CHANGE MANAGEMENT 4

Rollout of a change management initiative.

Ulysses Edwards

May 23, 2021

Introduction

Change refers to the process of an organization moving from one state of affairs to a different one through actions that might interfere with the way of operations (Marshall and Nielsen, 2020). For a chance to be successful, the environment within the organization has to shift from one point to another. Organizations rely on new ideas and strategies for growth and success in their various industries; therefore change is always an important factor within the business.

The strategies and methods used by the organization to implement change and ensure success are known as change management. The process is made up of three phases, preparation for the change, implementing the changes then monitoring of the progress. In the process of change management, organizations especially leaders are faced with various challenges and barriers that have to be controlled and minimized. The major stakeholders can use various tools to assist in the process of implementing the defined changes. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate how change management initiatives can be implemented. It will also point out the barriers that organizations are likely to face during the change process. Effective tools that can be used for change management will be recommended.

Literature Review

Different factors cause change within organizations, they can be categorized as internal and external factors (Kalenda et al., 2018). These changes happen in different ways and they affect both the internal and external environment of a business. There is a relationship between objectives and organizational change which means change management should undergo proper planning to ensure a smooth implementation process as well as attainment of the set goals and objective (Stouten et al., 2018). For a better competitive advantage, the stakeholders involved should be well-coordinated to ensure an effective and efficient transformation.

Changes that have been planned for the long term are more likely to contribute positively to the organization through success and a better organizational culture. Management and the employees should coordinate which means it is important for the different types of change to be understood (Saludung, 2017). Human behavior is an important component in the implementation process which means the change practitioners should align the goals, individuals’ perspectives and the employees’ perspectives with the change to be implemented. Organizations should on maximizing resources and minimizing costs in their implementation plans to bring a positive impact.

Change Management Process

Organizations should have internal processes and structures that encourage change since it is an essential component for growth. Adaptation is therefore important for a successful implementation plan (Dzwigol et al., 2019).

(i) Planning and Preparation

In planning it should be logistically and culturally. The managers and involved leaders should help employees understand why change is important through awareness (Fusch et al., 2020). They can start by pointing out the problems or challenges the organization might go through should change fail to be implemented. An effective change management team should be selected to oversee the entire process and monitor the progress.

(ii) Implementation Plan

Important stakeholders like the top management and the investors should also be put on board then an implementation plan is drafted. The plan should clearly indicate the strategies that will be used to arrive at the desired results with the provided resources at the anticipated time frame. The steps should be clearly defined and the goals should be measurable and attainable. Every plan should be followed to the last point.

(iii) Resources and Data

The availability of the needed resources and funds should be confirmed. They can be in form of money or in form of equipment, infrastructure, or software. Tools needed for the implementation process like training or education should also be evaluated, Important data on change and its components should be gathered and analyzed to gather the important information.

(iv) Identification of Gaps and Resistance

In the plan, there might be gaps that were missed which could risk the process of change. Resistance can also be a threat to the process. It is therefore important to identify these factors in advance and address them to ensure a smooth lifecycle. Feedback from employees will help in getting more information on potential resistance. Gaps include challenges and barriers that might be faced (Lyke-Ho-Gland, 2019).

(v) Modification and Implementation

After the gaps and resistance have been handled the change process can start. The implementation process is a process that has to be integrated into the organization gradually. Mechanisms should be used to help integrate the changes in the activities and culture within the organization. They should also help in monitoring the change progress.

Barriers to Change Management

Lack of employee involvement or cooperation is one of the main barriers to change management. Employees fear change especially if they are not involved in the process. Resistance might also be caused by the fact that disruption will be made internally and not everyone is open to that idea. Poor communication might fail to motivate the employees to embrace change and this slows down the entire process (Neill, 2018). The absence of an effective communication strategy within the organization also adds to the barriers.

The organization might also lack a better cultural shift on changes. This means the effects of changes are not factored in and their impact on the team is not considered. This overlooks how people feel and the feedback they have on change which becomes a challenge during implementation because not every member is on board. Resources allocated for the change process can be inadequate to sustain the whole process. This interferes with the implementation plan because more actions need to be done with fewer resources and this is a difficult approach.

A good governance structure is important in the implementation plan for clear directions on the strategies. Lack of it will cause confusion that will cause misunderstandings between the employees and the management slowing the whole process. When the leadership is not involved fully in the projects there will be no direction on what to do and lack of accountability. Past failures experienced in the change management process are likely to discourage the team within the organization because they will be anticipating failure.

Tools for Change Management Initiatives

Process maps and flowcharts can be used to put the processes in a visual form so that everyone involved in the change management can easily understand (Creately,2021) Flowcharts help in pinning down the current state of the organization. Changes can be added to them for future use and reference. Culture mapping involves representing the organization’s culture in a visual form to help determine important factors for the change initiatives.

Aids and barrier analysis which is also known as field analysis is used to determine potential forces that might be against the changes and their appropriate solutions. Stakeholder analysis helps in categorizing the stakeholders based on different factors than using the information to decide which stakeholder will be affected by changes and who to include in the process.

The organization should have approval processes that are smooth to allow changes to get through the different workflow stages. For smooth change operations, the approval status should be incorporated. Governance tools include the internal policies and directions that the team can use for guidance on what needs to be done and how to do it (SunView, 2014). The right data for the change operations should be provided and access should be given to everyone involved. For a better communication strategy to be in place effective tools should be used to sustain it. Communication tools and processes should be incorporated into the organizational culture so that by the time change is introduced, the internal stakeholders are already familiar with the tools.

Conclusion

Change is an important factor in the organization. It is an indicator of growth therefore organizations need to have the best strategies in place. A change management plan is a step-by-step process. Planning and preparations are the first steps. Shareholders must be involved in the implementation plan because they finance the projects. It is important to anticipate resistance from the employees and find ways to tackle that. Gaps should also be identified and potential solutions found. The implementation can then happen and it should be done gradually and the progress monitored closely. There are various barriers that might hinder the change implementation initiatives. Employees who are used to ways of doing their work might resist any form of change that might disrupt their operations. Lack of leadership involvement is also a barrier. Ineffective communication also contributes to the challenges. There are various tools that can be used to make the implementation process a success.

References

Creately. (2021, January 25). The Ultimate List of Change Management Tools to Drive Change Like a Pro. Available at: https://creately.com/blog/diagrams/change-management-tools-list/

Dzwigol, H., Shcherbak, S., Semikina, M., Vinichenko, O., & Vasiuta, V. (2019). Formation of Strategic Change Management System at an Enterprise. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 18, 1-8.

Fusch, G. E., Ness, L. R., Booker, J. M., & Fusch, P. (2020). People and Process: Successful Change Management Initiatives. Journal of Social Change, 12(1), 13.

Kalenda, M., Hyna, P., & Rossi, B. (2018). Scaling agile in large organizations: Practices, challenges, and success factors. Journal of Software: Evolution and Process, 30(10), e1954.

Lyke-Ho-Gland, H. (2019). Closing the change management gap. Strategic HR Review.

Marshall, C., & Nielsen, A. S. (2020). Motivational Interviewing for Leaders in the Helping Professions: Facilitating Change in Organizations. Guilford Publications.

Neill, M. S. (2018). Change management communication: Barriers, strategies & messaging. Public Relations Journal, 12(1), 1-26.

Saludung, J. (2017). Index Copernicus Value (2015): 78.96| Impact Factor (201 5): 6.391 Volume 6 Issue 9, September 2017 www. ijsr. net Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY Development Result of Kecombrang Fruit Become Various Products for Home Industry Jokebet Saludung Universitas Negeri Makassar, Makassar, Indonesia. International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), 6(Isu 9), 322-327.

Stouten, J., Rousseau, D. M., & De Cremer, D. (2018). Successful organizational change: Integrating the management practice and scholarly literatures. Academy of Management Annals, 12(2), 752-788.

The SunView. (2014, November 17). 5 Key Elements of Change Management. Available at: https://www.sunviewsoftware.com/blog/5-key-elements-of-change-management

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