Deze samenvatting is gebaseerd op het studiejaar 2013-2014.

Chapter G: Managing change recipients and influencing internal stakeholders

Change can require people to modify their personal or professional identities, skill sets, and other deeply held beliefs and expectations. People are often recipients of change.

Stakeholders respond variably to change initiatives

People often raise questions which is often perceived as resistance but is not so necessarily. Resistance to change can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, if change leader assume resistance will occur, it becomes more likely. Recipients often have mixed feelings due to the impact of the change on their relationships with others, the ability to do what is being asked, the fit with their needs and values and their future prospects. If people think they are powerless coping strategies like alienation, passivity, sabotage, absenteeism and turnover may occur.

Understanding and responses will evolve over time so the approaches also need to do so. To develop initial awareness, factual information is useful. Informal discussions and social support is more useful when ambivalence is present. Change agents should caution for attribution errors: blame individual resistance while the cause is something deeper underlying.

Responding to positive feelings in stakeholders: channeling their energy

Strong positive feelings can cause a lack of reflection and give rise to groupthink. Change leaders should:

• Channel energy, not letting the enthusiasm overwhelm concerns
• Name the problem of mixed feelings and understand different reactions
• Appoint highly respected, positive stakeholders to chair significant committees or other structures and ensure they have the skills and resources
• Going too slow can lose enthusiastic support and going too fast will choke those who are doubtful

If there is ambivalence, people should be encourages to voiced concerns. People find that easier when it comes from conflicting beliefs rather than conflicting emotions (Piderit). People protect their attitudes by:

• Turn to habits and approaches that worked well in the past
• Engage in selective perception
• Selectively recall
• Deny in the form of counterarguments

Attitudes become more difficult to change once solidified. People should be engaged in discussion and helped to align their interpretations with the process.

Causes of negative reactions to change:

• Perception of negative consequences may be real (jobs, workplace)
• Communication processes are flawed (feel ill informed or misled)
• Doubts about impact and effectiveness of change (not enough studied and tested and adverse consequences not thought through)
• Lack experience with change and are unsure
• Negative experiences with (similar) change (approaches)
• Negative experiences with those advocating the change
• Influence by negative reactions of peers, subordinates or supervisors
• Justice-related concerns (procedural justice, distributive justice)

Kotter: impediments to change are much more likely to come from problems related to the misalignment of structures and systems than from individuals engaged in resistance.

Make the change of the psychological contract explicit and transparent

The psychological contract is the sum of the implicit and explicit agreements we believe we have with our organization. It defines our perceptions of the terms of our employment relationship and comprises our expectations for us and for the organization. Elements are norms, rights, rewards, and obligations. It influences and is influenced by the culture of the organization. A big part of the psychological contract is implicit but does determine people’s reactions to change. If the sense of security and control is threatened, people will feel fear or anger. Time is needed. Even if the change has a positive impact people may think there are secret underlying action or sense a loss of control.

Stages of reactions to change

Before the change: anticipation and anxiety phase

• Issues:
• Coping with uncertainty and rumors about what may (not) happen
• Feeling:
• Prechange anxiety: worrying about what might happen, confusion, maybe denial of what change is needed or likely (1)

During the change: shock, denial, and retreat phase

• Issues:
• Coping with the change announcement and associated fallout
• Coping with uncertainty and rumors
• Reacting to the new ‘reality’
• Feelings:
• Shock: perceived threat, immobilization, no risk taking (2)
• Defensive retreat: anger, rejection and denial, compliance, sense of loss, risk taking unsafe (3)
• Bargaining (4)
• Depression and guilt, alienation (5)

After the change: acceptation phase

• Issues:
• Putting residual traumatic effects behind you
• Acknowledging the change
• Achieving closure
• Moving on to new beginnings (adaptation and change)
• Feelings
• Acknowledgement: resignation, mourning, letting go, energy for risk taking begins to build (6)
• Adaptation and change (7)

Kotter’s eight steps:

1. Establish a sense of urgency

2. Form a change team

3. Create a vision for change

4. Communicate the vision for change

5. Empowering others to act

6. Planning for and creating short-term wins

7. Consolidating wins to reinvigorate the process

8. Institutionalizing the change

These eight steps should all be taken and should be taken in the above order. Skipping steps creates an illusion of speed but will not produce the desired result.

Survivor syndrome: reaction of those who survive a poorly handled, traumatic change such as downsizing. Effects are lower job satisfaction, motivation, and loyalty, and greater ambiguity, stress, vulnerability about the future and a sense of entrapment in a negative situation, as well as guild about being retained.

Three factors that influence how people adapt to change:

• Personality: people with a low tolerance for turbulence and uncertainty are comfortable in stable environments, otherwise they will feel stress as they try to cope and adjust. At low to moderate levels of change, the increasing stress may make them feel more job satisfaction if they experience success with change. People with a high tolerance will find stable environments unsatisfying after a while because they will feel like their careers have stalls and they feel bored, frustrated and absenteeism and turnover will increase.
• Prior experience: long periods of stability and minimal change will lead to people seeing change as more unsettling and risky than those who have experienced change more often. The competency or complacency trap is the tendency to rely on competencies and strategies that have worked well in the past. Organizations in which people do that are incongruent with their environments if these old strategies are ineffective. If in the past the organization has adapted successfully to moderate change, the employees are probably open and flexible. But when organizations are in an environment with long periods of major changes the sense of personal risk becomes high and employees may become tired of change. If promises made are not met they may become alienated. So long periods of minimal change and long periods of extreme change increase perceived risk, moderate rates of change decrease it (see figure page 229).

The table on pag 230 combines the above two factors.

Coworkers also have an influence on the view of stakeholders. It depends on the opinions of the ones trusted and the initial opinion of the recipient. Several paths:

• Trustee positive, recipient positive: very motivated to support and predisposed to get involved.
• Trustee positive, recipient negative: opposed but potentially open to other perspectives because of new information and peer pressure
• Trustee negative, recipient positive: support may become tempered due to information and perspectives offered by trusted peers. Pressure to reconsider support or even silenced by peer
• Trustee negative, recipient negative: opposed and reinforced by trusted peers

The perception of the change leader also makes a difference. If they trust the leader and believe their perspectives and interests are recognized, they are likely to respond positively. Change leaders often focus on the rationale of changing and pay little attention to the benefits of the status quo. Followers often focus on the benefits of not changing so change leaders and followers may estimate the benefits and costs highly differently. Change leaders should pay attention to the perceptions and alterations of the psychological contract.

Integrity to avoid skepticism and cynicism

If followers were promised things that were not met they will be skeptical. Followers sometimes say that change leaders said the right things but acted in ways that were beneficial to their own self-interest, thereby ignoring what was good for most employees in the organization. Skepticism can become cynicism and even pessimism when people whose opinions we value share a similar negative belief.  So the perceived trustworthiness and integrity of the change leader is important for the judgments recipients make. Active involvement by recipients reduces cynicism development. The table on page 234 shows 9 ways to manage and minimize cynicism.

Creative pushing

Sometimes, political intelligence can be used to creatively push followers to higher levels of performance. Fear can motivate but is risky because it may be unethical and followers will stop when the threat is no longer present (doom loop, enemy of effective leadership).

Consistent signals from systems and processes

Credibility of the leader will be enhanced or diminished by the extent to which organizational systems and processes send a consistent message or are themselves the focus of change that will bring the m into alignment with the change vision. Paradox: give voice to factors that develop sense of continuity, connection past and future while giving voice to need for and nature of change.

Minimize negative effects of change

• Engagement

• Timeliness

• Two-way communications (learn from followers, multiple channels)

Jick and Peiperl identified some strategies to cope with different stages of change:

Recipients:

• Accept feelings as natural

• Self-permission to feel and mourn

• Take time to work through feelings

• Tolerate ambiguity

• Managing stress

• Maintaining physical well-being

• Seeking information about the change

• Limiting extraneous stressors

• Taking regular breaks

• Seeking support

• Exercising responsibility

• Identify options and gains

• Learn from losses

• Participate in the change

• Inventory strengths

• Learn new skills

• Diversify emotional investing

Change leaders:

• Rethink resistance

• As natural as self-protection

• As a positive step toward change

• As energy to work with

• As information critical to the change process

• Give first aid

• Accept emotions

• Listen

• Provide safety

• Mark endings

• Provide resources and support

• Create capability for change

• Make organizational support of risks clear

• Provide a continuing safety net

• Emphasize continuities, gains of change

• Help employees explore risks and options

• Suspend judgment

• Involve people in decision making

• Teamwork

• Provide opportunities for individual growth

The understanding of followers of the need for change often lags behind because the leaders have already gone through some stages (mourning the loss of the old, embrace the new vision, etc).

Continuous improvement as the norm

Perceived threat of changes can be reduced by adopting managerial approaches in such a way that everyone regularly questions the status quo and seeks to improve existing practices as a normal activity. Then the fact that tomorrow is unlikely to be the same as today becomes the expected norm rather than an unexpected shock.

Creating agility allows the organization to be more open to change and resiliency strengthens the core (common purpose, shared beliefs, identity). Commitment, knowledge-sharing and cross-training is important. Encouraging experimentation and pilot programs and ensuring that rewards and punishments are not excessive help too.

Recipients can reduce the negative effects of change by taking risks, getting more involved and by becoming a change agent.

Chapter H: Becoming a master change agent

The role of change agent can on the one hand be exciting, enriching and educational and on the other hand frustrating and demoralizing. Most change initiatives that are perceived as top-down were probably started at the bottom or the middle years earlier. Kanter says that bold strokes do probably not build the long-term capabilities desired unless supported by a commitment to an underlying vision. The hearts as well of the heads of employees should be embraced.

Factors that influence change agent success

Success depends on the interplay of personal attributes, situation, and vision. Some situations energize the change agent, coalitions are formed and the proposed change is likely to succeed. These are called exothermic change situations. Others suck energy out of the change agent and seem to lead to a never ending series of issues and obstacles, called endothermic (Dickout). Both situations will probably be perceived. Colleagues serving as close confidantes can help to sustain energy.

Essential characteristics of change leaders:

• Commitment to improvement (different from traditional managers, trial and error approach, just do it)

• Communication and interpersonal skills (to navigate political environment and awaked the organization. NOT desired: abuse of power, inflicting damage on others, overexercise of control to satisfy personal needs, and rule breaking to serve own purposes)

• Determination (persist when it looks like thing have gone wrong)

• Eyes on the prize and flexibility (get it done, take informed risks, modify plans, time for reflection)

• Experience and networks (scan the environment, maintain networks)

• Intelligence (to analyse, assess possible action, to create confidence, also social intelligence)

Caldwell differentiates between attributes of change leaders and of change managers on pag 266.

We can distinguish three categories of behaviors of change agents:

• Framing behavior (changing the sense of the situation, establishing starting points, designing the change journey, communication principles)

• Capacity-creating behavior (b increasing individual and organizational capabilities and connections)

• Shaping behaviors (by acting as a role model, holding others accountable, thinking about change and focusing on individuals)

Higgs and Rowland found that framing and capacity-creating behaviors are more successful than shaping behaviors.

Kouzes and Posner argue that change leaders should know how to:

• Challenge the process or the status quo

• Inspire a shared sense of vision

• Enable others to act

• Model the way

• Encourage the heart of those involved with the change

Developing into a change leader

Four important things are intention, education, self-discipline and experience. Many change leadership skills can be learned. Experiential learning is important. We need the people around us to be able to constantly improve. Reflection is very important to be able to know how and what to improve. Bennis says change agents should take responsibility for their own learning and development as change leader, personal change goals can help in that.

Communication and open dialogue is essential for reflection. Appreciative inquiry (AI) is developed by Cooperrider and is critical in reflection conversation. It is the engagement of individuals in an organizational system in its renewal. By seeking the positive and best in people and the organization it helps to create positive energy and commitment.

Stages of change leaders (Miller):

• Stage 1: novice

• Beliefs: people will change once they understand the logic of the change, people can be told to change, clear communication is key.

• Underlying assumption: people are rational and will follow their self-interest once it is revealed to them, and otherwise power and sanctions will ensure compliance.

• Stage 2: junior

• Beliefs: people change through powerful communication and symbolism, change planning will include the use of symbols and group meetings.

• Underlying assumption: people will change if they are sold on the beliefs, otherwise power and sanctions will ensure compliance.

• Stage 3: experienced

• Beliefs: people may not be willing or able or ready to change, so change leaders will enlist specialists to design a change plan and the leaders will work at change but resist modifying their own vision.

• Underlying assumption: the ideal state is where people will become committed to change, power and sanctions will be used otherwise.

• Stage 4: expert

• Beliefs: people have a limited capacity to absorb change and may not be as willing, able or ready change as you wish, so thinking through how to change the people is central to the implementation of change.

• Underlying assumption: commitment for change must be built and power or sanctions have major limitation in achieving change and building organizational capacity.

Four types of change leaders

Much of the change literature differentiates strategic/episodic change and incremental/continuous change. The former is  “infrequent, discontinuous and intentional”. The latter is “ongoing, evolving and cumulative”. Weick and Quinn says the right model is freeze, rebalance and unfreeze. So first capture the underlying patterns and understandings, than reinterpret and relabel them and lastly resume improvisation and learning. Episodic change needs a prime mover change agent and continuous change a sense maker.

We can distinguish four types of change leaders using two dimensions. First, strategic change versus incremental change. Second, vision pull or analysis push. Pull actions create attractions or goals that draw willing organizational members to change and are characterized by organizational visions or higher-order purposes and strategies. Push actions are data based and factual and are communicated in ways that advance analytical thinking and reasoning and that push recipients’ thinking in new directions. Agents using that can use legitimate, positional and reward and punishment power.

• Strategic change and vision pull: emotional champion

• Clear and powerful vision of what the organization needs and uses that vision the capture the hearts and motivations of the members. Needed when there is a dramatic shift in the environment.

• Comfortable with ambiguity and risk

• Thinks tangentially and challenges accepted ways of doing things

• Has strong intuitive abilities

• Relies on feelings and emotions to influence others

• Strategic change and analysis push: developmental strategist

• Applies rational analysis to understand misfits

• Engages in big-picture thinking about strategic change and the fit between the environment and the organization

• Sees organizations in terms of systems and structures fitting into logical, integrated components that fit with environmental demands

• Is comfortable with assessing risk and taking chances based on thorough assessments

• Incremental change and vision pull: intuitive adapter

• Has a clear vision and uses it to reinforce a culture of learning and adaptation

• Embraces more moderate risks

• Engages in a more limited search for solutions

• Is comfortable with the current direction of the vision

• Relies on intuition and emotion to persuade others to propel the organization forward through incremental changes

• Incremental change and analysis push: continuous improver

• Analyzes the micro environments and seeks changes such as re-engineering systems and processes. The organization is quite well aligned with the environment.

• Thinks logically and carefully about detailed processes and how they can be improved

• Aims for possible gains and small wins rather than great leaps

• Is systematic in his thinking while making careful gains

This model can be used to combine types of change with methods of persuasion. Organizations are increasingly using internal consultants so that no problems with line responsibilities exist. Hunsaker identified four different internal roles of change agents:

• Catalyst: to overcome inertia and focus the organization on its problems.

• Solution giver: knows how to respond and can solve the problem

• Process helper: facilitates the how to, often in the role of third-party intervener

• Resource linker: brings people and resources together

External change agents/consultants

Internal change agents are critical because they know the systems, norms, and have relationships. However, they might not have the specialized knowledge or skills and the objectivity. They also lack power and relationships. External consultants may be brought in to:

• Provide subject-matter expertise (and facilitate the analysis, provide guidance)

• Bring fresh perspectives through exposure to ideas that have worked elsewhere (to avoid mental traps)

• Provide independent, trustworthy support (viewed as credible, independent, trustworthy and competent. Employees may feel more comfortable sharing thought with consultants and external validation can generate support)

The limitation is that they lack deep knowledge of political environment and culture and in the end the organization should take responsibility for the change, not the consultant. So they can assist but not replace internal agents. Also, consultants may receive signals that they are expected to support without asking questions.

Change teams

The use of teams is important because employees learn new behaviors and attitudes, the varying roles and skills needed are present, and cross-functional change is facilitated.

A good change team member should (Prosci)

• Know about the business and be enthusiastic about the change

• Possess excellent oral and written communication skills and willingness to listen and share

• Have total commitment to the project, the process, and the results

• Be able to remain open minded and visionary

• Be respected within the organization as an apolitical catalyst for strategic change

Some seem contradictory, for instance open minded and totally committed. But that is needed.

Two separate teams should be used, a steering team and a design and implementation team. The former provides advice to the champion (see below) and the latter plays an advisory and navigational function, it determines direction and resource requirements. The design and implementation team plans the change, deals with the stakeholders and had primary responsibility for the implementation.

The different change roles needed within a team:

• Champion: fight for the change and continue to persevere when others would have given up. They are the vision, the immovable force for change.

• Change project manager: coordinate planning, manage logistics, tracks process, manages adjustments needed along the way

• Sponsors: foster commitment, assist.

• Visible sponsorship: senior manager advocates for the change and shows support through actions and words.

• Information sharing and knowledge development has the sponsor providing useful information about the change and working with the team to ensure plans are sound.

• Provide protection for those to whom the change has been delegated. Protection makes people feel more safe to take risks.

Successful change implementation is only possible if the team is developed by motivating, communication and building the team. Dedication and willingness to give their all is the most obvious characteristic of highly committed change teams. The personalities and skills of the members play a big role. A paradoxical set of skills is needed: the ability to create a vision and the ability to see the connections between that vision and all of the things that will need to be done. Functional and technical competencies should be present as well, obviously. Table 8.4 on pag2 282 provides design rules for top teams.

Change from the middle

While initiatives are good, always remember the first rule: stay alive. Most managers involved in change will be in the middle. Sometimes those above them try to direct or influence change while they have to influence those superiors about what needs to be initiated and how to do so. Also, subordinates and peers should be dealt with as recipients. It can be hard to be in the middle. Problem ownership is an issue here. Managers often take on others’ issues as their own when they should not intervene. The opposite also happens, that managers do not take responsibility. Oshry’s advice to those in the middle:

• Be top when you can and take responsibility for being top

• Be bottom when you should

• Be coach (to help others solve their problems so they don’t become yours)

• Facilitate (rather than simply carry messages)

• Integrate with one another (to develop a strong peer group)

Rules of thumb for change agents

• Stay alive

• Start where the system is (understand the status quo first)

• Work downhill (collaboratively)

• Organize, but not too much (plans will change)

• Pick your battles carefully (don’t argue if you can’t win)

• Load experiments for success

• Light many fires (try several changes at several places)

• Just enough is good enough (perfection is not the goal)

• You can’t make a difference without doing things differently

• Reflect

• Want to change, focus in important results and get them

• Think and act fast (speed and flexibility)

• Create a coalition

Chapter I: Planning and implementation

Action is desirable but should not be random. One of the ways to improve the quality of action is to use proven tools to execute a change agenda. The present should be assessed in terms of the future so that the work that needs to be done can be determined and change can be implemented.

A ‘do it’ orientation is necessary

The absence of senior management awareness and support is normal during the early stages of change. If senior managers are 5% of the organization, the chance is 95% that internally generated ideas have been developed elsewhere in the organization. So growth is likely to come from within and from the bottom up. Wise senior managers know how to nurture and leverage employees’ adaptive energy and wise change agents know how to save short-sighted senior managers from themselves. Sometimes if the formal ways for support do not work, one should just ‘do it’ because it is easier to seek forgiveness than permission. That does not include precipitous action that gets one into trouble but should be based on savvy experiments. What counts is the reaction of the organization. Change agents can intuitively test their organizational assumptions by engaging in an action – learning – reaction cycle. The majority of organizations will be somewhere between embracing such initiatives and punishing them. We will now discuss some tools that can assist change leaders in designing and then managing their initiatives in ways that increase their prospects for success.

Selecting the correct path

There are three generic approaches, proposed by Mintzberg:

• Thinking first: works when the issue is clear, data are reliable, context is structures, thoughts can be pinned down, and discipline can be established as in many routine production processes. For instance the introduction of a Six Sigma.

• Seeing first: works when many elements have to be combined into creative solutions, commitment to those solutions is key, and communication across boundaries is essential. For instance new product development.

• Doing first: works when the situation is novel and confusing, complicated specifications would get in the way, and a few simple relationship rules can help people move forward. For instance testing an approach to customer service and feedback is needed.

The preferred approach to action shifts. Thinking first is appropriate if the situation is still structured and understandable. But as ambiguity and complexity rise and certainty over how best to proceed becomes less clear, seeing first fits. It can help by experimentation, prototyping, and pilot programs so that commitment can be gained by having people participate. Then doing first is appropriate for even more complex situations and takes the exploration further.

Nitin Nohria also identified three strategies:

• Programmatic change (similar to thinking first)

• Magnitude of change incremental

• Characteristic: missions, plans, objectives

• Implementation: training, timelines, steering committees

• Issues/concerns: lack of focus on behavior, one solution for all, inflexible solutions à to counteract: employee engagement and feedback, decentralize decision making

• Discontinuous change:

• Major break from the past, top down change (downsizing)

• Characteristic: initiated from top, clear break, reorientation

• Implementation: decrees, structural change, concurrent implementation

• Issues/concerns: political coalitions derail change, weak controls, stress from the loss of people à to counteract: reduce ambiguity, build support, enhance understanding

• Emergent change (similar to doing first)

• Appropriate if there is a talented, knowledgeable workforce that understands the risks and possibilities

• Characteristic: ambiguous, incremental, challenging

• Implementation: use of metaphors, experimentation, risk taking

• Issues/concerns: confusion over direction, uncertainty and possible slow results à to counteract: use field experiments/task forces to gain engagement and feedback to create clarity and build support. So move from ready-aim-fire to ready-fire-aim-refire-reaim.

We can also distinguish the following.

• Unilateral:

• First change systems and structures, forcing behavioral changes

• Action will in turn produce changes in attitudes and beliefs over time

• More appropriate for techno-structural change (based in structures, systems and technology)

• Lacks sensitivity, stakeholders may feel ignored

• Participative:

• First change attitudes and gain acceptance of an initiative

• Then restructure systems and structures

• More appropriate for behavioral-social changes (focused on altering established social relationships, such as cultural change)

Plan the work

Steps proposed by Beer:

• Mobilize commitment to change through joint diagnosis of business problems

• Develop a shared vision of how to organize and manage for competitiveness

• Foster consensus for the new vision, competence to enact it, and cohesion to move it along

• Spread revitalization to all departments without pushing it from the top

• Institutionalize revitalization through formal policies, systems and structures

• Monitor and adjust strategies in response to problems in the revitalization process

A one size fit all approach should however not be assumed. Also, one should think contingently. “No plan survives first contact”.

Sometimes change planning is secret (merger) but usually the active involvement of others and information sharing enhances the quality of action planning.

Often, change agents do understand what needs to be done but apply a wrong sequence. The table on page 308 provides an action planning checklist.

Action planning tools

• To do list: simplest and most common, often not enough as planning becomes more complex

• Responsibility charting: who should do what, when and how

• Contingency planning

• Decision tree analysis: consider major choices and possible consequences of those alternatives, possible next actions and next consequences etc., adding likelihoods

• Scenario planning: describe some possible future situations and their implications. It is different from forecasting because it starts by painting a picture of the future and works backward, asking what would have to happen to make this future scenario a reality.

• Surveys and survey feedback: to capture attitudes, opinions and experiences and track them over time, to provide anonymity. They need to be approached with care by someone with experience. Survey feedback is an action research method developed by OD practitioners to stimulate and advance conversations. Survey results are shared by the individuals and are discussed to raise awareness and understanding, advance the analysis and build support and commitment.

• Project planning and critical path methods: assess when the project should be completed and work backward from that point, scheduling all tasks that will require time, effort and resources. Bottlenecks, resource requirements and slack can be assessed.

The critical path method introduces the notion of parallel initiatives; different things may be able to be worked on simultaneously if the work is properly organized, phase 1 tasks do not have to be totally completed before beginning work on phase 2 tasks. One should caution for confusion and redundant effort.

• Force field and stakeholder analysis:

• Commitment analysis charts: (against – neutral – let it happen – help it happen – make it happen and level of understanding high – medium – low)

• Adoption continuum (awareness – interest – desiring action – action or adoption)

• Different individuals will be at different stages. For the awareness stage, general communication such as newsletters, reports and video can be used. If people are already aware, general information communications should not be used anymore but managers need to outline how the change will affect stakeholders personally and why this change should be of interest. Discussion groups, benchmark data, simulations, and test runs are appropriate. Once there is interest, one-on-one meetings are appropriate for persuasion and connection to influential supporters of change.

• Leverage analysis: seeks to identify those actions that will create the greatest change with the least effort.

• Other change management tools

• Pareto diagrams (classify problems according to relative importance)

• Cause-effect diagrams

• Histograms

• Benchmark and normative data

• Control charts

• Scatter diagrams

Working the plan ethically and adaptively

Generating stakeholder and decision maker confidence in the viability of the initiative is critical. But it is also important not to be deluded by your own rhetoric. Confidence is needed when one is an implementer rather than decision maker. Decision makers need to be realistic, implementers can afford to be somewhat overconfident.

Developing a communication plan

Good communication programs are essential to minimize effects of rumors, to mobilize support and to sustain enthusiasm and commitment. Confusion often arises due to the different levels of understanding held by different parties. There are four major reasons to develop communication plans:

• To infuse the need for change throughout the organization

• To enable individuals to understand the impact that the change will have on them

• To communicate any structural and job changes that will influence how things are done

• To keep people informed about progress along the way

Timing and focus of communications

A communiation plan has four phases:

• Preapproval phase: communication plans to sell top management

• Developing the need for change phase: communication plans to explain the need for change, provide a rationale, reassure employees, and clarify the steps in the change process

• Midstream change phase: communication plans to inform people of progress and to obtain feedback on attitudes and issues, to challenge any misconceptions, and to clarify new organizational roles, systems and structures

• Confirming the change phase: communication plans to inform employees of the success, to celebrate the change, and to prepare the organization for the next change

When the information is routine, memos and blanket e0mails can work well. But when things become more comlex, ambiguous and personally relevant, the richness of the communication channel needs to increase.

Key principles in communicating for change (Klein):

• Message and media redundancy are key for message retention

• Face to face communication is most effective

• Line authority is effective in communications

• The immediate supervisor is key (trust and understanding)

• Opinion leaders need to be identified and used

• Employees pick up and retain personally relevant information more easily than other types of information

Influence strategies (Kotter and Schlesinger):

• Education and communication

• Participation and involvement

• Facilitation and support (when the issues are anxiety and fear)

• Negotiation and agreement (where the resistance is organized, the what’s in it for me is unclear and power is at play but may lead to compliance rather than support)

• Manipulation and co-optation

• Explicit and implicit coercion (when time is of essence, compliant actions are not there, other options have been exhausted)

Open systems analysis provides a seventh change strategy: systemic or system adjustments. So to formal systems and processes that reduce resistance.

Another distinction:

• Push tactics: move people toward acceptance of change through:

• Rational persuasion (facts and logic, nonemotional way)

• Pressure (use of guild or threats)

• Pull tactics:

• Inspirational appeals: arouse enthusiasm based on shared values/ideals

• Consultation: seek participation of others through appeals to self-worth and positive self-concept

Falbe and Yukl examined the effectiveness of nine different influence tactics. The most effective strategies were two pull tactics:

1. Inspirational appeals and

2. Consultation (seeking participation of others)

Intermediate effectiveness was achieved with a combination of pull and push strategies:

3. Rationale persuasion

4. Ingratiation (praise, flattery, friendliness)

5. Personal appeals (friendship and loyalty)

6. Exchange tactics (negotiation and other forms of reciprocity

The least effective strategies were push strategies:

7. Direct pressure

8. Legitimating tactics (framing of the request as consistent with policy or authority)

9. Coalition building

Nutt describes four influence tactics used during implementation, in sequence of most used:

• Persuasion (use of experts to sell a change)

• Edict (issuing of directives)

• Participation (engaging stakeholders in the change process)

• Intervention (key executives justify the need for change and provide new norms to judge performance)

The sequence of which work best is intervention, participation, persuasion and edict. For more data on those four tactics see the table on page 325. The table shows that a well-respected sponsor is important.

A general advice is to move as slowly as practical so that people can become accustomed to the idea of the change, adopt the change program, learn new skills and see the positive sides. Change leaders can also adjust their processes, refine the change, improve congruence and learn as they go. But one should go faster if resistance will have the chance to organize.

Transition management

A change manager typically has the power and authority to facilitate the transition and is linked to the CEO or other senior executives. Transition resources are the people, money, training and consulting expertise needed to be successful. Transition structures are structures outside the regular organizational ones, they are temporary structures that allow normal activities to take place as well as change activities. The transition plan is the change plan with clear benchmarks, standards and responsibilities. Transition management ensures that both the change project and the continuing operations are successful. Beckard and Harris argue for specifying midpoint goals and milestones which help motivate. The longer the span of time required, the more important these midcourse goals. Also, people should be kept informed and anxiety should be reduced. The final phase is closure and celebration should be part of it. An after-action review reviews the change experience as a whole so that can be learned from what transpired along the way. It assessed the intended results, the actual results, why the latter happened and what can be done better next time.

Chapter J: Measuring change: designing effective control systems

Measurements influence what people do and what they pay attention to. Motivation increases when employees see quantifications as legitimate, believe their actions will affect the outcomes and thinks those actions will positively affect them personally. Measurement is given little attention because change is complex, numbers do not measure the important things, as change evolves it is hard to make end-point measures or the end-point is hard to measure due to changing conditions. But they are important, because change managers can use them to:

• Frame the implications of the vision in terms of expected outcomes

• Monitor the environment

• Guide the change, gauge process and make midcourse corrections

• Bring the change to a successful conclusion

Using control processes to facilitate change

Measurements can support a change initiative at each stage of the process. First, measurements in problem identification, root cause analysis, and in the development of awareness for a new vision and structure can be used. The structure and systems can be diagnosed too, so that at each step data are collected, analyzed and used to fine tune plans.

Selecting and deploying measures

Change agents should prioritize what should be measured at what stage as not everything can be measured. The criteria to help which measures to adopt are the following:

• Focus on key factors

• Use measures that lead to challenging but achievable goals

• Use measures and controls that are perceived as fair and appropriate

• Avoid sending mixed signals

• Ensure accurate data

• Match the precision of the measure with the ability to measure

• In turbulent environments, approximate measures are better

• Base choice on how quickly information is needed, how accurate the information needs to be and how much it will cost

• See table page 352 for what to use when

Control systems and change management

Simon argues that managers need to think about four types of control levers when constituting the internal control systems (see page 353 for a picture):

• Diagnostic/steering controls: traditional system that focuses on key performance variables, so that change manager will understand these and can modify systems to encourage new, desired behaviors.

• Belief systems: values and beliefs that underpin the culture, so that the change agent can appeal to higher—order values and the core values of the organizations to motivate people and reduce resistance.

• Boundary systems: that sets the limits of authority and action and determines (un)acceptable behavior, so that change agents know their limits and the risks and actions to be avoided

• Interactive controls: senses environmental changes crucial to the strategy, so that change agents can modify change plans in the face of environmental factors.

The table on page 354 combines these control levers with the different stages of the change (!!).

Other measurement tools

The following are four tools that can assist in planning, deploying, and managing change:

• Strategy maps (Kaplan and Norton)

• Start with financial goals and then assess how to get there

• Financial à customer à internal à learning and growth

• Assumption is that financial outcomes are the end goals and that other objectives should be aligned to produce those outcomes

• Visualization helps people understand what is proposed and why

• Balanced scorecard (Kaplan and Norton)

• To track critical success factors

• The same four categories as above

• Lag and lead indicators

• Risk exposure calculator (Simon)

• To assess the level of risk associated with a company’s actions

• Risk is related to rate of growth, its culture and how information is managed

• Groups of risk drivers:

• Change pressure (pressure to produce, ambiguity or inexperience with change)

• Change culture (culture pushes risk taking, executives resist hearing bad news, internal competition)

• Information management (situation complex and fast changing, gaps in diagnostic change measures, change decision making is decentralized)

• If above factors are more present, the risk is higher
• There is no optimal risk score that fits all, but it can be used to make risks manageable

• DICE model (Sirkin, Keenan, Jackson)

• Duration: how frequently the change project is formally reviewed, the less the higher the score for this factor

• Integrity: about the leader’s skills and credibility and the skills, motivation and focus of the change team members, the less the higher the score

• Commitment: two-stage measure, first the commitment of senior management and then that of employees, the less commitment the higher the score

• Effort: the level of increased effort that employees must make to implement change, the more the higher the score

• Integrity and senior commitment counts double, duration, effort and local level commitment single. The higher the score the less likely success.

Chapter K: Conclusion

Change is a continuing process of learning and accomplishment. The summary model of organizational change is presented on page 376.

Important elements:

• Initial organizational analysis (WHAT needs to change)

• WHY change, evident or not and to whom?

• Vision for change

• Gap analysis

• Dynamics of action planning and implementation

• Measuring change

The future of organizations and organizational change processes

Barkema says all organizations will need to be global in orientation. Activities will be coordinated across borders and cultures and structures will be digitally enabled. Tight/loose controls both within and between firms are necessary.

Galbraith says strategy and structure will continue to be closely tight. Organizations will become increasingly customer oriented and focused. Routine work will disappear and companies will organize around opportunities and resources. In the customer-oriented organization there are three major parts: business units, international regions and customer accounts. They will be linked with lateral processes (teams and networks). Focused organizations will have subunits focused on costs, products, or customers.

Malone says that organizations will have benefits of both large and small organizations. Digital technologies will enable economics of scale and knowledge while preserving the freedom, creativity, motivation and flexibility of small organizations. There will be a shift from traditional centralized hierarchies to organizations of loose hierarchies, democracies and markets.

The table on page 385 summarizes the impact of organizational trends on organizational change and change agents.

Becoming an organizational change agent

There are two broad categories of change skills:

• Technical skills (from functional training and experience)

• General management skills (experience)

The table on page 388 shows how the skill development of change management.

Paradoxes in organization change

Maintain the momentum of change (requires simplification) while not dismissing the complexity of an organization’s environment.

Need to be simultaneously centralized and decentralized

Organization change involves both incremental/continuous and radical/discontinuous change and organizations may need to engage in both kinds.

The tension between participative involvement of many and the pressure to drive change from the top and center.

Orienting yourself to organization change

Every member of an organization will participate in organization change. Page 390 outlines 10 lessons that may provide a useful orientation related to you as a change leader or change agent.