Chapter 1 Change Management

Definition of Change
Change is an act that makes us feel that something different or out of the routine has happen by which many of us become beneficiary but most people become astonished that why is id has happen because they were happy what they were doing due to their believes, values, and their nature of taking the things.

Why Change?
The world is changing faster than ever before. We are living in times of far reaching and profound transformations in the perception and structures of worlds politics, economics, demography, technology, ecology, and ethics. These changes are evolving at striking pace, and societies must now evaluate, make the necessary adjustments. (Kirdar 1992:8)

Change is a natural phenomenon:

We are very much familiar that none of things in this world remain same, though change with the passage of time, and vanish. It is a continuous process, new transformations occur in our lives, people take their advantage for the time being, and then desires some alteration in its state. Societies and Cultures are developed with the perception, and visionary activities of its people, where understanding change is the guiding principle in the change process.

Change Management:
Many definitions of change management are available, what I have extracted as, Change Management is a systemic approach of utilizing knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to achieve better for current and future developments. Developments in the sense that every individual need to have 1. 2. 3. 4. Better health Better salary Best relations Best technology

5. Best utilization of his/ her knowledge and skills 6. Better change in status, personality, and values. Above are the few things that we all require from Change. Human factor is very much critical to change, and every development either it is personal or organization as whole, is only possible if the people understand what is better for their needs. Most of the people in our society resist change with certain grievances as1: 1. Fear that new ways would not work for them. 2. Comfort that people are happy with what they are doing 3. Not perceiving a need. In their comfort zone, they do not think much for their future. 4. No faith in the process. Whatever is done for change they do not absorb it. 5. Lack of knowledge. They are unfamiliar with the consequences of the change. 6. Lack of trust. If they dont have any bond with their leaders, they wont want to follow their managers forward. 7. Heavy-handedness by leaders. When teams are moving cautiously, leaders can make matters worse by pushing too hard. People have to be led into change, not forced into it. 8. Personal preference. Personal style makes it hard for them to accept change.
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Source: http://www.velaction.com/8-reasons-people-resist-change/

So the discipline of Change Management focuses on both organizational change management and individual change management Individual change management is the process of providing tools and training to employees to enable them to manage their personal transition through change. It means that managers & teams need to be provided the best training to equip them with all possible tools & practices that are required to perform better. Organizational change management in the process that include techniques for creating a change management strategy, engaging senior managers as change leaders, building awareness of the need for change, developing skills and knowledge to support the change, helping employees move through the transition, and methods to sustain the change.

Change Models:
Models are concise ways to understand the effect of anything with the change in its variable. A variety of change models are available, but few basic are being discussed here.

Gleicher Formula
To measure the effect of change Richard Beckhard and David Gleicher devised a basic formula, with four basic ingredients of the change as: D = Dissatisfaction with how things are now V = Vision of what is possible; F = First, concrete steps that can be taken towards the vision R = Resistance towards change.

DXVXF>R According to the formula, change can only take place if the product of the first three variables is higher than resistance to change, if not then there is need to evaluate its causes. This formula leads us to cost verses benefit analysis.

PCI (People Centered Implementation)

People centered implementation (PCI) is a methodology devised by ChangeFirst and applied by the organizations to manage its human skills to develop better understanding with the organizational goals & mission. It has six critical success factors as: 1. Shared Change Purpose: How the employees & organization as whole be beneficiaries of the change? 2. Effective Change Leadership: To develop better change leader for the change initiative. 3. Powerful Engagement Processes: To engaging people in process of change, as to feel them as part of it. 4. Committed Local Sponsors: To develop a sense of sponsorship from middle and front line managers.

5. Strong Personal Connection: One to one interaction with employees 6. Sustained Personal Performance: To support participants during adaptation of change.

ADKAR
ADKAR is another model for individual and organizational change management developed by Prosci. ADKAR model has been designed to help diagnose barriers and resistance to change among employees after having input from more than 1000 organizations from 59 countries. It is based on five building blocks as: A: Awareness of why the change is needed D: Desire to support and participate in the change K: Knowledge of how to change A: Ability to implement new skills and behaviors R: Reinforcement to sustain the change

Decision Downloading:
Almost all the decisions in every organization are set at the top level executives, owner, chairmen, CEOs, CFOs, and COOs, with visionary thought and experiences. These decisions include mergers, acquisitions, layoffs, strategic partnership, new lines of production, availability of latest technology, and etc. All these decisions are often executed by the employees of the organization, and it is required to communicate decision to the rest of the employees, this communication is termed as decision downloading. It is mostly observed that high probability of misunderstanding, anger, and angst will surface with such communication, but an effective leader may produce careful announcement with following key factors: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. How the decision was made, Why it was made What alternatives were considered How it fits in with the organizational mission. How it impacts the organization. How it benefits employees.

Such robust downloading impacts positively, with strong support, commitment, loyalty, and perception of the employees that the organization is headed by right people and is being managed in right directions.

Reference and study material

Leveraging Knowledge for Innovation in Collaborative Networks page 423. Decision Downloading: An Analysis of How Leaders Communicate Their Decisions Dynamics of Change: Insights from the Natural World into Organizational transition from natural world. Change Management Learning Center - Prosci Our Change Management Methodology - Changefirst Business Management: A Contemporary Approach - Hannie Badenhorst-Weiss, Cecile Nieuwenhuizen, Dirk Rossouw, Tersia Brevis, Mike Cant page 461 Real Time Strategic Change: How to Involve an Entire Organization in Fast ... - Robert H. Jacobs - Google Books page 122