Professional change managementreport doc

PROFESSIONAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT

GROUP #: 1
PROGRAM: MBA
SEMESTER: SPRING 2009
COURSE CODE: MGT 201
COURSE NAME: PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT
SUBMITTED TO: MUHAMMAD HUSSEIN KHORASANY
SUBMISSION DATE: APRIL 3, 2009
NAME OF INSTITUTE: INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY BIZTEK
REPORT NUMBER: 1

PREPARED BY
Muhammad Imran Haroon
Ahsan
Syed Fayaz Ahmed Shah
Mubashir Sattar
Rabiya Riaz
Humra Ali

AN OVERVIEW OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT

"If you focus on results, you'll never change. If you focus on change, you'll get results."

Jack Dixon

Change projects fail more often from lack of effective change
management than any other single reason. Teams that ignore
change management cite this as one of the “most important
lessons learned” during their project. Teams that use change
management techniques have:

• Reduced turnover and the loss of valued employee.
• Accelerated the implementation of the change.
• Reduced productivity loss and employee resistance.

What many teams lack, however, is a solid understanding of what
change management is and how to implement change
management tactics. The article provides an overview of change
management and will guide you to other resources that can help
your team manage change effectively.

WHAT IS CHANGE MANAGEMENT?

“Change is vital, improvement the logical form of change."

James Cash Penney

Change management can be viewed from two perspectives – from
those implementing the change and from the recipients of change.
Your view of change management varies dramatically if you are the
executive demanding the change versus the front line employee
who may be unsure why a change is even needed.

In many cases at the onset of a new change, neither the executive
nor the front-line employee is knowledgeable about managing
change. The executives want the change to happen now; the
employees are simply doing their job. It is the project managers,
consultants or members of the project team that first learn about
the necessity for change management. They are the first to realize
the two dimensions of change management: the top-down
managers’ perspective and the bottom- up employees' perspective.

DEFINITION OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Change Management is the process of developing a planned
approach to change in an organisation. Typically the objective is
maximising the collective efforts of all people involved in the
change.

OR

It is a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and
organizations from a current state to a desired future state. The
current definition of Change Management includes both
organizational change management processes and individual
change management models, which together are used to manage
the people side of change.

MOST USEFUL AND PRACTICAL DEFINITION OF CHANGE
MANAGEMENT

Today, the term “change management” takes on a variety of
meanings. The most practical and useful definition is:

Change management is the process, tools and techniques to
manage the people-side of business change to achieve the required
business outcome and to realize that business change effectively
within the social infrastructure of the workplace.

This definition allows practitioners to separate change management
as a practice area from business improvement techniques. So
whether you are doing Six Sigma, BPR, TQM or some other
technique to improve business performance, change management
can be viewed as an essential competency to overlay and integrate
with these methods.

EXPLANATION

In thinking about what is meant by “change management,” at least
four basic things come to mind:

1) The task of managing change
2) An area of professional practice
3) A body of knowledge
4) A control mechanism

1) THE TASK OF MANAGING CHANGE

The first and most obvious definition of “change management” is
that the term refers to the task of managing change. The obvious
is not necessarily unambiguous. Managing change is itself a term
that has at least two meanings.

One meaning of “managing change” refers to the making of
changes in a planned and managed or systematic fashion. The aim
is to more effectively implement new methods and systems in an
ongoing organization. The changes to be managed lie within and
are controlled by the organization. (Perhaps the most familiar
instance of this kind of change is the “change control” aspect of
information systems development projects.). However, these
internal changes might have been triggered by events originating
outside the organization, in what is usually termed “the
environment.” Hence, the second meaning of managing change,
namely, the response to changes over which the organization
exercises little or no control (e.g., legislation, social and political
upheaval, the actions of competitors, shifting economic tides and
currents, and so on). Researchers and practitioners alike typically
distinguish between a knee-jerk or reactive response and an
anticipative or proactive response.

2) AN AREA OF PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

The second definition of change management is "an area of
professional practice."

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of independent consultants who
will quickly and proudly proclaim that they are engaged in planned
change, that they are change agents, that they manage change for
their clients, and that their practices are change management
practices. There are numerous small consulting firms whose
principals would make these same statements about their firms.
And, of course, most of the major management consulting firms
have a change management practice area.

Some of these change management experts claim to help clients
manage the changes they face – the changes happening to them.

Others claim to help clients make changes. Still others offer to help
by taking on the task of managing changes that must be made. In
almost all cases, the process of change is treated separately from
the specifics of the situation. It is expertise in this task of managing
the general process of change that is laid claim to by professional
change agents.

3) A BODY OF KNOWLEDGE

Stemming from the view of change management as an area of
professional practice there arises yet a third definition of change
management: the content or subject matter of change
management. This consists chiefly of the models, methods and
techniques, tools, skills and other forms of knowledge that go into
making up any practice.

The content or subject matter of change management is drawn
from psychology, sociology, business administration, economics,
industrial engineering, systems engineering and the study of
human and organizational behavior. For many practitioners, these
component bodies of knowledge are linked and integrated by a set
of concepts and principles known as General Systems Theory
(GST). It is not clear whether this area of professional practice
should be termed a profession, a discipline, an art, a set of
techniques or a technology. For now, suffice it to say that there is a
large, reasonably cohesive albeit somewhat eclectic body of
knowledge underlying the practice and on which most practitioners
would agree — even if their application of it does exhibit a high
degree of variance.

4) A CONTROL MECHANISM

For many years now, Information Systems groups have tried to rein
in and otherwise ride herd on changes to systems and the
applications that run on them. For the most part, this is referred to
as “version control” and most people in the workplace are familiar
with it. In recent years, systems people have begun to refer to this
control mechanism as “change management” and "configuration
management." Moreover, similar control mechanisms exist in other

areas. Chemical processing plants, for example, are required by
OSHA to satisfy some exacting requirements in the course of
making changes. These fall under the heading of Management of
Change or MOC.

To recapitulate, there are at least four basic definitions of change
management:

1. The task of managing change (from a reactive or a proactive
posture)

2. An area of professional practice (with considerable variation
in competency and skill levels among practitioners)

3. A body of knowledge (consisting of models, methods,
techniques, and other tools)

4. A control mechanism (consisting of requirements, standards,
processes and procedures).

5) CONTENT AND PROCESS

Organizations are highly specialized systems and there are many
different schemes for grouping and classifying them. Some are said
to be in the retail business, others are in manufacturing, and still
others confine their activities to distribution. Some are profit-
oriented and some are not for profit. Some are in the public sector
and some are in the private sector. Some are members of the
financial services industry, which encompasses banking, insurance,
and brokerage houses. Others belong to the automobile industry,
where they can be classified as original equipment manufacturers
(OEM) or after-market providers. Some belong to the health care
industry, as providers, as insureds or as insurers. Many are
regulated, some are not. Some face stiff competition, some do not.
Some are foreign-owned and some are foreign-based. Some are

corporations, some are partnerships, and some are sole
proprietorships. Some are publicly held and some are privately
held. Some have been around a long time and some are
newcomers. Some have been built up over the years while others
have been pieced together through mergers and acquisitions. No
two are exactly alike.

The preceding paragraph points out that the problems found in
organizations, especially the change problems, have both content
and a process dimension. It is one thing, for instance, to introduce
a new claims processing system in a functionally organized health
insurer. It is quite another to introduce a similar system in a health
insurer that is organized along product lines and market segments.
It is yet a different thing altogether to introduce a system of equal
size and significance in an educational establishment that relies on
a matrix structure. The languages spoken differ. The values differ.
The cultures differ. And, at a detailed level, the problems differ.
However, the overall processes of change and change management
remain pretty much the same, and it is this fundamental similarity
of the change processes across organizations, industries, and
structures that make change management a task, a process, and
an area of professional practice.

WHY IS CHANGE MANAGEMENT A REQUIRED COMPETENCY FOR
BUSINESS TODAY?

In his best selling book Stewardship, Peter Block describes the
traditional values that have been the center piece of traditional,
patriarchal organizations: control, consistency and predictability.
These values dictate that decision-making is at the top, leaving the
execution and implementation to the middle and bottom layers of
an organization.

Twenty-five years ago, if you wanted something changed as the
CEO of a traditional company, you simply spoke the words. The
culture and belief system of the organization was more akin to a
military structure. The predictable behavior in that situation was
compliance to the new business direction. As a leader in that
organization, your control was typically not questioned and

employees understood what was expected of them. The values of
control, consistency and predictability created an environment
where change was simply a plan to implement or an adjustment to
a mechanical system. Although helpful, change management was
not a required competency in this environment.

A quarter of a century has passed. Business improvement initiatives
– including Edward Deming’s teachings post World-War II, the
earliest quality circles from Toyota, Six Sigma from Motorola, Total
Quality Management (TQM) from AT&T and Ford, empowered
teams, and many others initiatives – came to the forefront.
Business leaders embraced, if at least for some period of time, one
or more of these business initiatives.

Over the course of these 25 years and these improvement
strategies, we have impressed new values and belief systems on
employees. The new values include empowerment (make the right
decision for the customer), accountability (take ownership and
pride in your work), and continuous improvement (look for ways to
improve everything you do, everyday). A new culture has evolved
in many of today’s businesses where a new generation of
employees:

• Take ownership and responsibility for their work
• Have pride in workmanship and look to improve their work
processes
• Feel empowered to make decisions that improve their
product and the level of customer service

So what is the problem? The evolution from the traditional values
of control, predictability and consistency – values that made
change relatively simple to implement – to the new values focused
on accountability, ownership and empowerment have made the
implementation of business change more difficult. In many ways
Peter Block’s advocacy for this shift has come true. Employees have
been taught to question and analyze their day-to-day activities and
are rewarded for doing so. Then why would we expect them not to
question and resist new change initiatives?

The new values of business today require a different approach to
the way businesses change. The response of the employee has
shifted from “yes, sir” to “why are we doing that” – and the change
leader must adapt.

In some cases of large-scale business process change in the early
1990’s the result was outright failure because business leaders had
not shifted their actions to accommodate the new values. A CEO in
the old value structure only had to issue the decree for change and
it happened. But when a CEO tries this same approach today,
employees shout back “Why?” “How does it impact me?” “If it isn’t
broken, why are you trying to fix it?”

Research with more than 320 projects showed the primary reason
for failure in major change initiatives was lack of change
management. In other words, the inability to manage the people
side of a business change in the presence of a new culture and
new values is a major contributor to failed business changes.

HISTORY OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT
THE CONVERGENCE OF TWO FIELDS OF THOUGHT

To understand change management as we know it today, you need
to consider two converging and predominant fields of thought: an
engineer's approach to improving business performance and a
psychologist's approach to managing the human-side of change.

First, students of business improvement have been learning and
practicing how to make changes to the operations of a business as
a mechanical system since Frederick Taylor’s work in the late
nineteenth century. This mechanical system perspective focuses on
observable, measurable business elements that can be changed or
improved, including business strategy, processes, systems,
organizational structures and job roles.

From this perspective, a business is like a clock where each of the
mechanical pieces can be changed or altered to produce a
predictable and desirable solution. The change can be gradual as
seen in continuous process improvement methods such as TQM, or
radical, as advocated in business process reengineering that began
with the best selling book, Reengineering the Corporation by
Michael Hammer in the early 1990’s.

Historically companies embracing this mechanical approach to
business improvement typically did not embrace change
management concepts until their projects encountered resistance
or faced serious problems during implementation. Even after this
realization, many organizations' approach to change management
was ad hoc and lacked a solid framework for actively managing

change through the process. The tendency from an engineer's
perspective was to isolate this "people" problem and then eliminate
it or design a quick fix for this perceived obstacle to their
improvement initiative.

The other side of the story begins with psychologists. Concerned
with how humans react to their environment, the field of
psychology has often focused on how an individual thinks and
behaves in a particular situation. Humans are often exposed to
change, hence psychologists study how humans react to change.
With his 1980 publication of Transitions, William Bridges became a
predominant thinker in the field of human adaptation to change
and his early text is frequently cited in Organization Development
books on change management. However, only once or twice in this
book does Bridges relate his theory to managing change in the
workplace. It was not until later that Bridges began to write a
significant body of work related to his theories of change and how
they relate to workplace change management.

The net result of this evolution is that two schools of thought have
emerged. The table below summaries the key differences and
contrasts the two approaches in terms of focus, business practice,
measures of success and perspective on change.

Engineer Psychologist
Processes, systems,
Focus structure
People

Business BPR, TQM, ISO 9000,
Human resources, OD
practices Quality

Personal change,
Business issues or
Starting point opportunities employee resistance (or
potential for resistance)
Business performance, Job satisfaction,
Measure of
financial and statistical turnover, productivity
success metrics loss
“Help individuals make
Perspective “Shoot the stragglers, sense of what the
on change carry the wounded.” change means to
them.”

Observers of business changes in real life have realized that the
extreme application of either of these two approaches, in isolation,
will be unsuccessful. An exclusively “engineering” approach to
business issues or opportunities results in effective solutions that
are seldom adequately implemented, while an exclusively
“psychologist” approach results in a business receptive to new
things without an appreciation or understanding for what must
change for the business to succeed.

Not all practitioners have traveled down these two extremes. A few
thought leaders in the change management field were advocating a
structured change management process early on. Jeanenne
LaMarsh was actively using her organizational change model in the
1980's with companies like AT&T Bell Laboratories and later with
Ford and Caterpillar. She authored the book “Changing the Way
We Change” in 1995 and recently introduced the Managed Change
process.

In the book Managing at the Speed of Change, Daryl Conner begins
with a emphasis on understanding the psychology of change and
then moves to a structured change process. In the recent
publication by Ackerman and Anderson, change management
concepts are presented in a combined process with business
improvement activities. John Kotter, in Leading Change, presents
an 8-step model for leading change initiatives.

Contributions from both the engineering and psychology fields are
producing a convergence of thought that is crucial for successful
design and implementation of business change. In other words, a
business must constantly examine its performance, strategy,
processes and systems to understand what changes need to be
made. Increasing external and internal factors have made this
strategy essential for survival. However, an organization must also
understand the implications of a new business change on its
employees given their culture, values, history and capacity for
change. It is the front-line employees that ultimately execute on
the new day-to-day activities and make the new processes and
systems come to life in the business.

What does this mean for the definition and field of change
management? First, that it is important to recognize that both the
engineering and psychological aspects must be considered for
successful change. Second, is that business improvement
methodologies must integrate these two disciplines into a
comprehensive model for change. Finally, that when you read or
study change management literature, be sure to identify how the
term change management is used so that you can effectively apply
that work to your current body of knowledge.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVES

INDIVIDUAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Understanding how one person
makes a change successfully

Organizations don't change, individuals do. No matter how large
of a project you are taking on, the success of that project
ultimately lies with each employee doing their work differently,
multiplied across all of the employees impacted by the change.
Effective change management requires an understanding for and
appreciation of how one person makes a change successfully.
Without an individual perspective, we are left with activities but no
idea of the goal or outcome that we are trying to achieve.

Individual change management is the management of change from
the perspective of the employees. They are the ones who
ultimately must implement the change. The focus here is around
the tools and techniques to help an employee transition through
the change process. The primary concerns are the coaching
required helping individuals understand their role and the decisions
they make in the change process. In this arena, you will need to
provide tools that employees can use to navigate their way through
the change.

ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Understanding what tools we have to help
individuals make changes successfully

While change happen one person at a time, there are processes
and tools that can be used to facilitate this change. Tools like

communication and training are often the only activities when no
structured approach is applied. When there is an organizational
change management perspective, a process emerges for how to
scale change management activities and how to use the
complete set of tools available for project leaders and business
managers.

Organizational change management is the management of change
from the perspective of a manager or project team. It is the
perspective of “business leadership” from the “top” looking down
into the organization. The focus is around broad change
management practices and skills that will help the organization
understand, accept and support the needed business change. The
primary focus is around change management strategies,
communication plans and training programs. The involved parties
include project team members, human resources and key business
leaders that sponsor the change.

Organizational change management provides the knowledge and
skills to implement a methodology and tools for managing change
throughout an organization

CRITICAL ELEMENTS FOR MANAGING CHANGE

Given this model or framework for change management, you can
break down the required elements to effectively manage change.
You can also initiate your research using books and resources
(including training) based on these two perspectives of change
management.

For organizational change management, you will need to build
knowledge and abilities in the following areas

• Change management team structures
• Change management roles
• Critical barriers to implementing change
• Change management planning and strategies
• Managing employee resistance
• Organizational change management methodologies
• Building executive sponsorship
• Creating communication plans
• Creating training and educational programs
• Incentive and recognition programs

For individual change management, you will need to build
knowledge in the following areas:

• Diagnosing resistance to change
• Models for managing individual change
• Decisions and consequences around supporting change that
face employees
• Coaching tools and techniques for helping employees
navigate the change process
• Activities and exercises for supervisors to use with their
employees to manage change

WHY ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE EFFORTS FAIL?

"It is always the start that requires the greatest effort."

James Cash Penney

In his book “Force for Change: How Leadership Differs from
Management“, Kotter lists the following as the main reasons why
change fails:

1. Allowing too much complacency

2. Failing to create a sufficiently powerful guiding coalition

3. Underestimating the power of vision

4. Under communicating the vision by a factor of 10 (or 100 or
even 1000)

5. Permitting obstacles to block the new vision

6. Failing to create short-term wins

7. Declaring victory too soon

8. Neglecting to anchor changes firmly in the corporate culture

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR CHANGE MANAGEMENT

"The key to why things change is the key to everything."

James E. Burke

What is it that successful organisations have that makes the
difference?

The following success factors seem to be consistent in
organisations who radically transform themselves:

1) STRONG LEADERSHIP

The CEO drives the change process, leading the organisation to
greater heights. There is no substitute for a strong leader. He sets
the direction, and the priorities.

2) CONSENSUS AT THE TOP

The CEO and first reports agree wholeheartedly on the need for
dramatic change, and all work together in defining the vision and

the resources required for success. Teamsmanship is real, not
feigned. Contributions are sincere, not politicised.

3) A SHARED VISION

A well articulated vision of where the organisation will be in three
to five years, expressed in specific performance outcomes,
cascades throughout the organisation. Every employee has
personal objectives that tie to the vision. Each has a direct effect
on the outcome, and a well-defined personal stake in achieving the
vision.

4) CONTINUOUS CATALYTIC ACTIVITY AT THE CEO LEVEL

Executives realise they do not have the objectivity, skills and
experience to enact radical change. External, objective, apolitical,
and experienced catalysts and consultants are used to help
navigate, find direction, and implement plans.

5) TRUSTWORTHY COMMUNICATIONS TOP DOWN/BOTTOM UP

The CEO and first reports continuously, repetitively, and
consistently meet with all groups for two-way communications. The
CEO is highly visible to all. Weekly or bi-weekly employee
exchanges take place. Fears are addressed. Truth and honesty
prevails.

6) THE RIGHT ATTITUDE

Hidden personal agendas in top and middle management are cast
aside to make room for a major collective effort. The theme is "get
on board, or get out of the way." Those who block the effort are
quickly disposed.

7) LOTS OF GUTS

A willingness to take risks and attack sacred cows to achieve
substantial results is prevalent. The focus is longer term, replacing

the monthly P&L as the driver for everyday operations. Problems
are anticipated and directly addressed.

8) A COMPREHENSIVE AND SYSTEMATIC APPROACH

A comprehensive master plan is created that addresses key
integrated leverage areas: culture, reward systems, strategy,
process, structure, and staffing/skills. All leverage areas are linked
and the plan is structured in manageable phases. The process is
continuous.

9) HIGH EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT

All employees participate heavily in achieving team-based
performance objectives. Individualism is not lost in the team
environment, but reinforced. Problems are diagnosed and solved
through teams that run their own operation. All participate in
continuously improving personal, team, and organisation
performance. The focus is on quality, cost, delivery, and customer
satisfaction.

10) PERMANENTLY EMPOWERED EMPLOYEES

Decisions are driven downward to the team level on a permanent
basis, not a special project or temporary basis. Layers of
management that get in the way of fast decisions are removed,
and accountability rests with the team. Team leaders provide
direction, priorities, and facilitation to the team. Teams evolve to
self-management.

11) OWNERSHIP OF CHANGE BY A VAST MAJORITY OF EMPLOYEES

High employee involvement in problem solving, finding solutions,
and implementing them creates authorship and ownership of the
process. Peer pressure makes things happen. Employees are

trained and learn new skills. Motivation is provided by the vision,
strong leadership, team involvement, and reward systems that
reflect achievement of the vision.

12) FINANCIAL RESOURCES

Equipment and staffing is provided as part of the master plan.
Substantial investments are made to reduce non-value added time
on the shop floor and in the office. Cost/benefit analyses identify
the results that will be achieved.

13) EXTENSIVE EDUCATION AND TRAINING AT ALL LEVELS

Most employees, including upper and middle management, have
been conditioned over the years to be individuals and stars. Our
society teaches this. They simply do not know how to behave as
team members should. Courses in dealing with personality
differences, team building, stress management, conflict
management, and many others can go a long way in getting people
to work cohesively. In addition, courses in process mapping, set-up
reductions, statistical process control, etc., can provide the
techniques for re-engineering the processes.

14) COMMITMENT TO SEE IT THROUGH

Plans do not get derailed at the signs of resistance or difficulty.
Solutions to problems are found and implemented. If something
does not work, something else is tried.

THEORIES OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT
1. Managers have to look at change management models and
judge when change is needed and also adapt to changes

of their organization. Therefore, change management is an
essential skill for the modern manager.
2. However, one change management theory is that real

and lasting change cannot be achieved without a radical
change in the management itself.
3. Managers have to look at change management models and
judge when change is needed and also adapt to changes
of their organization. Therefore, change management is an
essential skill for the modern manager.
4. However, one change management theory is that real

and lasting change cannot be achieved without a radical
change in the management itself.

FIVE BASIC PRINCIPLES FOR CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Principle ONE

Different people react differently to change

The following diagram represents a spectrum of change:
Stability - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Change

Different people have different preferences for where they like to
be on this spectrum. Some people like to be at the STABILITY
end of the spectrum - they like things to be the way they have
always been. Other people like to be at the CHANGE end of the
spectrum - they are always looking for something different and
new.

Problems arise when the individual's preferences differ from the
situation they find themselves in. That is, if:

a stability-oriented person finds that circumstances are
changing quite rapidly, or

a change-oriented person finds that everything is the same and
there is nothing new

In these situations, the individuals involved can experience:
strong dissatisfaction
stress
negative attitudes towards individuals with preferences at the
other end of the spectrum (e.g.: distrust, dislike)
resistance (to change, or to the status quo)
intense emotions
loss of rational judgment
People tend to resist, therefore, approaches on other parts of the
spectrum than where they themselves prefer to be.

Principle TWO

Everyone has fundamental needs that have to be met

A famous psychologist called Will Schutz identified three basic
needs that people have in interpersonal relations. These basic
needs are also of fundamental importance in people's reaction to
change:
• The need for control
• The need for inclusion
• The need for openness
Whilst the need for these can vary between people, in any change
process there is always some degree of need for control over one's
environment/destiny, some degree of need to be included in the
process of forming the change that is taking place, and some
degree of need for managers/leaders to be open with their
information.

If a change program fails to meet the control, inclusion and
openness needs of the individuals affected by it then that program
is likely to encounter a range of negative reactions, ranging from
ambivalence through resistance to outright opposition.

Principle THREE

Change often involves a loss, and people go through the "loss
curve"

The relevance of the "loss curve" to a change management
program depends on the nature and extent of the loss. If someone
is promoted to a more senior position, the 'loss' of the former
position is rarely an issue because it has been replaced by
something better. But if someone is made redundant with little
prospect of getting a new job, there are many losses (income,
security, working relationships) that can have a devastating effect.

There are many variations of the "loss curve". One is known as
"Sarah" - that is, the individual experiences (in this order):

• S-hock
• A-nger
• R-ejection
• A-cceptance
• H-ealing

The common factors amongst all "loss curves" are:
1. That there can be an initial period where the change does
not sink in. For example, feelings may be kept high by the
individual convincing themselves that the change is not
going to happen.

2. That when the loss is realized, the individual hits a deep low.
The depth of this 'low' is deepened if the loss is unexpected.
3. That the period of adjustment to the new situation can be
very uncomfortable and take a long time. In the case of
bereavement, the period of adjustment can be as long as
two years.

Principle FOUR

Expectations need to be managed realistically

The relationship between expectations and reality is very
important. You can see this in customer relations - if a supplier fails
to meet expectations then the customer is unhappy; if the supplier
exceeds expectations then the customer is happy.

To some extent the same principle applies to staff and change. If
their expectations are not met, they are unhappy. If their
expectations are exceeded, they are happy.

Sometimes, enforced change (e.g. redundancies) inevitably
involves the failure to meet expectations: there had been an
expectation of job security, which has now been taken away.

What leaders/managers have to do, however, is make sure they
don't pour petrol on the fire by making promises that can not or
will not be kept. Expectations have to be set at a realistic level, and
then exceeded (e.g. in terms of the degree of outplacement
support that will be provided).

Principle FIVE

Fears have to be dealt with

In times of significant change rational thought goes out of the
window. This means that people often fear the worst - in fact, they
fear far more than the worst, because their subconscious minds
suddenly become illogical and see irrational consequences.
• Our company is reducing staff, which means...
• They will make people redundant, and...
• I'll be the first to be kicked out, and...
• I'll have no hope of getting another job, and...
• I won't be able to pay the mortgage, so...
• I'll lose the house, so...
• My family won't have anywhere to live, and...
• My wife won't be able to cope, so...
• She'll leave me, and...
• I'll be so disgraced the children won't speak to me ever
again.

Such fears need to be addressed, e.g. by helping people to
recognize that most people who are made redundant find a better
job with better pay and have a huge lump sum in their pocket! Or,
where appropriate, by explaining how the reductions in staff
numbers are going to be achieved (by natural wastage or voluntary
redundancy).

PROSCI’S 3 PHASE PROCESS

Prosci's organizational change management process was first
introduced in 2002 after the third change management
benchmarking study was conducted. Prosci felt that with the third
study, there was a strong enough research basis for the process
below. This process is built in steps that a project team can
complete for a particular change or initiative they are supporting.

Phase 1 - Preparing for change (Preparation, assessment and
strategy development)

Phase 2 - Managing change (Detailed planning and change
management implementation)

Phase 3 - Reinforcing change (Data gathering, corrective
action and recognition)

JOHN KOTTER

John Kotter, the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership at
the Harvard Business School, has developed a model for leading
change that offers a valuable tool to project management
professionals. His model is a result of many years of experience in
consulting with hundreds of organizations. He observed the myriad
difficulties associated with change efforts, distilled the common
themes and turned them around into a prescriptive framework.

KOTTER’S EIGHT STAGE CHANGE PROCESS

"Your success in life is based on your ability to change faster than your competition,
customers and business."

Mark Sanborn

1. ESTABLISHING A SENSE OF URGENCY

2. CREATING THE GUIDING COALITION

3. DEVELOPING A VISION AND STRATEGY

4. COMMUNICATING THE VISION

5. EMPOWERING BROAD-BASED ACTION

6. GENERATING SHORT-TERM WINS

7. CONSOLIDATING GAINS AND PRODUCING MORE CHANGE

8. ANCHORING NEW APPROACHES IN THE CULTURE

OTHER APPROACHES TO MANAGING CHANGE

• Appreciative Inquiry, a collaborative approach to
organizational change, is partly based on the assumption
that change in a system is instantaneous ('Change at the
Speed of Imagination')
• Scenario Planning: Scenario planning provides a platform for
doing so by asking management and employees to consider
different future market possibilities in which their
organizations might find themselves.
• Organize with Chaos of Rowley and Roevens, who describe
Change as a process where certain events need to be
managed whereas others need to be under managed, left
alone to self-organize and improve the business naturally.
• Theory U of Otto Scharmer who describes a process in which
change strategies are based on the emerging future rather
than on lesson from the past.
• The Solution focused brief therapy approach to change,
developed to assist individuals, and is equally useful for
organizations.
• The Closework theory of intervention says change is driven
by the champions, be they internal project teams or
consultants, working alongside the delivery team, individuals
and management in the places where the work gets done.
Champions should get involved rather than instruct and
bring practical and implementable ideas.

Kübler-Ross

Some change theories are based on derivatives of the Kübler-Ross
model from Elizabeth Kübler-Ross's book, "On Death and Dying."
The stages of Kübler-Ross's model describe the personal and
emotional states that a person typically encounters when dealing
with loss of a loved one. Derivatives of her model applied in other
settings such as the workplace show that similar emotional states
are encountered as individuals are confronted with change.

SCOPE OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT

The purpose of defining these change management areas is to
ensure that there is a common understanding among readers.
Tools or components of change management include:

• Change management process
• Readiness assessments
• Communication and communication planning
• Coaching and manager training for change management
• Training and employee training development
• Sponsor activities and sponsor roadmaps
• Resistance management
• Data collection, feedback analysis and corrective action
• Celebrating and recognizing success

CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS

The change management process is the sequence of steps or
activities that a change management team or project leader would
follow to apply change management to a project or change.

It is important to note what change management is and what
change management is not, as defined by the majority of research
participants.

Change management is not a stand-alone process for designing a
business solution.

Change management is the processes, tools and techniques for
managing the people-side of change.

Change management is not a process improvement method.

Change management is a method for reducing and managing
resistance to change when implementing process, technology or
organizational change.

Change management is not a stand-alone technique for improving
organizational performance.

Change management is a necessary component for any
organizational performance improvement process to succeed,
including programs like: Six Sigma, Business Process
Reengineering, Total Quality Management, Organizational
Development, Restructuring and continuous process improvement.

Change management is about managing change to realize business
results.

READINESS ASSESSMENTS

Assessments are tools used by a change management team or
project leader to assess the organization's readiness to change.
Readiness assessments can include organizational assessments,
culture and history assessments, employee assessments, sponsor
assessments and change assessments. Each tool provides the
project team with insights into the challenges and opportunities
they may face during the change process.

• Assess the scope of the change, including: How big is this
change? How many people are affected? Is it a gradual or
radical change?
• Assess the readiness of the organization impacted by the
change, including: What is the value- system and
background of the impacted groups? How much change is
already going on? What type of resistance can be expected?
• Assess the strengths of your change management team.
• Assess the change sponsors and take the first steps to
enable them to effectively lead the change process.

COMMUNICATION AND COMMUNICATION PLANNING

Many managers assume that if they communicate clearly with their
employees, their job is done. However, there are many reasons
why employees may not hear or understand what their managers

are saying the first time around. In fact, you may have heard that
messages need to be repeated 6 to 7 times before they are
cemented into the minds of employees. That is because each
employee’s readiness to hear depends on many factors. Effective
communicators carefully consider three components: the audience,
what is said and when it is said.

For example, the first step in managing change is building
awareness around the need for change and creating a desire
among employees. Therefore, initial communications are typically
designed to create awareness around the business reasons for
change and the risk of not changing. Likewise, at each step in the
process, communications should be designed to share the right
messages at the right time.

Communication planning, therefore, begins with a careful analysis
of the audiences, key messages and the timing for those messages.
The change management team or project leaders must design a
communication plan that addresses the needs of front-line
employees, supervisors and executives. Each audience has
particular needs for information based on their role in the
implementation of the change.

COACHING AND MANAGER TRAINING FOR CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Supervisors will play a key role in managing change. Ultimately, the
direct supervisor has more influence over an employee’s motivation
to change than any other person at work. Unfortunately,
supervisors as a group can be the most difficult to convince of the
need for change and can be a source of resistance. It is vital for
the change management team and executive sponsors to gain the
support of supervisors and to build change leadership. Individual
change management activities should be used to help these
supervisors through the change process.

Once managers and supervisors are on board, the change
management team must prepare a coaching strategy. They will
need to provide training for supervisors including how to use
individual change management tools with their employees.

TRAINING AND TRAINING DEVELOPMENT

Training is the cornerstone for building knowledge about the
change and the required skills. Project team members will develop
training requirements based on the skills, knowledge and behaviors
necessary to implement the change. These training requirements
will be the starting point for the training group or the project team
to develop training programs.

SPONSOR ACTIVITIES AND SPONSOR ROADMAPS

Business leaders and executives play a critical sponsor role in
change management. The change management team must develop
a plan for sponsor activities and help key business leaders carry out
these plans. Sponsorship should be viewed as the most important
success factor. Avoid confusing the notion of sponsorship with
support. The CEO of the company may support your project, but
that is not the same as sponsoring your initiative.

Sponsorship involves active and visible participation by senior
business leaders throughout the process. Unfortunately many
executives do not know what this sponsorship looks like. A change
agent's or project leader's role includes helping senior executives
do the right things to sponsor the project.

RESISTANCE MANAGEMENT

Resistance from employees and managers is normal. Persistent
resistance, however, can threaten a project. The change
management team needs to identify, understand and manage
resistance throughout the organization. Resistance management is
the processes and tools used by managers and executives with the
support of the project team to manage employee resistance.

DATA COLLECTION, FEEDBACK ANALYSIS AND CORRECTIVE ACTION

Employee involvement is a necessary and integral part of managing
change. Managing change is not a one way street. Feedback from
employees is a key element of the change management process.

Analysis and corrective action based on this feedback provides a
robust cycle for implementing change.

CELEBRATING AND RECOGNIZING SUCCESS

Early successes and long-term wins must be recognized and
celebrated. Individual and group recognition is also a necessary
component of change management in order to cement and
reinforce the change in the organization.

The final step in the change management process is the after-
action review. It is at this point that you can stand back from the
entire program, evaluate successes and failures, and identify
process changes for the next project. This is part of the ongoing,
continuous improvement of change management for your
organization and ultimately leads to change competency.

IMPORTANCE OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Change management plays an important role in any organization
since the task of managing change is not an easy one. When we
say managing change we mean to say that making changes in a
planned and systemic fashion. With reference to the IT projects we
can say the change in the versions of a project and managing these
versions properly. Changes in the organization or a project can be

initiated from within the organization or externally. For example a
product that is popular among the customers may undergo a
change in design based on the triggering factor like a competitive
product from some other manufacturer. This is an example of
external factor that triggers a change within the organization. How
the organization responds to these changes is what that is more
concerned. Managing these changes come under change
management. Reactive and proactive responses to these changes
are possible from an organization.

MANAGEMENT'S ROLE IN CHANGE MANAGEMENT

"Leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs of those who'll be
affected by it."

Marian Anderson

Management's first responsibility is to detect trends in the macro
environment so as to be able to identify changes and initiate
programs. It is also important to estimate what impact a change
will likely have on employee behaviour patterns, work processes,
technological requirements, and motivation.

Management must assess what employee reactions will be and
craft a change programme that will provide support as workers go
through the process of accepting change.

The Change Management programme must then be implemented,
disseminated throughout the organisation, monitored for
effectiveness, and adjusted where necessary. In general terms, a
change programme should:

• Describe the change process to all people involved and
explain the reasons why the changes are occurring. The

information should be complete, unbiased, reliable,
transparent, and timely.

• Be designed to effectively implement the change while being
aligned with organisational objectives, macro environmental
trends, and employee perceptions and feelings.

• Provide support to employees as they deal with the change,
and wherever possible involve the employees directly in the
change process itself.

ROLES IN CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Change management cannot be done by one person sitting alone
in his or her office.

Driving successful change requires a system of actors all moving in
unison to help employees to understand why the change is
happening, get them board with the change and ultimately ensure
that they adopt the changes required in their day-to-day work. It is
not necessarily easy to get all of the change management pieces
moving; but by better understanding the roles that support
effective change management, you and your projects will be more
successful.

There are five roles related to change management:

• Change management resource/team
• Executives and senior managers
• Middle managers and supervisors
• Project team
• Project support functions

Learn why each role is important and what is required of the role in
times of change. Let concludes with some observations on the
"employee-facing" roles in change management and the
"enabling" roles in change management.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT RESOURCE/TEAM
WHY THE ROLE IS IMPORTANT:

• Having dedicated resources for change management was on
the list of overall greatest contributors to success.
• There is a growing body of data that shows a correlation
between the success of a change initiative and how well the
people side was managed.
• Without dedicated resources, change management activities
will not be completed. Unfortunately, when budgets and
schedules are squeezed, change management is pushed to
the bottom of the priority list if there are not dedicated
resources.

WHAT THE ROLE REQUIRES:

1. Apply a structured change management methodology -
instead of operating in an ad hoc manner, approach change
management with purpose and intent.
2. Formulate strategy - evaluate how big the change is and who
will be impacted to develop a customized strategy
3. Develop plans - based on the strategy work, create a
customized set of plans for moving people forward - including a
communication plan, a sponsor roadmap, a coaching plan, a
training plan and a resistance management plan.
4. Support other ‘doers’ - the change management resource is the
coach and the go-to person for the other roles described below.

EXECUTIVES AND SENIOR MANAGERS


• The active and visible participation of the senior leader was cited
as the #1 contributor to success. Bottom line - their role is crucial
to success.
• Employees want to see and hear the executive's commitment to
the change. The authority they provide carries over to other
change management actors.
• Effective sponsorship is a predictor of success or failure on the
project.


1. Participate actively and visibly throughout the project -
there are three key words here: active, visible and throughout -
sponsors must be present and seen by employees
2. Build a coalition of sponsorship and manage resistance -
the sponsorship coalition describes the group of managers and
leaders who will take the change back to their department,
division, workgroup, etc - the primary sponsor must build and
maintain a healthy coalition
3. Communicate directly with employees - employees want to
hear the business reasons for the change from someone at the
top

MIDDLE MANAGERS AND SUPERVISORS


• Managers and supervisors are close to the action - it is their
teams who must change how they do their jobs for the change to
be successful.
• In any organization there are two types of change constantly
happening: 1) top-down initiatives launched by senior leaders
(macro-changes) and 2) responses to daily demands from
customers and suppliers (micro-changes). Managers and
supervisors support their employees through both types of
changes.
• The attitude and actions of a manager will show up in his or her
people - whether the attitude is one of support or one of
opposition.


These five roles of managers and supervisors during change are:

1. Communicator - employees prefer to hear messages about
how the change directly impacts them and their team from the
person they report to
2. Advocate - if the manager opposes the change,
chances are that his or her people will as well - in many cases, the
opposite is also true
3. Coach - helping employees through their own
personal transitions is the essence of change coaching by middle
managers and supervisors
4. Liaison - the role of liaison involves interacting with
the project team, taking direction and providing feedback
5. Resistance manager - research shows that the best
intervention to mitigate resistance comes from the employee's
immediate supervisor.

PROJECT TEAM


• The project team is tasked with managing the technical side of
the change. In the end, they are the people who design how
things will be done differently than they are today.
• Without direction and management, the technical side of the
project will not move forward.
• The project team also plays a role in ensuring that change
management is part of the project - by providing the appropriate
resources (budget and personnel) and time.
• Change management will be most effective when it is pulled in at
the launch of the project.


1. Design the actual change - create the solution that ultimately
impacts how people do their jobs
2. Manage the ‘technical side’ - with tools like the charter,
business case, schedule, resources, work breakdown structure,
budget, etc.
3. Engage with CM team/resource - work with the change
management resource or team to ensure that the technical-side
and the people-side of the change progress in unison, provide
timely project information
4. Integrate CM plans into project plan - begin change
management at the start of the project and weave the change
management strategy and plans into the technical-side plans to
create one seamless project plan

PROJECT SUPPORT FUNCTIONS


• Project support functions bring expertise in a particular area -
these groups include: Human Resources staff, Organization
Development staff, Training specialists, Communication
specialists, solution specific Subject Matter Experts, etc.

• In some cases, one of these project support functions might
operate as the change management team or resource.


1. Experience and expertise - project support functions bring
experience on past changes that can be applied to the current
change
2. Knowledge - each of these groups have specialized knowledge
that can help the project team and the change management
resource or team
3. Tools - each of the areas brings specific tools that support
change management activities - just be sure the tools align with
change management best practices.

A FINAL OBSERVATION ON TWO DIFFERENT ROLES

In the sections above, we outlined the key roles of the different
actors involved in making changes successful in any organization. It
is interesting to note that in all of the roles presented in the right
hand column, two of the roles have direct contact with front-line
employees impacted by the change while three of the roles do
more of their work behind the scenes.

EMPLOYEE-FACING ROLES

• One-to-one interactions
• One-to-many interactions

• Why are the employee-facing roles?
Because these are the people that employees want to
hear from!

ENABLING ROLES

• Create and implement the plans that are executed by the
employee-facing roles within the business

• Why are these not employee-facing roles?
Because employees don't know who they are and
don't really care what they have to say!

IMPLICATIONS OF EMPLOYEE-FACING AND ENABLING ROLES

This is one of the most important takeaways from the discussion
about roles. Change managers in organizations - whether they are
the project manager, an HR consultant, an OD consultant or from a
specialist change management group must ultimately work through
others. They play the role of enablers in most cases, creating easy-
to-implement plans and supporting the executives, senior leaders,
middle managers and supervisors throughout the organization.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS/MODELS

There are numerous models/process of change
management some models are as follows.

UNFREEZE-CHANGE-REFREEZE

The process of change has been characterized as having three
basic stages: unfreezing, changing, and re-freezing. This view
draws heavily on Kurt Lewin’s adoption of the systems concept of
homeostasis or dynamic stability.

What is useful about this framework is that it gives rise to thinking
about a staged approach to changing things. Looking before you
leap is usually sound practice.

What is not useful about this framework is that it does not allow for
change efforts that begin with the organization in extremis (i.e.,
already “unfrozen”), nor does it allow for organizations faced with
the prospect of having to “hang loose” for extended periods of time
(i.e., staying “unfrozen”).

In other words, the beginning and ending point of the unfreeze-
change-refreeze model is stability — which, for some people and
some organizations, is a luxury. For others, internal stability spells
disaster. A tortoise on the move can overtake even the fastest hare
if that hare stands still.

KÜBLER-ROSS MODEL

The Kübler-Ross model, first introduced by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
in her 1969 book "On Death and Dying", describes, in five discrete
stages, a process by which people allegedly deal with grief and
tragedy, especially when diagnosed with a terminal illness or
catastrophic loss. The stages are known as the Five Stages of Grief.

The stages are:

1. Denial:
o Example - "I feel fine."; "This can't be happening, not
to me,"
2. Anger:
o Example - "Why me? It's not fair!"; "How can this
happen to me!"; "Who is to blame?"
3. Bargaining:
o Example - "Just let me live to see my children
graduate."; "I'll do anything for a few more years.";
"I will give my life savings if..."
4. Depression:
o Example - "I'm so sad, why bother with anything?" ;
"I'm going to die . . . What's the point?" ; "I miss my
loved one, why go on?"
5. Acceptance:
o Example - "It's going to be okay."; "I can handle it
with change"; "I can't fight it, I may as well prepare
for it."

Kübler-Ross originally applied these stages to people suffering from
terminal illness, and later to any form of catastrophic personal loss
(job, income, freedom). This may also include significant life events
such as the death of a loved one, divorce, drug addiction, or an
infertility diagnosis. Kübler-Ross also claimed these steps do not
necessarily come in the order noted above, nor are all steps
experienced by all patients, though she stated a person will always
experience at least two. Often, people will experience several
stages in a "roller coaster" effect - switching between two or more
stages, returning to one or more several times before working

through it. Significantly, people experiencing the stages should not
force the process. Don't rely on others saying "you should be over
this by now"; "you're taking too long", or, "you haven't waited long
enough". The grief process is highly personal and should not be
rushed, or lengthened, on the basis of another's imposed
timeframe or opinion. One should merely be aware that the stages
will be worked through and the ultimate stage of "Acceptance" will
be reached. Those that experience problem working through the
stages should consider professional grief counseling or support
groups.

The most common factor is when the person doesn't have the
capacity to change their situation, at least not without considerable
loss to themselves, thus a person who would go through these
stages would not need to continue if they found a way out of the
situation: e.g., If a person losing their house was at the bargaining
stage but then somehow found a way out of the situation, then
they'd have no reason to become depressed. So the 'stages of
grief' could be linked to a lack of control or ability, e.g., people who
have lost limbs, people on the bad end of an ultimatum, people
under threat, and so on.

PCI (PEOPLE CENTERED IMPLEMENTATION)

PCI is a change management methodology developed by
Changefirst, which has been continuously improved since the
1990s. It has been applied in the field of people change
management by organizations and their change agents in over 35
countries around the world.

PCI describes the six critical success factors that must be managed
to build commitment to change initiatives and create behavior
change.

1. Shared Change Purpose - create and share a powerful
case for change in the organization.
2. Effective Change Leadership - develop strong change
leadership for the initiative.
3. Powerful Engagement Processes - build and deliver
plans to engage people in the change.
4. Committed Local Sponsors - build understanding and
commitment of middle and front-line managers.
5. Strong Personal Connection - create commitment and
behavior changing actions for front-line people.
6. Sustained Personal Performance - support people as
they learn to adapt, managing their resistance sensitively
and empathetically.

ADKAR

The ADKAR model for individual change management was
developed by Prosci with input from more than 1000 organizations
from 59 countries. This model describes five required building
blocks for change to be realized successfully on an individual level.
The building blocks of the ADKAR Model include:

1. Awareness – of why the change is needed
2. Desire – to support and participate in the change
3. Knowledge – of how to change
4. Ability – to implement new skills and behaviors
5. Reinforcement – to sustain the change

ADKAR describes successful change at the individual level. When
an organization undertakes an initiative, that change only happens
when the employees who have to do their jobs differently can say
with confidence, "I have the Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability
and Reinforcement to make this change happen."

Because it outlines the goals or outcomes of successful change,
ADKAR is an effective tool for:

• Planning change management activities
• Diagnosing gaps
• Developing corrective actions
• Supporting managers and supervisors

DYNAMIC CONSERVATISM

This model by Donald Schön explores the inherent nature of
organizations to be conservative and protect them from constant
change. Schön recognizes the increasing need, due to the
increasing pace of change for this process to become far more
flexible. Very early on Schön recognized the need for what is now
termed the 'learning organization'. These ideas are further
expanded on within his frame work of 'reflection-in-action, the
mapping of a process by which this constant changes could be
coped with.

FORMULA FOR CHANGE

A Formula for Change was developed by Richard Beckhard and
David Gleicher and is sometimes referred to as Gleicher's Formula.
The Formula illustrates that the combination of organizational
dissatisfaction, vision for the future and the possibility of
immediate, tactical action must be stronger than the resistance
within the organization in order for meaningful changes to occur.

DxVxF>R

Three factors must be present for meaningful organizational
change to take place. These factors are:
D = Dissatisfaction with how things are now;
V = Vision of what is possible;
F = First, concrete steps that can be taken towards the vision.

If the product of these three factors is greater than
R = Resistance, then change is possible. Because of the

multiplication of D, V and F, if any one is absent or low, then the
product will be low and therefore not capable of overcoming the
resistance.

To ensure a successful change it is necessary to use influence and
strategic thinking in order to create vision and identify those
crucial, early steps towards it. In addition, the organization must
recognize and accept the dissatisfaction that exists by
communicating industry trends, leadership ideas, best practice and
competitive analysis to identify the necessity for change.

Some documentation also refers to the resistance to change as the
cost of change. It is then subdivided into the economic cost of
change (monetary cost) and the psychological cost of change.
What this tries to demonstrate is that even if the monetary cost of
change is low, the change will still not occur should the
psychological resistance of employees be at a high level and vice
versa. In this case the formula for change is represented as:

D x V x F > C (e + p)

What this allows managers to do is to isolate the actual problem
areas of change and develop unique strategies specifically designed
to resolve the correct form of resistance.

THE KOTTER EIGHT STAGE CHANGE PROCESS

1. ESTABLISHING A SENSE OF URGENCY

• Examining the market and competitive realities
• Identifying and discussing crises, potential crises, or major
opportunities.

2. CREATING THE GUIDING COALITION

• Putting together a group with enough power to lead the
change.
• Getting the group to work together as a team.

3. DEVELOPING A VISION AND STRATEGY

• Creating a vision to help direct the change effort.
• Developing strategies for achieving that vision.

4. COMMUNICATING THE VISION

• Using every vehicle possible to communicate the new vision
and strategies.
• Having the guiding coalition role model the behaviour
expected of employees.

5. EMPOWERING BROAD-BASED ACTION

• Getting rid of obstacles.
• Changing systems or structures that undermine the change
vision.
• Encouraging risk taking and non-traditional ideas, activities,
and actions.

6. GENERATING SHORT-TERM WINS

• Planning for visible performance improvements, or "wins"
• Creating those wins.
• Visibly recognising and rewarding people who made the wins
possible.

7. CONSOLIDATING GAINS AND PRODUCING MORE CHANGE

• Using increased credibility to change systems, structures,
and policies that don't fit together and don't fit the
transformation vision.
• Hiring, promoting and developing people who can implement
the change vision.
• Reinvigorating the process with new projects, themes, and
change agents.

8. ANCHORING NEW APPROACHES IN THE CULTURE

• Creating better performance through customer- and
productivity-oriented behaviour, more and better leadership,
and more effective management
• Articulating the connections between new behaviours and
organisational success.

• Developing means to ensure leadership development and
succession

PROSCI’S 3 PHASE PROCESS

Prosci's organizational change management process was first
introduced in 2002 after the third change management
benchmarking study was conducted. Prosci felt that with the third
study, there was a strong enough research basis for the process
below. This process is built in steps that a project team can
complete for a particular change or initiative they are supporting

PHASE 1 - PREPARING FOR CHANGE

The first phase in Prosci's methodology is aimed at getting ready.
It answers the question: "how much change management is
needed for this specific project?" The first phase provides the
situational awareness that is critical for effective change
management.

OUTPUTS OF PHASE 1:

• Change characteristics profile
• Organizational attributes profile
• Change management strategy
• Change management team structure
• Sponsor assessment, structure and roles

PHASE 2 - MANAGING CHANGE

The second phase of Prosci's process is focused on creating the
plans that are integrated into the project activities - what people
typically think of when they talk about change management. Based
on Prosci's research, there are five plans that should be created to
help individuals move through the ADKAR Model.

OUTPUTS OF PHASE 2:

• Communication plan
• Sponsor roadmap
• Training plan
• Coaching plan
• Resistance management plan

PHASE 3 - REINFORCING CHANGE

Equally critical but most often overlooked, the third phase of
Prosci's process helps project teams create specific action plans for
ensuring that the change is sustained. In this phase, project
teams develop measures and mechanisms to see if the change has
taken hold, to the see if employees are actually doing their jobs the
new way and to celebrate success.

OUTPUTS OF PHASE 3:

• Reinforcement mechanisms
• Compliance audit reports
• Corrective action plans
• Individual and group recognition approaches
• Success celebrations
• After action review

The linkage between individual change management and
organizational change management is the key - and is what sets
Prosci's approach apart from other change management
methodologies. There are numerous models available that address
individual change. There are also numerous models available that
give guidance and structure to project activities for change
management resources.

The difference with Prosci's methodology is that it
integrates individual change management and
organizational change management to ensure the
achievement of business results.

The image below shows the connection between the change
management tools developed in the organizational change
management process and the phases of individual change
described by the ADKAR model. This picture is the essence of
effective change management and is the core of Prosci's change
management methodology.

Connecting organizational and individual change management

THE CHANGE PROCESS AS PROBLEM SOLVING AND PROBLEM
FINDING
A very useful framework for thinking about the change process is
problem solving. Managing change is seen as a matter of moving
from one state to another, specifically, from the problem state to
the solved state. Diagnosis or problem analysis is generally
acknowledged as essential. Goals are set and achieved at various
levels and in various areas or functions. Ends and means are
discussed and related to one another. Careful planning is
accompanied by efforts to obtain buy-in, support and commitment.
The net effect is a transition from one state to another in a
planned, orderly fashion. This is the planned change model.

The word “problem” carries with it connotations that some people
prefer to avoid. They choose instead to use the word “opportunity.”
For such people, a problem is seen as a bad situation, one that
shouldn’t have been allowed to happen in the first place, and for
which someone is likely to be punished — if the guilty party (or a
suitable scapegoat) can be identified. For the purposes of this
paper, we will set aside any cultural or personal preferences
regarding the use of “problem” or “opportunity.” From a rational,
analytical perspective, a problem is nothing more than a situation
requiring action but in which the required action is not known.
Hence, there is a requirement to search for a solution, a course of
action that will lead to the solved state. This search activity is
known as “problem solving.”

From the preceding discussion, it follows that “problem finding” is
the search for situations requiring action. Whether we choose to
call these situations “problems” (because they are troublesome or
spell bad news), or whether we choose to call them “opportunities”
(either for reasons of political sensitivity or because the time is ripe
to exploit a situation) is immaterial. In both cases, the practical
matter is one of identifying and settling on a course of action that
will bring about some desired and predetermined change in the
situation.

THE CHANGE PROBLEM

At the heart of change management lie the change problem, that
is, some future state to be realized, some current state to be left
behind, and some structured, organized process for getting from
the one to the other. The change problem might be large or small
in scope and scale, and it might focus on individuals or groups, on
one or more divisions or departments, the entire organization, or
one or on more aspects of the organization’s environment.

At a conceptual level, the change problem is a matter of moving
from one state (A) to another state (a’). Moving from A to A’ is
typically accomplished as a result of setting up and achieving three
types of goals: transform, reduce, and apply. Transform goals are
concerned with identifying differences between the two states.
Reduce goals are concerned with determining ways of eliminating
these differences. Apply goals are concerned with putting into play
operators that actually effect the elimination of these differences
(see Newell & Simon).

As the preceding goal types suggest, the analysis of a change
problem will at various times focus on defining the outcomes of the
change effort, on identifying the changes necessary to produce
these outcomes, and on finding and implementing ways and means
of making the required changes. In simpler terms, the change
problem can be treated as smaller problems having to do with the
how, what, and why of change.

CHANGE AS “HOW” PROBLEM

The change problem is often expressed, at least initially, in the
form of a “how” question. How do we get people to be more open,
to assume more responsibility, to be more creative? How do we
introduce self-managed teams in Department W? How do we
change over from System X to System Y in Division Z? How do we
move from a mainframe-centered computing environment to one
that accommodates and integrates PCs? How do we get this
organization to be more innovative, competitive, or productive?
How do we raise more effective barriers to market entry by our

competitors? How might we more tightly bind our suppliers to us?
How do we reduce cycle times? In short, the initial formulation of a
change problem is means-centered, with the goal state more or
less implied. There is a reason why the initial statement of a
problem is so often means centered and we will touch on it later.
For now, let’s examine the other two ways in which the problem
might be formulated — as “what” or as “why” questions.

CHANGE AS A “WHAT” PROBLEM

As was pointed out in the preceding section, to frame the change
effort in the form of “how” questions is to focus the effort on
means. Diagnosis is assumed or not performed at all.
Consequently, the ends sought are not discussed. This might or
might not be problematic. To focus on ends requires the posing of
“what” questions. What are we trying to accomplish? What changes
are necessary? What indicators will signal success? What standards
apply? What measures of performance are we trying to affect?

CHANGE AS A “WHY” PROBLEM

Ends and means are relative notions, not absolutes; that is,
something is an end or a means only in relation to something else.
Thus, chains and networks of ends-means relationships often have
to be traced out before one finds the “true” ends of a change
effort. In this regard why questions are proving extremely useful?

Consider the following hypothetical dialogue with yourself as an
illustration of tracing out ends-means relationships.

1. Why do people need to be more creative?

2. I’ll tell you why! Because we have to change the way we
do things and we need ideas about how to do that.

3. Why do we have to change the way we do things?

4. Because they cost too much and take too long.

5. Why do they cost too much?

6. Because we pay higher wages than any of our competitors.

7. Why do we pay higher wages than our competitors?

8. Because our productivity used to be higher, too, but now
it’s not.

9. Eureka! The true aim is to improve productivity!

10. No it isn’t; keep going.

11. Why does productivity need to be improved?

12. To increase profits.

13. Why do profits need to be increased?

14. To improve earnings per share.

15. Why do earnings per share need to be improved?

16. To attract additional capital.

17. Why is additional capital needed?

18. We need to fund research aimed at developing the next
generation of products.

19. Why do we need a new generation of products?

20. Because our competitors are rolling them out faster than we
are and gobbling up market share.

21. Oh, so that’s why we need to reduce cycle times.

22. Hmm. Why do things take so long?

To ask “why” questions are to get at the ultimate purposes of
functions and to open the door to finding new and better ways of
performing them. Why do we do what we do? Why do we do it the
way we do it? Asking “why” questions also gets at the ultimate
purposes of people, but that’s a different matter altogether, a
“political” matter, and we’ll not go into in this paper.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
WHY YOU NEED A CHANGE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

A "one-size-fits-all" approach is not effective for change
management. Think about these changes:

• Acquiring a company of near equal size
• Getting suppliers to use a new web-based form and process
• Relocating office spaces within an existing building
• Implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning solution
• Reorienting around processes instead of functions
• Releasing a new product

These are all distinctly different changes, but each requires
change management to be successful. Each impacts people
and how they do their job. Each can suffer from slower adoption
and lower utilization. Each has risks associated with people not
becoming engaged or resisting the change.

While each of the initiatives needs change management to be
successful, the right amount and approach for change management
will be different. The change management strategy defines the
approach needed to manage change given the unique situation of
the project or initiative.

Change Management Strategy elements

• Situational awareness - understand the change and
who is impacted
• Supporting structures - team and sponsor
structures

• Strategy analysis - risks, resistance and special
tactics

WHAT GOES INTO THE CHANGE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

SITUATIONAL AWARENESS:

• CHANGE CHARACTERISTICS - Begin by understanding the change
that is being introduced. Changes can be formalized
projects, strategic initiatives or even small adjustments to
how the organization operates. Understanding the
characteristics of the change requires you to answer
questions like: What is the scope of the change? How
many people will be impacted? Who is being impacted? Are
people being impacted the same or are they experiencing
the change differently? What is being changed -
processes, systems, job roles, etc? What is the timeframe
for the change?
• ORGANIZATIONAL ATTRIBUTES - Next, work to understand the
people and groups being impacted by the change. The
organizational attributes are related to the history and
culture in the organization and describe the backdrop
against which this particular change is being introduced.
What is the perceived need for this change among
employees and managers? How have past changes been
managed? Is there a shared vision for the organization?
How much change is going on right now?
• IMPACTED GROUPS - The final step in building the situational
awareness is developing a map of who in the organization is
being impacted by the change and how they are being
impacted. A single change - say the deployment of a web-
based expense reporting program - will impact different
groups very differently. Employees that do not have
expenses to report will not be impacted at all. Staffs that
travel once a quarter will be only slightly impacted.
Associates who are on the road all the time will be more
impacted, although filing expenses is only a portion of their
day-to-day work. And for those in accounting who manage
expense reporting, their jobs will be completely altered.
Outlining the impacted groups and showing how they will
be impacted enables specific and customized plans later in
the change management process.

SUPPORTING STRUCTURE:

• TEAM STRUCTURE - The change management team structure
identifies who will be doing the change management work.
It outlines the relationship between the project team and the
change management team. The most frequent team
structures include 1) change management being a
responsibility assigned to one of the project team members
or 2) an external change management team supporting a
project team. The key in developing the strategy is to be
specific and make an informed decision when assigning
the change management responsibility and resources.
• Sponsor coalition - The sponsor coalition describes the
leaders and managers that need to be on-board for the
change to be successful. Starting with the primary sponsor
(the person who authorized and funded the change), the
sponsor model documents the leaders of the groups that
are being impacted by the change. The change
characteristics will determine who must be part of the
coalition. Each member of the sponsor coalition has the
responsibility to build support and communicate the
change with their respective audiences.

STRATEGY ANALYSIS:

• RISK ASSESSMEnt - The risk of not managing the people side
of change on a particular change is related to the
dimensions described in the situational awareness section.
Changes that are more 'dramatic' and father reaching in the
organization have a higher change management risk.
Likewise, organizations and groups with histories and
cultures that resist change face higher change management
risk. In developing the strategy, overall risk and specific
risk factors are documented.
• ANTICIPATED RESISTANCE - Many times, after a project is
introduced and meets resistance, members of the team
reflect that "they saw that reaction coming." In creating the
change management strategy, identify where resistance can
be expected. Are particular regions or divisions impacted

differently than others? Were certain groups advocating a
different solution to the same problem? Are some groups
heavily invested with how things are done today? Note
particular anticipated resistance points depending on how
each group is related to the change.
• SPECIAL TACTICS - The final step of the change management
strategy is the identification of any special tactics that will be
required for this particular change initiative. The special
tactics formalize many of the learning’s from the strategy
development related to the change and how it impacts
different audiences in the organization. Throughout the
change implementation, special tactics may need to be
revisited and updated.

WHAT'S NEXT

Formulating the change management strategy is the first critical
step in implementing a change management methodology. The
strategy provides direction and results in informed decision
making throughout the change process. A well-formulated
strategy really brings the project or change to life, describing who
and how it will impact the organization.

The change management strategy also contributes to formulation
of the rest of the change management plans. For instance, the
groups identified in the strategy should each be addressed
specifically in the communication plan. Steps for building and
maintaining the coalition identified in the strategy are part of the
sponsorship roadmap. Each of the subsequent change
management plans and activities are guided by the findings in the
change management strategy.

Change
Change
management
management plans
strategy
• Situational • Communication
awareness plan
• Supporting • Sponsorship
structure roadmap
• Coaching plan
• Strategy >drives • Training plan
analysis > • Resistance
management
plan

• Reinforcement
planning

EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES FOR PROFESSIONAL CHANGE
MANAGEMENT
Not long ago, the concept of change management was
dismissed by the corporate old guard as a threat to tradition and a
fatal concession to inconsistency. Yet in reality, change is
unavoidable. Change management acknowledges this and allows
organizations to thrive as a result. Strategies of change
management are themselves changing, focusing less on business
and more on the human element of change management for
greater success. They include:

Learning and capitalizing on the benefits of change

Identifying approaches to change that create opportunities, not
crises

Acknowledging and addressing previous difficulties and losses

Broadening awareness of the change process and avoiding
victimization

Converting tension and fear into confidence and excitement

Establishing positive internal dialogue with greater adaptability

Though it's commonly met with resistance by traditionalists and/or
the fearful, change can prove very beneficial when administered
through proven change management strategies. For customized
professional development through change management.

SUMMARY

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