Peoples perception about change

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Phases of change:To manage employee issues of change process well following needs to be understood well.

Shock and Surprise

Confrontation with unexpected situations by accident or planned events. These situations make people realize that their own patterns of doing things are not suitable for new conditions any more. Thus, their perceived own competence decreases

Denial and Refusal

People activate values as support for their conviction that change is not necessary. Hence, they believe there is no need for change; their perceived competency increases again.

Rational Understanding

People realize the need for change. According to this insight, their perceived competence decreases again. People focus on finding short term solutions, thus they only cure symptoms. There is no willingness to change own patterns of behavior.

Emotional Acceptance

This phase, which is also called crisis is the most important one. Only if management succeeds to create a willingness for changing values, beliefs, and behaviors, the organization will be able to exploit their real potentials. In the worst case, however, change processes will be stopped or slowed down here.

Phases of change:- CONTD......

Exercising and Learning
The new acceptance of change creates a new willingness for learning. People start to try new behaviors and processes. They will experience success and failure during this phase. It is the change managers task to create some early wins (e.g. by starting with easier projects). This will lead to an increase in peoples perceived own competence.

Realization People gather more information by learning and exercising. This knowledge
has a feedback-effect. People understand which behavior is effective in which situation. This, in turn, opens up their minds for new experiences. These extended patterns of behavior increase organizational flexibility. Perceived competency has reached a higher level than prior to change.

Integration People totally integrate their newly acquired patterns of thinking and acting.
The new behaviors become routine.

The different models of change in Management :

1) Lewins Model 2) Beers Model 3) Shaws Model

Lewin's Model
Unfreezing
The first stage involves creating a level of dissatisfaction with the status quo, which creates conditions for change to be implemented.

Changing
The second stage requires organizing and mobilizing the resources required to bring about the change.

Re-freezing
The third stage involves embedding the new ways of working into the Organization.

Beer's Model
Beer and colleagues advocate a model recognizes that change is more complex and therefore requires a more complex, albeit still uniform set of responses to ensure its effectiveness. They prescribe a six-step process to achieve effective change. They concentrate on 'task alignment', whereby employees' roles, responsibilities and relationships are seen as key to bring about situations that enforce changed ways of thinking, attitudes and behaving.

Stages in BEERs Model.

Mobilize commitment to change through joint diagnosis. Develop a shared vision of how to organize. Foster consensus, competence and commitment to shared vision. Spread the word about the change. Institutionalize the change through formal policies. Monitor and adjust as needed

Shaws model
This model looks at change in a different form. Change is seen as both complex and also evolutionary. The starting point for their (and a number of other more recent models) model is that the environment of an Organization is not in equilibrium. As such the change mechanisms within Organizations tend to be 'messy' and to a certain extent operate in reverse to the way outlined by Lewin. It is not appropriate to consider the status quo as an appropriate starting point, given that Organizations are not static entities. Rather the forces for change are already inherent in the system and emerge as the system adapts to its environment. Such different models will have implications on the way Organizations and their leaders view change, the way they manage change and the effectiveness of any change initiative.

What can be done to make change management more effective ?

Training: -Appropriate and timely training is frequently identified as key to effective change. Examples of training requirements might include: Project and programme management skills to ensure change initiatives are completed both on time and to budget. Change management skills, including communication and facilitation. leadership coaching. Communication: Two-way communication with employees and their active involvement in implementation has also been identified as a key enabler of change.

Active participation is one suggested means of overcoming resistance to change. (CFT)

Conclusion "It's easiest to ride a horse in the direction it is going." In other words, don't struggle against change; learn to use it to your advantage.