Overcoming Resistance in Organizational Change

Change Implementation Plan
Often times when one hears the word “change” in any aspect of life, they are often, put off, and intimidated by the word itself and the intended implication. This is a normal and understandable reaction for anyone engaging in any type of change. In terms of organizational change, this type of behavior often seen as, but is not limited to pushback, resistance, lack in productivity, turnover, drop in overall customer service, etc by team members. Thus, as organizational leaders, it is our responsibility to ensure that any change management implemented is smooth and has lasting benefits; by considering the impact on the organization as a whole and most importantly, the impact it will have on the team members within the

As you would imagine, having to look at our current processes and breaking each process down at micro level was a very daunting task for everyone involved in the project. After going through the progression of identifying which processes were potential changes, the leadership and project team members were tasked with communicating the findings and what the official implementation plan for these changes would look like. From my perspective, this was the biggest pitfall for the team. Our communication plan was not as detailed as it should have been in terms of illustrating value to other team members and leaders within the division. In addition, the project and leadership teams set unrealistic processing goals for team members. Thus, minimizing the division’s potential to create short-term wins for individual team members, as well as for the organization as a whole. Therefore, one could identify our breakdown occurring during the second cluster of Kitters’ Eight Steps of Change. Thus, this paper will attempt to address how change management can help leadership implement a change within the organization through analysis and

There is another approach to change management that is often used throughout successful organizations, which is the Lewin approach. In understanding Lewin’s approach to change management is an essence a three step process. First, leadership should ensure that employees understand and are ready for the change. Second, executing the intended change that an organization desires, and third, ensuring that the change becomes permanent (CSU-Global, 2016, p. 3). For example, let us say that an organization needs to implement a new method of tracking sales, but currently the organization’s method of tracking sales is based off a tally system monitored by individual salespersons. Ultimately, what the organization is looking for is an efficient and effective way to track sales without placing the burden and responsibility on individual salespersons. Thus, the organization needs to identify and clearly communicate the need for change and what exactly needs to change (unfreeze), secondly, the organization needs to implement the change with information, training, and support (change), finally, solidifying the change to ensure that is becomes the norm for the organization (refreeze). Organizations need to inspire change before change can occur within the confinement of its own