I have been a student at the university for one year, and this is the fourth course I have taken. In that time, I have learned much more about change management that will greatly assist me with managing change that often takes place in my organization. Also, the knowledge that I have acquired through learning programs provided at my workplace, and the skills I have acquired from enrolling in the organizational change course has afforded me the ability to understand change. This course explored the role and importance of a change agent, and I know why change initiatives are important to the success of an organization. More importantly, I have learned how taking management courses will have an impact on my degree and my future career endeavors. …show more content…
Therefore, it is important to understand how people respond and act upon change initiatives. The organizational change course has provided me with the knowledge and skills for learning different change management tools, how those tools are applied to different change initiatives, and what models are more highly effective for certain change initiatives. Through various assignments, I have developed a better understanding of change management terminology, types of change, change management tools, leadership styles, and managing change. Since I have attended a leadership training for how to implement appreciative inquiry to change initiatives, I have always utilized this tool for change management decisions. Weekly discussion postings and discussion responses about change initiatives have effectively allowed me to participate and communicate by interacting with my classmates, as a learning community. I especially preferred collaborating on the discussion board postings and receiving responses from my classmates. At times, it gave me a different perspective about change initiatives, and what types of changes my classmates had encountered in their …show more content…
As an internal change agent with a viewpoint from inside the organization, I must focus on matters, such as organizational effectiveness, improvement, and development. In my organization and when most leaders are ready to lead change, they ask employees to form a committee. Most often, I volunteer to join a committee or I am asked to participate in a committee in order to work on strategizing and implementing change initiatives. I am a strong believer that everyone that is going to be affected by a change should be notified that change is imminent. Also, employees should feel encouraged to give input and made to feel that are included in the change. Many times, I have experienced employees who have displayed resentment because they were not involved in change initiatives. They felt as if they were disempowered or devalued because they did not have a voice in the organization. Being employed at the college for 24 years, I have seen many change initiatives, both planned and unplanned, and I have had to speak with employees who resist change or simply won’t accept change. Given the charge by my supervisor, I often have acted as a mentor to employees to try to explain the positive side of change and to help employees see the benefits of change. Most times, I have been successful but with some employees, who adamantly oppose change, I have not.
Change affects more than just a program or a process within an organization, change affects employees, collecting data on employee’s readiness and willingness to accept a change will help leaders know if the organization is socially ready for change (Cole, Harris, and Bernerth, 2006). A change might be positive for an organization but if the employees who will be affect by the change are lost in the process then it could create a greater issue than not making the change. Leadership needs to communicate and inspire the employees to be positive toward the change, seeking to enhance their job satisfaction not make changes that will increase their desire to leave. This data is best collected early in the change initiative allowing leadership to properly cast the vision while addressing concerns. This requires leadership to create platforms for employees to engage in the change initiative freely (Ford, 2006). Employee attitudes can be measured through these dialogues providing leadership with necessary measureable data (Hughes, 2007).
Leading Change was named the top management book of the year by Management General. There are three major sections in this book. The first section is ¡§the change of problem and its solution¡¨ ; which discusses why firms fail. The second one is ¡§the eight-stage process¡¨ that deals with methods of performing changes. Lastly, ¡§implications for the twenty-first century¡¨ is discussed as the conclusion. The eight stages of process are as followed: (1) Establishing a sense of urgency. (2) Creating the guiding coalition. (3) Developing a vision and a strategy. (4) Communicating the change of vision. (5) Empowering employees for broad-based action. (6) Generating short-term wins. (7) Consolidating gains and producing more changes. (8) Anchoring new approaches in the culture.
Spector, B. (2013). Implementing organizational change: theory into practice. (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ
In today’s ever changing world people must adapt to change. If an organization wants to be successful or remain successful they must embrace change. This book helps us identify why people succeed and or fail at large scale change. A lot of companies have a problem with integrating change, The Heart of Change, outlines ways a company can integrate change. The text book Ivanceich’s Organizational Behavior and Kotter and Cohen’s The Heart of Change outlines how change can be a good thing within an organization. The Heart of Change introduces its readers to eight steps the authors feel are important in introducing a large scale organizational change. Today’s organizations have to deal with leadership change, change in the economy,
Change is a double-edged sword (Fullan, 2001). Change is a word that might inspire or put fear into people. Leadership is challenging when it comes to dealing with change and how individuals react within the organization to the change. Marzano, McNulty, and Waters (2005) discuss two orders of change in their book School Leadership that Works; first and second. Fullan (2001) also adds to the discussion in his book Leading in a Culture of Change, with regard to understanding change. In Change Leadership, Keagan and Wagner (2006) discuss many factors of change and the systematic approach to change. Change affects people in different ways. Leaders need to be able to respond to the individuals throughout the change process.
Organizations are preserved by change and constant renewal; otherwise, they will stagnate and die (Marquis & Huston, 2015). Leading change can be one of the most challenging tasks for a leader. Many times attempts at change fail because the person trying to implement the change was ill prepared to deal with resistance and used an unstructured
Change is an inevitable function of any organization and is something that employees and leaders alike are bound to face during their careers. According to Ivancevich et al (2011), how leaders are able to handle the task of change can determine the success or failure of an organization. As organizational leadership students, it is important for us to begin to develop and sharpen the necessary skills to innovate and adapt to change effectively. Leaders should be familiar with a variety of elements within the organization including an assessment of employee and leadership strengths, relationships, skill level and capability, level of support, and the types of resources readily available. Assessing these elements prior and during change, as well as evaluating the process after the fact, helps prepare organizations and leaders for future success. The Harvard School of Business’ interactive change management simulation, Change Management Simulation: Power and Influence V2 (2013), was a valuable assignment to help teach us about change from the standpoint of a mid-level management position at Spectrum, a sunglasses company, looking to adopt a new sustainability initiative.
This paper will be broken down into six sections profiling each critical part of implementing and managing change in an organization. The sections included are; outline for plan creating urgency, the approach to attracting a guiding team, a critique of the organizational profile, the components of change, and how to empower the organization.
The transformation of a company requires hundreds, sometimes thousands of employees to adopt a new view of its future, a future they must regard as essential. Change management involves managing the process of achieving this future state. Change can be viewed from two vantage points, that of the people making the changes and that of the people experiencing the changes. In the top-down, or strategic viewpoint associated with management, the focus is on technical issues such as the investment required, the processes for implementing the change, how soon the change can be realized, and the outcome. In the bottom-up viewpoint of the employee, the focus is on what the change means to the ...
Change usually comes with resistance in any workplace because change disrupts the employees’ sense of safety and control (Lewis, 2012). Kurt Lewin (1951) created a three step process for assisting employees with organizational Change (Lewis, 2012). The three stages are Unfreeze, Change and Refreeze. These are the steps to a smooth transition for change within organizations. Further, these steps are not possible without good communication from upper Management through line staff. Communication was consistently listed as an issue in surveys conducted by the department.
Change in an organization occurs when an organization identifies an area of where necessary change must be undertaken, examines it thoroughly and adapts to it. This may lead to gaps where employees may not adapt to a certain change and therefore it is important that an organization takes into considerati...
Robbins et al. (2011, p. 186), states ‘Change is an organizational reality and affects every part of a manager’s job’. Today’s wave of change primarily created by economic condition so change is now such a constant feature of organization life (Goodman, E. 2011, p.243). Organizations need to be changed at one point or another in structure, technology or people. These changes are defined as organizational change (Robbins et al. 2011, p.18). Organizational change is important because changes can increase effectiveness and efficiency, the innovation of products, services as well as dealing with changes in external and internal forces (Goodman, E. 2011, p.243). However, ‘the bottom line is that organizational change is difficult because management systems are design and people are rewarded for stability’ (Lawler, E.E. & Worley, C.G. 2006, p.11).
The change process within any organization can prove to be difficult and very stressful, not only for the employees but also for the management team. Hayes (2014), highlights seven core activities that must take place in order for change to be effective: recognizing the need for change, diagnosing the change and formulating a future state, planning the desired change, implementing the strategies, sustaining the implemented change, managing all those involved and learning from the change. Individually, these steps are comprised of key actions and decisions that must be properly addressed in order to move on to the next step. This paper is going to examine how change managers manage the implementation of change and strategies used
Change Management is not impossibly difficult. It need detailed planning, including everyone affected, frequent interaction, accomplish a perspicuous target for the change and a method of measuring success, complete the plan, and strengthen the change once it is in place.
The employee reflects change in an organization as a shift of role, responsibilities and skill. However, in an organizational level its refers change as a framework structure around the changing needs and capability of an organization to perform. Both employee and organization’s perception of change are needed to ensure the change is successful. Brown (2011) reported that “the role of change as a corrective action often affect patterns of work or values, and in consequence meet with resistance” (p. 144). Once an organization and its member decide to conduct a change program, they intensify the forces that driving the change. The life cycle of employee’s resistance is necessary in accomplishing change in an organization. There are five important phases in a life cycle of employee resistance to change in an organization, namely introduce the change, forces of change emerge, direct conflict happens in an organization, residual resistance appear in an organization and lastly, establish the change. (refer to Figure 1 in Appendix 1).