Change management: a survival kit?

Presentation byDr Judith Broady-Preston, Department of

Information Studies, Aberystwyth University (copyright retained)

to theJoint HLG Wales & IFMH Study Day, Friday

8 May 2009, Angel Hotel, Cardiff

Introduction

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

Barack Obama, speech, Feb. 5, 2008

Wisdom lies neither in fixity nor in change, but in the dialectic between the two.

Octavio Paz

After you’ve done a thing the same way for two years, look it over carefully. After five years, look at it with suspicion. And after ten years, throw it away and start all over

Alfred Edward Perlman, New York Times, 3 July 1958

Outline

Nature of change

Change and emotion – resistance to change “Public sector executives face unique obstacles in leading

organisational change, in part because of entrenched civil service bureaucracies, procedural constraints such as managing performance and firing employees, and dealing with many different stakeholders with competing priorities”

Fenlon – Financial Times, 22 November 2002

Tools and techniques

Recipes and ethics

Change: categorisation

CONTINUOUS (EVOLUTIONARY)

vs

DISCONTINUOUS (REVOLUTIONARY)

VOLUNTARY

vs

ENFORCED

PURPOSIVE

vs

CHANGE FOR THE SAKE OF CHANGE?

Discontinuous change

“We are entering an Age of Unreason,

when the future, in so many areas, will be

shaped, by us and for us; a time when

the only prediction that will hold true is

that no predictions will hold true; a time

therefore, for bold imaginings in private life as

well as public, for thinking the unlikely and

doing the unreasonable.” (Handy, C. (1991) The Age of

Unreason. London: Random House.)

Change

Increasing pace of change Change from within - baby boomers, skills obsolescence, ageing

equipment/technology Forces of change

Relationship with, and the impact of factors creating an increasingly volatile external environment

Increasing demands for quality and higher levels of customer service and satisfaction

Greater flexibility in organisational structures and management patterns

Changing nature/composition of the workforce Conflict from within organisations

Forces driving change: creating conflict

Czerniawska study (2005) (adapted from and quoted in Mullins, (2007), Management and Organisational Behaviour, p. 734): Outsourcing, together with continual redefinition of an organisation's core

business Fragmentation of work, together with distribution of work across different

locations, people and organisations Changing demographics and expectations, creating an employees,

rather than employers’, market Technology, described as a double-edged sword, enabling people to do

more, but tempting organisations to do too much All the above creates CONFLICT between organisations and

individuals

NB May 2009 – add ‘TED’ (The Economic Downturn)!

Change and emotion

Responses to enforced change = emotional Use of stories and analogies can create detachment:

Sources: - http://www.businessballs.com/stories.htm E.g. the businessman and the fisherman (KitKat ad)

Aesop’s Fables:- http://www.businessballs.com/aesopsfables.htm E.g. The Ass and the Mule (agree to reasonable change now or

you can risk far worse enforced change in the future) The Rich Man and the Tanner, (time softens change - given time

people get used to things) Nothing new!

F B Loughridge (1979) “Against the Self Image of the Trade: Some Arguments Against Computers in Libraries” Assistant Librarian

Resistance to change

“an inability, or an unwillingness, to discuss or accept organizational changes that are

perceived in some way damaging or threatening to the individual.”

(Huczynski and Buchanan (2007) Organizational Behaviour, 6th ed., p.598)

NB New edition due 1 July 2009.

Causes of resistance to change

Parochial self-interest (“I don’t want to be pushed out of my comfort zone”)

Misunderstanding and lack of trust (“Why are you asking me to do this?” Conspiracy theorists?)

Contradictory assessments (You might think this is good, but I don’t”)

Low tolerance for change (“I can’t cope with the uncertainty/anxiety”)

(adapted from Bedeian, 1980, quoted in Huczynski and Buchanan, 2007, p.597-599)

13 sources of resistance (Eccles, 1994)

ignorance (failure to understand the problem)

comparison (solution is disliked because alternative is preferred)

disbelief (feeling proposed solution will not work)

loss (change has unacceptable personal costs)

inadequacy (rewards from change = insufficient)

anxiety (fear of being unable to cope with new solution)

demolition (change threatens to destroy existing social arrangements)

power cut (sources of influence/control will be eroded)

contamination (new values/practices = repellent)

inhibition (willingness to change is low)

mistrust (suspicion of management motives for change)

alienation (other interests more highly valued than new proposals)

frustration (change will reduce power and career opportunities)

Overcoming resistance (1)

6 techniques (Kotter and Schlesinger, 1979) Education and commitment Participation and involvement (participative management and

change) Facilitation and support – counselling, therapy for staff negotiation and agreement – negotiated, compromise change Manipulation and co-optation – getting resistors ‘onside’ covertly Implicit and explicit coercion – transfer, demotion, career

blocking, sacking strategies

Overcoming resistance (2)

Stakeholder analysis

identifying and addressing needs of ALL affected by change Recognising different needs require different approaches

Process

Compile list of all stakeholders affected by proposed change Establish win/lose scenario of each one Focus on potential benefits to strengthen support for change Address concerns by negotiation and compromise

Overcoming resistance (3): Egan’s stakeholder categories (1994)

partners – supporters of your change

allies – supporters, if given encouragement

fellow travellers – passive; committed to the agenda but not you

fencesitters –not clear where their allegiances lie

loose cannons – dangerous; may vote against agendas in which they have no direct interest

opponents – oppose agenda but not you personally

adversaries – oppose you & your agenda

bedfellows – support agenda but may not trust you

voiceless – those affected, but who lack advocates and power to promote or oppose change

Leaders and resistance to change

Hooper and Potter study (1999) good change leaders:

effectively communicate change develop open communications culture champion innovation and creativity set good personal example avoid unnecessary stress by well-planned timing

Drucker view (1999):

“one cannot manage change. One can only be ahead of it. We do not hear much anymore about “overcoming resistance to change”. Everyone now accepts that change is unavoidable.”

JISC InfoKit: Change Management (2008)

JISC InfoKit: Change Management (2008)

Change variables: change elements matrix (JISC, 2008)

This tool provides decision-makers with a picture of the potential consequences if the change is, is not, or is partially implemented in each of a range of variables

Examples of variables are shown in blue. You may wish to tailor these to coincide with your own circumstances (next slide).

Available to download from: http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/tools/change-variables-template

What would happen if we

Variable Do not change? Partially change? Change effectively?

Strategy

Policies

Processes

Tasks

Services

Service delivery

Staffing issues

Financial resources

Training and development

Structure

Collaborative links

Culture

Managing the change cycle (based on Bryson, 2006)

Denial (1) shock relief

Resistance (2) negativity self-doubt

Exploring (3) search experiment

Commitment (4) new forms new balance

Effective management of change

Step 1: Acknowledgement and understanding of the human element in an organisation

Step 2: Appreciate the influence of organisational structure and management style

Step 3: Successful change is facilitated by consideration of HRM concerns:

Change and HRM - 4 areas: Communication and information sharing Staff involvement and participation Training and development Job design

“Recipes”

Mechanistic/planned vs. radical/dynamic

Pundits identify recipes – the ‘n-step recipe for change’ approach – e.g. Lewin’s three step model (1951):

Unfreeze (current situation)

Move (desired future state)

Refreeze (embed and stabilise the change)

Relationship between change management and

project management

leadership and conflict

Is it neat, tidy, rational, and logical?

Recipe approach

Pros: codifies what research and

practical experience suggest are main factors contributing to effective change, even if much of this = ‘common sense’

gives a framework/checklist of requirements for those planning change

Cons: research and experience

confirm change is: - messy, untidy, politicised, seemingly irrational BUT ‘recipe approach’ assumes logical linear process. Presumption if change is messy must be because managers have failed to follow the recipe.

theoretically weak because looks backwards and not at how organisational processes may be changing themselves

Ethical change? A contradiction in terms?

Dodds, S. (2007) "Three Wins: Service Improvement using Value Stream Design“ 2nd ed. is the story of how a small team of health care professionals re-invented the way they worked. The book charts the successful redesign of the Vascular Surgery Outpatient Clinic at Good Hope Hospital, in North-East Birmingham from 2000-2004, which was subsequently rolled-out across the region during 2005.

Claimed outcomes are: a better service to patients - Do you want a Win for QUALITY a skilled, motivated and enthusiastic team - Do you want a Win

for FUN? and a substantial cost saving in treatment costs - Do you want a

Win for COSTS?(Source : http://www.three-wins.com/ (Accessed 1 May 2009)