AllenWeb
Managing Change
and Others' Expectations
Jun 96
"Implementation must ensure that the strategies succeed."- Gordon
Managing Change & Expectations
Changing Organizations in a Global
Environment
Effectiveness in Response to
Crisis
Identifying Forces For and Against
Change
Change Outcomes
Implementing Organizational
Changes
Common Behavior Changes in
Success
Ethical Issues in
Implementation
Organizational Effectiveness
Making Organizational
Transformations
Managing Others' Expectations
Changing Organizations in a
Global Environment
For practical purposes, we shall use the Consulting Model of Change and discuss
briefly the seven steps contained in the model: scouting, entry, diagnosis,
planning, action, evaluation, termination.
Scouting. Change
begins by obtaining preliminary information about those involved in the change
situation.
Entry. The change
agent next attempts to negotiate a written or unwritten
contract with the organization.
Diagnosis. The diagnosis
step involves problem definition, further goal specification, and an evaluation
of the resources available to deal with the problem.
Planning. The change
agent and client generate alternative strategies for meeting the objectives
of the change.
Action. The change
agent implements the best strategy.
Evaluation. The
change agent collects data about the nature and effectiveness of the change
as it occurs.
Termination. Plans
for continuing the change into the future or for knowing when it will end
should be specified.
Identifying Forces
For and Against Change
What forces for change, also known as driving forces, exist?
Changes in the organization's
environment, such as new laws or regulations, rapidly increasing competition,
or an unpredictable rate of inflation, may require the organization to implement
new structures or reward systems.
New product development or product
selection resulting from the availability of improved technology, changes
in competition in the industry, or unusual requirements of a new client may
also affect the organization.
Changes in the work force,
such as more educated workers, more women, or more technically trained management
may call for new forms of decision making for communication.
Reduced productivity, product
quality, satisfaction, commitment, or increased turnover or absenteeism may
call for changes in intra- or interdepartmental relations.. Frequently,
one or two specific events external to the organization precipitate the change.
Forces, known as resistance forces, counteract the forces for
change. Resistance results from a variety of factors. (See
my page Can You Overcome
Resistance to Change?)
It occurs when a change ignores
the needs, attitudes, and beliefs of organizational members.
Individuals resist change when
they lack specific information about the change; they may not know when,
how, or why it is occurring.
Individuals may not perceive
a need for change; they may feel that their organization is currently operating
effectively and profitably. In these cases,change often is neither
voluntary nor requested by organizational members.
Organizational members frequently
have a "we - they" attitude that causes them to view the change agent as
their enemy. Particularly when change is imposed by representatives
of a distant corporate headquarters or of an outside consulting firm,
organizational members may feel inconsequential to the change.
Fifth, members may view
change as a threat to the prestige and security of their supervisor. They
may perceive the change in procedures of policies as a commentary that their
supervisor's performance is inadequate.
Employees may perceive the change
as threats to their expertise, status, or security. The introduction
of a new computer system, for example, may cause employees to feel that they
lack sufficient knowledge to perform their jobs; the revision of an organizations
structure may challenge their relative status in the organization; the
introduction of a new reward system may threaten their feelings of job security.
For effective change to occur, the change agent must confront EACH of
these factors and overcome the resulting resistance to change.
Implementation must ensure that the strategies succeed. Although
careful preparation for change, including description, diagnosis, and
prescription, increases the chances of success, it does not guarantee effective
action. Implementation requires an ongoing assessment of the reactions
of organizational members to the change.
The use of a broad-based steering
committee to oversee the change may increase its likelihood of success.
The dynamic nature of organizational
systems calls for flexibility in action: All efforts must included
contingency plans for unanticipated costs, consequences, or resistance.
A strong commitment to the change
on the part of top management can buffer change efforts for such difficulties
and can ensure the transfer of needed resources to the action program.
In managing large scale change, the elements involved include four processes:
pattern breaking, experimenting, visioning, and bonding and attunement.
Pattern breaking - involves freeing
the system from structures, processes, and functions that no longer are useful.
Experimenting - by generating
new patterns encourages flexibility and yields new options.
Visioning - calls for the selection
of a new perspective as the basis for change. Visioning activities,
such as building shared meaning throughout the organization and using current
mission statements, generates support for and commitment to the planned changes.
Bonding and Attunement - management
attempts to integrate all facets of the organizational change to move members
toward the new way of action by focusing them on important tasks and generating
constructive interpersonal relationships.
Ethical
Issues in Implementation
Change agents often confront issues of integrity in their interactions with
organizations. Five types of ethical dilemmas include misrepresentation
and collusion, misuse of data in change efforts, manipulation and coercion,
value and goal conflict, and technical ineptness.
Some managers may implement their personal change agenda at the expense of
solid diagnosis of the organization's needs. Still others may promise
more than they can deliver. Some consultants fail to build ways of
institutionalizing the change into their processes so the organization
can continue to rely on (and pay) them.
Organizational leaders, as well as internal and external consultants, should
ensure that the selection and implementation of change strategies respond
to well-documented organizational and individual needs. They must also
ensure that the change process respects the rights of individuals in the
workplace.
Danger Signs of Unethical Behavior
Emphasis on short-term revenues
over long-term considerations.
Routinely ignoring or violating
internal or professional codes of ethics.
Looking for simple solutions
to ethical problems, being satisfied with quick fixes.
Unwillingness to take an ethical
stand if there is a financial cost.
Creation of an internal environment
that discourages ethical behavior or encourages unethical behavior.
Dispatch of ethical problems
to the legal department.
View of ethics solely as a public
relations tool.
Treatment of employees that differs
from treatment of customers.
Unfair or arbitrary performance
appraisal standards.
Lack of procedures or policies
for handling ethical problems.
Lack of mechanisms for internal
whistle-blowing.
Lack of clear lines of
communications.
Sensitivity only to shareholder
needs and demands.
Encouragement of employees to
ignore their personal ethical values.
Making
Organizational Transformations
Four types of changes can be called transformational:
Changes in what drives the
organization, such as marketing or production
Changes in the relationship between
parts of the organization
Changes in the way work is done
Basic culture change
Observations about Organizational Transformation. Transformation
is...
response to environment and
technological change by different types of organizations
a new model of the organization
for the future
based on dissatisfaction with
the old and belief in the new
a qualitatively different way
of perceiving, thinking, and behaving
expected to spread throughout
the organization at different rates of absorption
driven by line management
ongoing, endless, and forever
orchestrated by inside and outside
experts
represents the leading edge of
knowledge about organizational change
generates more open communication
and feedback throughout the organization
Most organizations evolve through relatively long periods of incremental
change and adaption. Such transitions correspond to significant changes in
the primary tasks or goals of an organization and its strategy to achieve
them. Transformational leaders play a major role in transforming and
revitalizing organizations. They must overcome resistance to change in the
organization's technical, political, and cultural systems.
The Four Stages of Transition:
Stage 1:Shock - people
experience impending change as threat. They shut down thinking and as many
systems as possible (just as in physiological shock). People need warm
blankets and rest, that is, time to recover, emotional support, information,
and an opportunity to gather with others. Productivity is low.
People cannot think and do not remember.
What to Do. Help people look for common ground in shock, build support
network, and give information again and again. Managers should give
visible support. Do not involve people in planning. Provide safety,
that is, clear organizational expectations, reward systems, support systems,
and available resources.
Stage 2:Defensive Retreat
- Holding on, attempting to maintain old ways. A great deal of
anger, refusal to let go of the past. People and organizations can
get stuck here or recycle back to Stage 1 as each element of change is
introduced.
What to Do. Help people identify what they are holding on to, and then
how to maintain it in the new situation or how to let it go. Identify
areas of stability: things that are not changing. Give information
continually and consistently. Ask "what is risky?" and provide safety
in response to discomfort with risk taking.
Stage 3:Acknowledgement
- Sense of grief and sadness over loss. Letting go, beginning to see
the value of what is coming, and looking for ways to make it work by considering
the pros and cons. Ability to take risks begins here. It takes
the form of risk taking and exploring new ways to look at things and to do
things. Can lead to high energy if managed well.
What to Do. Involve people in exploring options and planning through
use of careful decision-making process as a structure/support. Overtly
encourage and support risk taking by pointing out ways that the organization
will support it. Emphasize that everyone is learning.
Stage 4: Adaption and Change
- What is coming has arrived. Ready to establish new routines and
to help others. Risk taking comes into full bloom at this stage relative
to changing methods, products, whatever is called for.
What to Do. Implement plans. Encourage and support risk taking
using the supports and structures developed in stage 3. Establish feedback
loops so that information travels in all directions, new learning occurs,
and mid-course corrections can be made when necessary.
Effectiveness in Response to
Crisis
Crisis in organizations can also precipitate change. Consider the threat
posed by a hostile takeover attempt. An organization immediately alters
its structure and personnel to prevent such a crisis. Crisis can arise
from potential bankruptcy, industrial accidents, product defects or tampering,
major computer breakdowns (See
Critical Information
You NEED to Know), or a myriad of other causes.
The effectiveness of an organization's response to a crisis depends on
several factors.
the organization's members must
have or be able to secure adequate information and resources to cope with
the emergency.
they must define emergency work,
distinguish it from regular work, but maintain functional roles while doing
it.
the organization must demonstrate
flexibility in operations and decision making so mangers can deal readily
with uncertainty and loss of autonomy and control.
organizational members must think
creatively and avoid groupthink in a crisis.
Managers should conduct crisis management if five phases:
-
be alert to crisis warnings, events that signal the advent of a crisis
-
top management must prepare for and prevent a disaster
-
crisis management team can systematically watch for and respond to early
warning signals.
-
management should have contingency plans for containing and limiting damage
-
implementation of short- and long-term recovery mechanisms follows
Follow-up - both informal and formal - is critical to the success of any
organizational improvement and should occur regularly as part of action.
Evaluating the change is to consider it more akin to a training
intervention and then to consider the participants affective reactions, learning,
behavioral changes, and performance changes. (See my page -
Learning Curves in
Implementing Automation).
Change outcomes include:
Affective Reactions -
participants' attitudes toward the intervention.
Learning - participants'
understanding of new ways of acting and acquisition of new skills as a result
of an intervention.
Behavioral Changes - include
participants' actions on the job.
Performance Changes -
reflected in objective organizational measures, such as productivity and
quality rates, sales volume, profit, absenteeism, and turnover, as well as
more subjective performance appraisal ratings.
Common Behavior
Changes
in Successful Organizational Change Efforts
Common behavior changes for individuals at all levels of the
organization.
Communicating openly -
Sharing intentions, motives, needs, feelings, and cognitions relevant to
the work situation.
Collaborating - Solving
problems as close to where they occur as possible.
Taking responsibility
- Figuring out for oneself what is necessary to be effective in one's job
and taking initiative for getting whatever information, cooperation, services,
or materials are needed from other relevant parties inside or outside of
the organization.
Maintaining a shared vision
- Developing and communicating written statements of philosophy.
Solving problems effectively
- Defining problems from a win/win perspective, with an open-minded search
for solutions that are mutually acceptable instead of pressing for one's
own "right" answer.
Respecting/supporting
- Providing recognition for a job well done.
Processing/facilitating
interactions - Stopping meetings or one-on-one discussions to examine
the process when things are not going well.
Inquiring - Taking multiple
and numerous measures of the discrepancies between the organization's goals
and its current state.
Experimenting - Taking
risks. Having a "bias for action" and not waiting for the perfect design
or plan before trying things out.
Common behavior changes for managers.
Generating participation
- Linking planning and implementation in terms of time and who does it. Involving
people when they have the necessary expertise, etc.
Leading by vision -
Continually articulating the organization's purpose, goals, values, and standards
and the means in which they are to be carried out operationally.
Functioning strategically
- Talking about underlying causes, interdependencies, and long-range consequences
and acting accordingly.
Promoting information flow
- Clearly communicating the elements of the job that need to be accomplished
in order to succeed. Being clear about feelings, needs, expectations,
commitment, and loyalty issues.
Developing others - Teaching
needed skills. Helping subordinates identify needs, interests, skills,
aspirations, and talents.
Researchers have argued that effectiveness serves as a central focus in all
organizational analysis, acting as the goal or organization design and
organization change. Although some researchers suggest that there are
limitations in the definition of this concept, many agree that the organizational
effectiveness concept reflects and represents a wide range of desirable
organizational outcomes.
Organizational effectiveness has been defined and assessed in four major
ways:
-
the organization's ability to achieve its goals,
-
its ability to acquire needed resources from its external environment and
thus achieve a competitive advantage,
-
its ability to satisfy, at least minimally, all of its strategic constituencies,
including suppliers, consumers, members, and so on,
-
the relative emphasis the organization's key constituencies place on people
over organization, flexibility over control, and means versus ends.
My argument is that managing change is really managing others' expectations:
shareholders and stakeholders in the firm. Not only do you have to
manage those well, but you must be aware of the limitations of others to
manage expectations within their respective organizations. Do not be
lulled into a sense of security because you believe you have managed other
party's expectations very well. You must make sure that they too "can
and are" managing others' expectations well.
Whether it is your point of contact at your lending institution or the janitor
who cleans your offices, you must understand that each and every individual
inside and outside of your organization is managing expectations in their
own way with their supervisors, peers, and subordinates. You must
understand that they may NOT be managing expectations well, and in most cases,
aren't ...intentionally. You must make every effort to communicate
up and down the organization as well as outside the organization to the various
constituencies of your stakeholders if you want to minimize the potential
damage from other's inabilities or agendas.
Communicate openly, frequently, and consistently, up and down the various
organizations that have stakeholder expectations of you and your firm, and
internally within your own firm. Make sure their expectations are in line
with reality and are connected to what you have put forward. If there
is mis-management or mis-information behind the scenes by others, this will
help overcome "smoke and mirror" problems created by them.
Remember, generally, people do not like surprises. Do not "blindside"
others, nor be "blindsided" by them, from expectation variances. Manage
expectations well for success.
Thank you for the visit. I hope it was informative.
- Paul
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