Managing Change (Change Management Theory)

Consider this scenario. You have been asked to give a 15 to 20 minute talk to your team, department, service organization, Church or other organization in which you are involved. Since they know you have been studying Managing Change they want you to give a talk on Change Management. In preparation for your talk you first decide to write a paper so you will be certain that your talk is well organized and presented.

Here are guidelines to help you write your final paper: 8 – 10 pages, double spaced, one inch margins, APA format with citations and a Works Cited page. Next you will find information on the content to put in your paper.

I. Your Managing Change Model– minimum 4 pages
From all of the Change Management theories, models and techniques you have studied in this course develop a Change Management Model that is unique to your view of organizations and organizational life.

You can “borrow” as much as your want from your readings and any other “legitimate” outside sources in preparing your model. Be sure to use appropriate citations when you use third party sources. Your model should be one of a kind and should include 5 to 7 steps or phases. Don’t simply copy an existing model from your text or some other source!

At a minimum you need to address each of these three issues as you explain each step of your model.

• Purpose — What is the purpose of this step? What is the goal? What are you seeking to accomplish through this step?

• Actions — What actions would management take to facilitate this step? What actions or activities would employees be involved in during this step?

• Outcome — What outcome will be achieved if this step is successfully implemented? What will be different as a result of the team or organization going through this step? How will you determine if this step has been successful?

Here are other issues you may want to consider in developing your Change Management Model.

• How do you jump-start or get change going?
• How do you decide on what to focus?
• Should you build a leadership team?
• Should you have a structured plan or “go-with-the-flow?
• Should you have a long term goal or just react to what
is in front of you right now or as it occurs?
• Should change be from the top-down or bottom-up?
• Should you focus on your core transformation systems
and/or key competitive advantages?
• Should you involve support systems and processes?
• What part should various stakeholders play such as
senior mgmt, middle mgmt, first-line supervisors,
individual contributors, vendors, suppliers, customers, etc?
• How do you keep the “ball-rolling,” that is, how do you
keep change moving ahead and on track?
• How do you get people to “buy-in” to change, that is,
how do you overcome resistance to change?
• What part does effective communication play in your
change management model?
• How do you get people to continue “buying-in”, that is,
how do you keep people from sliding back to the old
status-quo?
• How will you get the change “to stick” or to become a
permanent part of the organizational life?
• How will you know if the change “worked” or was successful?

These 15 questions are provided to stimulate your thinking and to challenge you to dig back into the readings for this course. Don’t simply answer these questions one-by-one. That’s not the purpose of these questions or of this paper.

Rather use these questions to stimulate your innovative thinking. Then develop a 5 to 7 step Change Management Model which is both theoretically sound and practically effective in a real life organizational setting. Be sure to fully explain each of your steps as outlined above.

II. Change Management Application and Analysis – minimum 4 pages
Using the Change Management Model you’ve already developed, analyze one or two major organizational changes which you have experienced. Most of you will analyze a change that has taken place at the organization for which you presently work or an organization for which you previously worked. Occasionally someone will analyze his or her church or some other nonprofit organization. Here’s what to include in your Organizational Analysis.

• Describe the organizational change based on your model. To what degree does your model help you explain and understand the thoughts, feelings, actions and practices of the various stakeholders during the change?

• Describe the outcomes or results that were caused or generated by the use, misuse, or lack of use of the various steps in your Change Management Model. You don’t need to discuss all the steps in your model, but rather the steps or phases that best help you explain the overall impact of the change initiative on the organization. You may want to consider issues such as:

o Productivity
o Quality
o Response to competition and other external forces
o Response to technology and other internal forces
o Customer satisfaction and commitment
o Employee satisfaction and commitment
o Morale
o Turnover and absenteeism

• Provide recommendations for improvement. Again, you don’t need to discuss all 5 to 7 steps of your model in your recommendations. You might just pick two or three. Keeping in mind your overall model, what steps or actions could have your change management team taken to more positively impact the issues listed above.

III. “Change Agent” Personal Professional Analysis – 1/2 to 1 page
Prepare a “Change Agent” Assessment on yourself. Based on the models and theories you’ve studied, and all the leadership assessment inventories you have completed in the past, how would you describe yourself as a Change Agent?

Be sure to be specific. What are your present strengths? What are your back-up strengths? What are you areas of greatest developmental need? What are your potential “derailers” (traits that might cause you to fail as a change agent)? Research indicates that you will improve the fastest by focusing on your back-up strengths unless you have a major derailer “staring you in the face”.

What actions can you take to work on your change management abilities? There are many options from changing jobs and cross-training, to internal and external training.

Finally, how will you know you have succeeded in your Change Management Development? What will have changed in you and your leadership style and abilities? What will your new successful Change Agent Style “look like”? What results and outcomes will it produce?

IV. Change Management Metaphor – 1/2 page to 1 page
Provide a metaphor for Managing Change. This is your chance to be as creative as you want to be. For example you might describe change as:

• The changing of the seasons
• How a pond keeps itself in balance
• The way a river flows down a mountain side
• Rebuilding a relationship with a close friend
• Sending a man to the moon
• An episode of Star Trek or 30 Rock
• A commercial in the Presidential election
• A good night’s sleep
• Running a marathon

Please be as creative as you desire. You also might want to weave your Change Model into your Change Metaphor.