change and change management. “make dust or eat dust.” anonymous
TRANSCRIPT
“The trouble with the future is that it usually arrives before we’re ready for it.”
Arnold H. Glasow
SCOUTING ENTRY DIAGNOSIS
PLANNINGACTIONEVALUATION
INSTITUTIONALIZATION
PROCESS OF PLANNED CHANGE
Based on Kolb/Frohman Model
SCOUTING
Determine readiness for change Identify obvious obstacles Find entry points (informal leaders) Group leaders may be most resistant
ENTRY
Negotiate a “contract” with entry representative
“Contract” renegotiation is a continuing process
Trust-based power stemming from collaborative problem-solving is best
DIAGNOSIS
With collaboration, define problem Identify forces that promote and resist
change Define goals broadly Identify resources
PLANNING
Source of power – Formal, expert, coercive, trust-based,
reward, common-vision Subsystem affected
– People, authority, information, task, policy/culture, internal environment, external environment
Economic insecurity Fear of the unknown/loss of control Threats to social relationships Habit - may require new job skills/more
work/future incompetence Failure to recognize need for change
Adapted from D. A. Nadler, 1987.
INDIVIDUAL BARRIERSTO CHANGE
ORGANIZATIONALBARRIERS TO CHANGE
Structural inertia Work group inertia (norms) Threats to balance of power Previous experience with
unsuccessful change efforts/too many battle scars
From D. Katz & R. L. Kahn, 1978.
OVERCOMING RESISTANCE TO CHANGE
Shape the political dynamics Education and communication - “What’s in
it for me?” Participation and involvement Facilitation and support Negotiation and agreement Manipulation and co-optation Coercion
EVALUATION
Integrated part of process Relative to objectives established
during planning Results determine whether on to
institutionalization or back to planning
INSTITUTIONALIZATION
Not “hardening of the arteries.” A continuous process which flexes and
changes as situation demands– Processes for prioritizing improvements– Processes for systematic feedback– In-sync reward system
Hollow Square Instructions
1, Four implementers and 3-5 planners per team.2. Separate planners and give them their instructions.3. Give planners materials and give them 30 minutes to plan how they will communicate their intructions to implementers.4. Give implementers their instructions.5. Implementers have 20 minutes to assemble and the first team to complete the assembly wins. DURING THIS 20 MINUTES THE PLANNERS CAN ONLY OBSERVE!!!!!6. Each subgroup should evaluate their paired subgroup.
Instructions for implementers
1. You have the responsibility for carrying out a task, as quickly as possible, for a 4 person team according to instructions given you by your planning team. Your planning team can call arrange to meet with you anytime during their 20 minute planning period. However, if they have not called for you within 15 minutes, you should report to them. Once you begin, your planning team cannot provide you with any more instructions.2. While waiting for the planning team, how can you organize yourselves as a team to accomplish the task?
Hollow Square Instructions for Planning Teams
1. Four individuals will be given an envelope containing four puzzle pieces that when assembled, will make a hollow square as shown on the attached.2. In the next 20 minutes, plan how these pieces should be assembled to make the Hollow Square.3. Instruct you implementing team so that they can complete the puzzle before the other teams.
General Rules
1. You must keep all four pieces in front of you at all times.2. You may not touch the pieces of the other members of your planning team or trade pieces with other members of your team at any time.3. You may not show the Assembly Guide to the Implementation Team at any time.4. You may not assemble the entire square at any time.5. You may not mark or number the pieces.6. Members of your Implementation Team must also observe these rules until signalled to begin.7. When the Implementation Team begins to assemble the puzzle, you may give no further instructions. Just step back and observe!
Hollow Square Discussion
Are there any differences in the way the planning and implementation teams perceived each other?
What did the planning team do that helped or hindered the implementers?
What did the implementers do that helped or hindered their performance?
What feelings and thoughts did the implementation teams experience while awaiting the instructions for an unknown task?
Did the time at which the planners brought the implementers into the process have an effect upon proceedings? If so, what?
What parallels can be drawn between this experience and organizational change efforts you have observed or experienced?
Lessons - Importance of common language; need for an overall vision of what’s to be done; need for two-way communication; planners’ quest for the perfect plan and disregard for the implementers; need for a high quality solution and acceptance of the change.
Problems that may occur when one group plans and another group implements.
1. Planners impose unnecessary restrictions on themselves.2. Difficult to see task from implementer’s viewpoint.3. Planners plunge into act and fail to apportion time wisely.4. Sometimes planners fail to listen to one another.5. Planners sometimes have different understandings of their task and their bondaries.6. Sometimes planners are so involved in the planning process they do not plan their method of instructing.
Problems when planners instruct implementers.
1. Sometimes planners aren’t sensitive to implementers’ anxieties when they orient them.2. Planners may not allow enough time for instruction.3. Planners may fail to encourage questions from the implementers.4. Planners may transmitt their own feelings of anxiety to the implementers.5. Planners sometimes give detailed instructions before giving the “big” picture.6. Planners sometimes stress minute problems instead of the more important parts.
Problems when implementers carry out the plans of others.
1. If instructions are not clear, a lot of time is spent on clarification.2. If instructions are not clear, implementers may display irritation toward each other and toward the planners.3. When there is pressure, some team members may be more efficient while some may be less so.4. If members do not feel a part of the team, they usually perform less efficiently.