Strengths of programmatic communication
As per definition, one of the emphases of programmatic approach is the consistency of the communication message sent from the top management to make sure that the messages every employee receives are identical. This proves to be advantageous to organizational change in the sense that it can quickly give every employee “fair notice of the change and not catching anyone by surprise later” (Lewis et al (2001)) without having to spend a lot of organizational resources to disseminate the information. The efficiency of this communication approach is highly attractive in the situation when the organization has to spread resources across daily activities and those of change implementation.
The programmatic approach also seems to promote the perception of fairness or justice among employees. The same information is disseminated to all employees, regardless of their roles and responsibilities within the organization. Nese (2014) suggested that employee’s perception of justice during organizational change could help reduce resistance to change, which is one of the primary goals of most communication program in organizations.
Weaknesses of programmatic communication
However, programmatic approach does not come without drawbacks. One of the assumptions of programmatic approach is
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Once the top management makes sense of their visions for the planned change, the information is disseminated across the organization to obtain buy-in, commitment and engagement. By (2007) noted that programmatic communication approach emphasizes “conformance over performance”. As the decisions have already been made at the top level, compliance at the lower level of the organization is expected in order to achieve success in change
Rouda, R. H., & Kusy, M. E., Jr. (1996, May 4). MANAGING CHANGE WITH LARGE-SCALE, REAL-TIME INTERVENTIONS. Tappi Journal. Retrieved from http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~rouda/T5_LSRTOD.html
Lashinger et al highlights the need for communication within leadership as effective communication is essential to influence change and motivate others. Emphasising the need for communicating effectively towards all staff members, whilst undergoing change to ensure all staff feel supported and understand the process, allowing implementation to be more successful.
The team needs to establish a policy and procedure which would be a step toward an organizational structure. This process will be a framework that defines formal reporting relationships between the different levels of management. For example, the guidelines can be used as a protocol of the process managers needs to follow to assist their employees through the change process. The team also needs to provide in house trainings for all departments so employees can be aware and implement the new changes. The training will increase skill level and improve staff productivity.
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).
In this book, there are several principals to communicating and simplifying the process in delivering a message; we choose to highlight three techniques that are commonly used in our society today. Measuring effectiveness, the use of employee surveys, and the inverted pyramid format of communication and employee benefits.
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.
Kotter and Cohen states that the direction of change is widely communicated, and communicated for both understanding and gut-level buy-in. (Kotter and Cohen 83) If information is communicated clear to the audience then the vision can be fulfilled. In order to make sure the vision is understood the message must be clear and to the point. There are many obstacles that may come against change because most people do not like change. A lot of times people get confused with communication and good communication, just because information is given it doesn’t mean that the information that was put out was affective. Kotter and Cohen, good communication shows people something that addresses their anxieties, that accepts their anger, that is credible in a very gut-level sense, and that evokes faith in the vision. (Kotter and Cohen 84) This step will help leaders to communicate the change in a way that will be accepted and welcomed. The text states that, groups usually take more time to reach a decision than individuals do. (Invancevich 417) To me that is more of the reason to make sure the message and the intend of the change is well communicated. Good communication by leaders helps develop a certain behavior that will ensure
The biggest challenges with integrating a new software system includes the financial cost of acquiring the it and the training that goes with it. Another challenge would be the staff themselves, as many employees can be against change. Al-Abri (2007) reported changes to be a complex and challenging process. Implementing changes are more successful when staffs have a clear vision of why changes are being implemented and how it will impact them directly. For this process to happen, changes need to be communicated in a clear and precise manner to the staff. Moreover, change agents need to be readily available to answer questions and provide reassurance of a positive
Overall, this six-step process allows obtaining renewal without imposing it. When the employees see that the new approach is more effective, they don’t oppose resistance to the ongoing changes. A virtuous circle effect also happens, since those problems solved by the improved coordination help to reinforce team behavior and produce a desire to learn new skills.
Regarding this concept, there are several possible ways to get the implementation of the new system using this strategy. First, each department head would be notified of the upcoming changes and detailed instructions would be given on how this would be accomplished. A mandatory completion date would be included in the instructions. An incentive would be offered to the first department that could show complete proficiency with the new system. The department that was completed first could have a reward of a catered lunch provided as well as an extra paid day off.
Organizational change affects all levels and individuals of the organization in question. Although a change effort can originate in any part of the organization, it will eventually require strategic effort from the top and buy-in from the bottom in order to be sustained.
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.
Hayes (2014), encourages change managers to keep an open line of communication with employees. Although these ones may not agree or support the upcoming change, they value the information being given to them at the onset and may eventually tolerate or accept the change. Therefore, it is important for change managers to not only communicate with employees, but provide relevant information, as the quality of the communication is of the utmost importance.
Let employees at all levels of your organization know that their voices will always be heard, and respond promptly and reasonably to employees’ issues. This can prevent bad feelings from festering and growing into resentment and bitterness. Conflict is best handled quickly and openly. (Ingram, n.d.)
The world is constantly changing in many different ways. Whether it is technological or cultural change is present and inevitable. Organizations are not exempt from change. As a matter of fact, organizations have to change with the world and society in order to be successful. Organizations have to constantly incorporate change in order to have a competitive advantage and satisfy their customers. Organizations use change in order to learn and grow. However, change is not something that can happen in an organization overnight. It has to be thought through and planned. The General Model of Planned Change focuses on what processes are used by the organization to implement change. In the General Model of Planned Change, four steps are used in order to complete the process of change. Entering and Contracting, Diagnosing, Planning and Implementing, and Evaluating and Institutionalizing are the four steps used in order to complete the process of change in an organization. The diagnostic process is one of the most important activities in OD(Cummings, 2009, p. 30).