change management uow iact418/918 spring 2001 bob brown
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Change Management
UOW IACT418/918 Spring 2001
Bob Brown
Preface
Some claim that almost any change is a good thing simply because it is a change !
Can’t have changes without consequences.
So, WHO benefits from the consequences of the change ?
Will these benefits be for the organisation as a whole or for individuals’ private agendas ?
Overview
Your network does not exist in a vacuum.The influences (internal & external) on your business and its network will require that you make changes, or respond to changes imposed upon it.Change Management is what happens when an organisation attempts to control changes and their consequences.It is not a simple thing to define…
Three Basic Definitions
At least three broad areas need to be considered when trying to define what ‘change management’ is: The task of managing change An area of professional practice A body of knowledge
The Task of Managing Change
This definition has two meanings: Making deliberate planned changes
Implementing new systems and/or methods These are “internal” changes
Responding to unplanned changes Adapting, coping, responding These are “external’ changes
Legislation (standards, regulations, tax etc) Social/political change Actions of competitors Technological innovations
Change Management as a Professional Practice
Claimed to be a profession, usually made up of consulting “Change Managers” or “Change Agents”. Some claim to help clients manage they
changes happening TO them Some claim to help clients MAKE changes
Professional Change Agents tend to treat the PROCESS of change separately from the specifics of the situation
[is that a good thing?]
Change Management as aBody of Knowledge (paradigm)
Can be considered to be a set of Models Methods & Techniques Tools Skills
Drawn from psychology, sociology, business admin, economics, industrial/system engineering etc.THERE IS NO SINGLE BEST METHOD !!
Problem Solving
Planned Change model: Concerned with moving from a
problem state to a solved state Concerned with ENDS and MEANS
“problem” or “opportunity” ?lets just say that a ‘problem’ is simply a situation requiring action, where the required action is not yet known
Problem Finding
2nd part of the Planned Change modelSearching for situations requiring actionPerhaps to avoid or cope with something ‘bad’ or to change direction to take best advantage of the environment
Identifying and settling on a course of action that will bring about some desired and predetermined change in the situation
The Change Problem
Move from ‘old state’ to ‘new state’ by meeting three goals: TRANSFORM GOALS
Identify differences between the two states REDUCE GOALS
Determining ways of eliminating the differences APPLY GOALS
Taking the steps and setting up the processes that will eliminate these differences
The Change Problem II
Define the outcomes of the change effort
Identify the changes necessary to produce these outcomes
Find and implement ways and means of making the required changes
The Change problem can be treated as smaller problems of HOW, WHAT & WHY
“How” Problems
Initial formulation of the change problemMeans-centredDiagnosis is ignored or at best, impliedThe goals are more or less impliedExamples:
How do we get staff to be more productive? How do we introduce self-management teams? How do we move to e-commerce? How do we minimise user errors?
“What” Problems
Since ‘how’ problems don’t conduct diagnosis, they don’t concentrate on the ‘ends’WHAT ARE WE TRYING TO ACHIEVE ie: what are the ‘ends’
Typical WHAT questions: What changes are necessary? What standards apply? What indicators tell us we have succeeded? What performance measures are we trying to affect?
‘Why” Problems
Means & Ends are relative
Need to trace sets of ends-means relationships to find the real ends of change
WHY questions determine the ultimate purpose of functions and reveal new ways of performing them.
Why questions can also get into the ‘politics’ and motivations of those driving change
Managers’ Mindset
A person’s position within the organisation often defines the scope, scale & kind of changes they’re involved with.
Sometimes changes with fundamentally restructure the whole organisation
Some organisations are designed to protect core operations from change turbulence and have ‘core’, ‘buffer’ and ‘perimeter’ units.
Managers’ Mindset II
Core units (systems, operations) stick to standard procedures and tend to ask “HOW” questionsBuffer units (upper mgmt, support) responsible for performance, tend to ask ‘WHAT” questionsPerimeter units (sales, customer service etc) co-ordinate and ask “HOW” & “WHAT”“WHY” is asked by people with a ‘top-down’ view, not concerned with day-to-day operations, ie: Senior Management
[should “WHY” questions be the sole province of senior management? Does involvement in day-to-day
operations prevent you from asking WHY?]
“Unfreezing, Changing& Refreezing”
Another Change Management ‘model’
Usefully, this model gives rise to a ‘staged’ approach, look before you leap
However, too reliant upon ‘stasis’ at the beginning and end of the change
Cannot cope well with highly flexible environments (such as I.T.?)
Too much internal stability can stifle growth
Skills Required forChange Management
Political Skills Change Agents must not get stuck in internal organisational
politics, but MUST understand them!
Analytical Skills Clear analysis will overcome many objections
need financial analysis & workflow operations / systems analysis
People Skills Communications & Interpersonal skills. Ability to listen & speak
with all sections, and reconcile conflicts.
Systems Skills Arrangement of resources and routines. ‘Systems analysis’ &
‘General Systems Theory’
Business Skills How businesses work: Money, Market, HR, R&D, IR, EEO etc.
Four Basic Strategies
Rational-Empirical
People are rational and follow self interest
change based on communication of information and offering incentives
Normative-Re-educative
People are social beings and follow social norms
change based on redefining and reinterpreting existing norms, & developing commitment to new norms
Power-Coercive
People are mostly compliant, do as they’re told
change based on the exercise of authority and the imposition of sanctions
Environmental-Adaptive
People oppose loss/disruption but adapt readily
change based on building a new organisation and gradually transferring people to the new one
Factors in Selecting Strategies
There is no single perfect strategy … please consider:
1. Degree of Resistance Strong: Power-Coercive & Environmental-Adaptive Weak: Rational-Empirical & Normative-Re-educative
2. Target Population Large populations need all four strategies in a mix
‘something for everyone’
3. The Stakes High stakes need all four strategies in a mix
‘nothing left to chance’
Factors in Selecting Strategies II4. The Time Frame
Short: Power-Coercive Longer: Rational-Empirical & Environmental-
Adaptive & Normative-Re-educative
5. Expertise Mix the strategies according to the expertise of the
Change Agents
6. Dependency If organisation is dependant on its people,
managements ability to lead is limited If people are dependant on the organisation,
their ability to resist or oppose is limited Mutual dependency requires negotiation
How to Manage ChangeJump in, get into the scenario
Clear sense of mission (simpler the better)
Build a team
Flat organisational structure, keep the information flow informal & flexible
Pick people with relevant skills and high energy levels
Throw out the rule book, new circumstances mean old procedures are out of date
Action-feedback model, short plan-action intervals
Flexible priorities, must be able to shift your focus to an urgent issueTreat everything as a temporary measureAsk for volunteersSet up a good team leader and let them do their jobGive team members everything they want - EXCEPT authorityConcentrate dispersed knowledge – keep an issues logbook, let anyone speak to anyoneBring order to chaos, don’t pretend it’s already well organised !