Leading and Managing Change

By Dhruv Patel Isidro Gonzalez Briana Novak

Background
A series of articles by Christopher G. Worley, PhD. Pepperdine University- Graziadio School of Business and Management Graziadio Business Report Address a number of practical, powerful, but often ignored principles in managing change.

Overview
What does it mean to manage and lead organizational change Six things to be aware of when leading change
Do no harm All change involves personal choice The relationship between change and performance is not instantaneous Connect change to business strategy Involvement breeds commitment Any good change effort results in increased capacity to face change in the future

Managing and Leading Change

Managing change has become the Silver Bullet
What Needs Managing

Strategy Process People Culture

Staying Competitive Against

Demographic Trends Technology Trends Globalization

Managing and Leading Change

Not many people will argue against this Fewer will say their organization does a good job managing it

Managing change in continuous and ongoing Needs careful alignment between an organizations:
Strategy Structure Process

Managing and Leading Change

Being proactive rather than reactive Pitfalls of change
Often people fall for trendy fads designed for quick fixes A decrease awareness of what has worked in the past

Do No Harm
When issuing change, take holistic approach.
How is this change going to impact the whole system? What are the human implications?

Be Positive
Harsh judgment can send inappropriate signal to employees

Often Managers forget about the whole system or only change one facet of the business.
Poor implementation can hurt peoples attitude toward future change Change will be unsupported, unsuccessful, and damaging. Can drag down momentum of other systems and processes

All change involve personal choice

Managers main vision is the new organization change Off-site meetings arguing for a new change Communicate and formulate a memoranda Organization change frequently is resisted instead supported Involve a variety departments and employees Creativity help to inspire your team for the new organization change

The Relationship Between Change and Performance

No such thing as instantaneous transformation Expecting this often creates cynical attitudes among employees Change involves 2 things
Time Opportunity to learn
Give It Time Remember learning is often ineffective

So dont expect performance improvement instantaneously

The Relationship Between Change and Performance

Good Example
Football Teams Practice 6 Days a Week For 1 Day of Performance

Expected to perform every minute of every day

Organizations

Where is the opportunity to practice the new behavior ever minute of every day?
employees, given good guidance still need to be able to mess up

Connect change to business Strategy

Change should only be pursued with a clear Goal. People value consistency Frequent change without clear goals lowers employee morale and increases cynicism. Have consistent communication Show employees connection between personal effort and the ultimate business goal. Routinely changing structure or having poor communication creates problems
Example: Microsoft
Change every 6 months Employees only commit to short term results Ongoing problems remain, commitment is weak

lets just try it

Little explanation Upset employees

Involvement breeds commitment

Documented and understand the main idea of the change
But it takes too long Managers has to control the speed of the commitment

Managers learn with the change Example:

American Healthways
CEO realized an analysis of the current organization structure CEO recommend an alternatives Involve employees in the analysis

Implementing changes to utilize benefits in the future

Implement changes in a way that allows an organization to be more cable of change in the future Bad Example (ERP) Each member should have a better understanding of the process Share in the learning so each member is able to better implement the changes on their own

Conclusion
Organizational change is a strategic imperative in todays global and fast paced environment Remember:
Do no harm All change involves personal choice The relationship between change and performance is not instantaneous Connect change to business strategy Involvement breeds commitment Any good change effort results in increased capacity to face change in the future

These are the sound principles that shouldnt be forgotten in the haste of making progress.

Source
http://gbr.pepperdine.edu/052/change.html