Change Intervention

Organisations go through changes from time to time. However not all organisations share the same success rate when it comes to implementing changes. One of the most important aspects of change is having the appropriate interventions in place, in order to manage change and yeild successful results.

Change intervention is a set of activities that are selected, planned, and performed by change leaders, in order to effectively roll out and implement the change. The theory of change intervention states that the goal of the intervention is to address issues and problems using the proper techniques and performed at the right time. This increases the effectiveness of the plan for change, by equipping managers with the right intervention to successfully overcome the challenges as they rollout change.

One of the areas to consider when assessing the current situation and choosing the correct intervention is the social environment within the organisation. Social construction of reality, according to sociologists Berger and Luckmann, people and groups interact based on the concepts of their actions towards one another. This can be seen in the way a leader interacts with his peers and his teammates. The mental representation of people’s actions towards one another also affects the social environment within the organisation, in terms of personal impact, effect, and influence.

This is why realities based no socially constructed ideas must be considered when choosing the right type of intervention to manage the challenges throughout the change process. Knowing how leaders and other individual can affect other people within the organisation is one of the key steps in selecting the right intervention, for the current situation. To maximise the effectiveness of an intervention, it has to be carried out by the right person, with the right amount of influence and skill to do so, as the goal of the intervention is to improve the current situation, in order to reach the desired end goal.

Involvement and Engagement Methodologies

Change intervention uses methodologies that help managers approach change on different levels. These methodologies are known as 5D: Define, Discover, Dream, Design, Deliver.

1. Define – as in the word itself, it defines the scope or area of work, and the work that needs to be done. Knowing the extent and the amont of work involved in the change process is the foundation of the rest of the entire project.

• Discover – this not just pertains to coming up with ideas for the future state of the organisation but also to focusing on the current situation, finding out what’s working and the previous successes of the organisation.

• Dream – once the past successes and the strong points of the organisation has been revisited, the next step is to envision a desired future and imagining the possibilities that lie ahead.

• Design – once the image has been created from the dream phase, it is time to design or create the path that will lead the organisation towards reaching and fulfilling its desired future state.

• Deliver – once the path or the design has been created, the next step is to identify the means that it is going to be delivered. This is the process of creating the future, or as they say, the “what will be”. Today, delivery is also referred to as destiny — which pertains to fulfilling the desired goal.

In the past, there were only 4 methodologies, until the “define” phase was added to the list. The new first step, which is the define phase, added more structure and improved the scoping of the work, making the entire process more effective and efficient.

The Building Blocks of Intervention

Operational Development interventions (OD Interventions), serve as the backbone of change intervention and are designed to improve functioning at an individual, group, and organisational levels. There are 14 OD Interventions popularly used today. Here’s a brief description of each of these interventions below:

• Diagnostic activities – designed to reveal the current status and state of the organisation and see it where it is, as it currently is, through fact-finding activities
• Survey feedback activities – a way to listen to people through information gathering activities, and the information is analysed to better understand the people, areas of opportunities, as well as problems within the organisation
• Coaching and counselling activities – designed to understand the dynamics of human behaviour, based on how one is perceived by others and how one perceives themselves; learning goals are defined based on observations of others and observation of one’s self

• Life and career planning activities – designed to support individuals to focus on their personal life and career goals, and how to achieve these goals

• Teambuilding activities – organised for members of the team to work together to achieve a common goal by using fun, interesting, and engaging activities

• Intergroup activities – organised for interdepedent teams to work together to achieve a shared goal, similar ot teambuilding activities

• Education and training activities – designed to up-skill, cross-train, and provide new knowledge and skills to the people within the organisation

• Planning and goal setting activities – activities that provide the fundamentals of planning and goal setting, which can be applied and modified depending on the goal, problem solving requirements, overcoming challenges, and carrying out projects

• Techno-structural or structural activities – geared towards increasing the overall effectiveness within the organisation by improving organisational structure, as well as job design

• Process consultation activities – geared towards understanding the client environment better

• Third party peacemaking activities – designed to manage interpersonal conflict that normally occurs during the process of organisational change

• Grid organisation development activities – development activities which makes use of the 6-phase total organisation model
• Strategic Management activities – supports long-term planning and involves activities that make use of interventions

• Organisational Transformation activities – designed to manage and support system-wide changes or changes in the nature of the organisation

These interventions serve as tools for managers to navigate their way through a change process and be able to effectively manage individual, group, or organisational challenges that may occur along the way. Though it is possible to have instances where only one form of intervention is needed to manage the current situation, often, multiple interventions are combined, and sometimes even modified, to suit the situation. Interventions are extremely important in the process of creating a healthier environment for change and to address the needs of the people who are impacted by it.