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)