To start an organisational change, recognize the need for it. All the people involved must understand this need and the problem’s complexity. They must develop a shared understanding of what’s happening. They should also know the reasons for change and ways that the internal or external environments are affecting the organization. A change manager, thus, should identify the threats/opportunities to the organisation and begin the planning process for the things that should be accomplished and by when.
Patterns of change
Recognition: The first step in a change management process is recognition of what needs to be changed and why change is needed.
Diagnosis: Change managers should predict and diagnose the need for this change. They should understand how this change are related to the organizational cycles.
Plan: A change manager should communicate and develop a shared understanding of the change with a detailed plan. It should include where the organization wants to be precisely. What are its objectives and goals? He/she should choose a change strategy according to the previous analysis. This plan includes the preplanning amount and others involved. It should also contain a detailed outline of specific tactics to use.
Implement and Review: The implementation involves the change itself. Everyone should understand his/her roles in what’s going to happen. However, change managers should be ready to offer support and look for stress signs in the people involved. Then, one must check and understand how the people are reacting and how he/she can deal with the team or individual reactions.
Maintain the change momentum. Offer resources, develop new skills, and reinforce new behaviours. Develop a support system for the agents. Next, evaluate the progress to know what’s working and what’s not.
Sustain change: Stick with the change. Update the people with new policies, procedures, and materials. Document all changes. Next, determine if the goals are met, and evaluate the results. Reward employees for hard work and new practices. In short, celebrate the small wins!
How to Recognise A Need or Opportunity for Change and Starting a Change Process?
Again, change can be due to either external or internal environments. However, recognising the need for change starts at the top management level or other organizational components.
- External is affected by social, political, and economic stimuli
- Internal is affected by organizational styles, policies, procedures, systems, and employee behaviours
A few examples where change is needed –
- Acquisitions and mergers
- Leadership change
- During a crisis
- Culture change
- New technology
In starting the change, slow down and plan wisely. It will reduce the chances of resistance in the end. Develop a solid plan and build momentum with the people involved.
Building of Change Relationships
Building relationships is a critical component of a change management plan. Why? It’s important to achieve goals. As you know, your team should work together, not in isolation.
Building relationship is the foundation of an organized change effort. It readies employees for change and fosters a trust environment. Share relevant and good information. Communicate about change with genuine commitment to help people understand the need for change instead of waiting for them to prove themselves.
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How to adapt to change
The top management looks for improvement due to external and external forces.
A change agent re-examines the past practices and current issues within an organization. He/she, with top management support, engages in different discussions with several levels of the organizations to identify and diagnose the current problems.
The change manager offers methods and ideas for solutions at many organization levels. Decisions are developed and tested to solve problems before making a broader scope of the change to the entire organization, though.
The change is then implemented. It is absorbed permanently into the organization’s culture, processes, systems, and procedures. But it is dynamic and changes can be done along the way, as needed.
Gradualist paradigm and punctuated equilibrium paradigm
It claims that an organization changes and develops through incremental adjustments. They accumulate to ensure that an organization is aligned with the external environment. On the other hand, the punctuated equilibrium paradigm states that organizations develop through an equilibrium’s alternation periods where the deep structures are changed. Some organizations experience the change as a pattern of punctuated equilibrium.
What is a deep structure? It’s the basic choice that determines the pattern of activity of an organization. It is an inertia force that maintains the status quo, so it is hard to change (e.g. strategy, culture, and leadership). A deep structure is particularly strong when an organization, group, or department is in a network with dependencies.
Typology of Organisational Change
The change matrix shows the connections between the different practices. It displays interfering and reinforcing processes, too.
With a good amount of knowledge, a change manager can use effective principles to design a smooth transition, however.
A change matrix is a process that offers a systematised approach to judge important business practices and that highlights the possible difficulties in the transition.
Implications of Change
The types of change for change management has different implications involving the concentration of change efforts, locus of change, steps in the process of change and the change agent’s roles.
Most companies implement a three-pronged approach (the Lewin’s three-step process). Its most difficult phase is unfreezing the involves changing the wrong past practices and behaviours engrained in an organization’s processes, culture, systems, and procedures.
The second phase is the changing stage that involves changing old behaviours and using new ones done through training and redevelopment.
The third and final phase is refreezing. It reinforces and sustains the new behaviours with success metrics and visibility of success. It may include reward systems for high performance and motivation of employees to embrace the change.
The locus for change is the change’s intensity. Signs include dislocation, stress, and trauma. It affects the point where leadership for change is determined. A discontinuous change is more intense than an incremental change. On the other hand, a reactive change can be more intense than an anticipatory change.
A high intensity change can be a change through delegation, such as for external consultants. It can also be a change through the normal management processes.
New Patterns of Change
The main problem of firms operating in high-velocity environments is redirecting the continuous change process that’s underway. They use a sequence/pattern of change that involves freezing. It identifies the patterns as well as highlights the events already taking place. The next phase is rebalancing. It involves re-sequencing different patterns, revisiting history and improving the best practices. The final phase is enabling activity patterns to avoid many blockages along the way.
Of all these things discussed, the role of the change agent is vital. He/she is the prime mover to initiate and manage the planned change. Finally, the change manager ensures that he/she helps the individuals/teams involved understand the dynamics of change.