TRACEY FEBO STUDENT ID 162288 MANAGING AMBIGUIITY AND CHANGE ASSESSMENT ONE TERM3 2011

Module: MANAGING AMBIGUITY AND CHANGE

Educator: IAN BRIDGER

Assessment Name: REFLECTIVE ESSAY

Assessment Number: ONE

Term & Year: TERM THREE 2011

Word Count: 1905

TRACEY FEBO STUDENT ID 162288 MANAGING AMBIGUIITY AND CHANGE ASSESSMENT ONE TERM3 2011

A change is introduced into an organisation or social system with the specific intent of affecting other system variables. Systems theory forces planners to broaden their perspective, and to consider how their decisions will affect the other components of the system and the environment. Organisational change is required on a regular basis to identify, re-evaluate practices, promote growth and development as well as comply with community and environment needs. A major disruption in organisational flow can occur when the organisation is subjected to unplanned change to their environment. Radical changes can play a key component for an organisation and can be intense and all encompassing. This essay identifies a personal experience of ambiguity and change in the organisation of Centacare when a partnership with another organisation was terminated. The context of the ambiguity and change for the organisation will be discussed as well as the impacts these uncertainties had on the organisation at different levels. The essay will attempt to identify what strategies the organisation implemented to communicate the changes and recognise the role the organisational leaders played in the transition. Personal impacts as a result of the ambiguity and change are identified and acknowledgement of resulting behaviours and decision making process are discussed. With reflection of the scenario and systems theories the essay will also recognise and offer strategies that could be utilised to create a coherent and supportive culture that manages change and ambiguity to an organisational advantage. Recently the department in the company I work for has experienced a dramatic change and ambiguity in their working environment. This change was unexpected and unplanned and the flow on effect as a result had a vast influence on the direction of the organisation. Like most non-government organisations, Centacare relies heavily on funding from government bodies to provide services including support and psycho educational programs for families who have complex and high risk needs. The department, Family Education and Support Services for which I am employed as a community educator delivers services to the local Griffith community and as an outreach service to rural and remote areas. In the past Centacare Griffith was in consortium with Relationships Australia to deliver early intervention programs for families with multifaceted needs and at risks of losing their children due to child protection laws. Particular focus was placed on separated parents who
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TRACEY FEBO STUDENT ID 162288 MANAGING AMBIGUIITY AND CHANGE ASSESSMENT ONE TERM3 2011

experience entrenched conflict. Whilst Relationships Australia provided aspects of mediation and family and relationship counselling, Centacare was responsible for providing parenting programs, anger management and support through advocacy and case management. This consortium ceased as of July 2011 with Relationships Australia becoming the sole provider for these programs within the Griffith Region. The termination of this partnership caused Centacare to re-evaluate its organisational position and as a result there were multiple changes for the department, staff, stakeholders and clients who participated in the programs. Lets focus first on the organisation itself. Reflecting on Systems Theory devised by Ludwig Von Bertanlanffy (1968), Centacare is categorised as a system as it brings together people to undertake activities for purposes of achieving an objective. The organisation is made up of people in different departments that are governed by their own policies and procedures that have been developed at a company level but also determined by federal laws and government standards. Haggett (1972) defines a system as an arbitrarily demarcated section of the real world which has some common formal connection. (pg 314). Centacare is also an open system where the organisation is multi cephalous. This means that many people are present to receive information and make decisions. Coalitions and subgroups are formed and boundaries are amorphous, permeable and ever changing. The system must continue to exchange resources with the environment to survive. (Bertanlanffly, 1968) With this in mind the ambiguity and change impacts the systems of the organisation as a whole and at department and individual levels. The ambiguity for the organisation begins with understanding the reasons for the termination of the partnership. Implementation of strategies cannot commence without clear resolution and understanding of the direct changes the contract will effect. Centacare utilises strategic planning at management levels to realign the organisation with common goals. The strategic planning process provides managers, owners and entrepreneurs the necessary framework for developing sound business strategy. (Arringdale 2008). Of course, the organisation needed to determine how these changes will affect the Centacare mission and values. Consideration needed to be given to the impact the changes will have on the key stake holders of the organisation. The reduced funding and program delivery changes
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TRACEY FEBO STUDENT ID 162288 MANAGING AMBIGUIITY AND CHANGE ASSESSMENT ONE TERM3 2011

impacted greatly on the external environment from clients and staff, to providers who rely heavily on Centacare to deliver services as a collaboration of case management goals for the individual seeking support. The changes are also responsible for the organisation to reflect on how they will manage their internal environments as well. In the short period the organisation had to implement these changes Centacare relied heavily on their leaders to communicate and facilitate the new goals of the organisation. Studies have shown that radical change requires effective leadership at all levels and a workforce that promotes good leadership, an appropriate model of change and room for compromise and negotiation. (Miles 1997) Centacare is an organisation whose managers and leaders are formed through the hierarchal succession of positions. Announcement about the program changes came through formal communication channels. According to Wood and Fromholtz (2006) forced or coerced strategies use aspects of managers position and power to command the change. It is here where the organisations strategies for protecting its environment failed. The department was on the edge of chaotic behaviours as interpersonal relationships or communication never happened. An example of this occurred when after being away for a few days returned to the workplace to have current staff question how I will cope with the changes and does this mean I still have a position with the organisation. Unaware of what they were talking about I discussed the matter further to find out that an organisation group email was sent by the CEO to advise the consortium with Relationships Australia had ceased and the persons affected were myself and another co- worker based in Wagga. Not only had my program manager not had the opportunity to disclose this information on an interpersonal level to the education team, my co-worker and I who was directly affected by this change was left out of the email circulated. Whats more, the managers were finding that a whole range of stakeholders, including other program employees, suppliers and clients were looking to them to give an account of what was happening. Leaders played a critical role in helping different stakeholders to make sense of the dramatic events and changes that their organisations were encountering. (Day and Power, 2009). Rogers (1961) describes the importance of effective interpersonal relationships in achieving supportive environments that are helpful and warm.

TRACEY FEBO STUDENT ID 162288 MANAGING AMBIGUIITY AND CHANGE ASSESSMENT ONE TERM3 2011

Walonick (1993) stated that open systems are sensitive to environmental changes. A change in the environment can have a profound impact on the overall health of and organisation is strongly linked with its ability to anticipate and adapt to environmental change. This is evident in the process I had to adopt in order to manage the impending changes. As management used authority and positions of power as approaches to implement changes, the initial behaviours exhibited by myself was that of temporary compliance. Inner personal conflict and inter role conflict was felt as work demands changed and new procedures were forced upon me with the termination of the early intervention program. I was still required to deliver these programs but under other umbrellas of the organisation. Attitudes towards my work environment changed. Negative feelings and uncertain expectations of my responsibilities began to surface. Stress levels rose and as a response to the uncertainties I felt it necessary to gain some level of stability and professional identity and in order to achieve this attempted to be helpful at any cost. This internal reaction to the changes influenced my self-esteem and made me question my values. Golemans (1995) work on emotional intelligence identifies the relationship that one has with managing their emotions can have a dramatic effect on workplace success. He was also able to identify that this internal system directly impacted behaviour, success and job satisfaction. Wood and Fromholtz (2006) describe how attitudes can influence job satisfaction and overall performance. In order to gain control of my environment I became assertive and gave myself the role to be responsible for adapting to the change. Day and Power (2009) describe this behaviour as transformational responses Through supervision, areas of concern were addressed and communication about role ambiguity and position expectations was identified and strategies and plans were put into action. Day and Power (2009) suggest that organisational leaders played a central role supporting people so that they were not overwhelmed by anxiety. In order to facilitate the organisation through the ambiguity and change suggestions for better strategies would include the organisation considering using the Cybernetic Systems approach. Bertalanffy (1968) discusses cybernetic as a theory of control based on communication (transfer of information) between system and environment and within the system and control (feedback) of the systems function in regard to the environment. (pg 21).
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TRACEY FEBO STUDENT ID 162288 MANAGING AMBIGUIITY AND CHANGE ASSESSMENT ONE TERM3 2011

This theory can be initiated by creating a working party and incorporating ideas of all the key stake holders in the decision making process and in the strategic planning stages. The role of the program managers are then to exchange and facilitate these changes using integrative approaches. Here the program managers are required to use interpersonal communication and relationship building techniques to initiate effective assessment and role responsibilities for each individual staff to perform. Internal communication has its benefits when there is a shared, coherent organisational culture. (Bascal 2011) In my experience, the ambiguity and change presented three major problems for the organisation: resistance, control and power. Rather than the use of authority measures Centacare could have used motivation as a tool. The use of training supports to achieve common goals and award recognition of new programs through performance management. Ambiguity and change is capable of causing both positive and negative effects for any organisation. As discussed in the essay forced changes are difficult to respond to and an organisation must be able to address the reasons for the change before strategies can be created. Changes according to Systems Theory impact an organisations internal and external environments and the ability to recover relies heavily on strong management and creative skills of leaders to motivate and communicate the changes effectively to the key stake holders of the company. I discussed a personal experience of ambiguity and change at an organisational level and identified what this uncertainty had on the organisation as a whole and at an individual /personal level. It was identified the role I played and what strategies I needed to implement to continue working successfully without conflict and have high regard and job satisfaction on a daily basis. Examples of barriers in communication, and how this impacted on decision making and the behaviours exhibited was also examined. For Centacare if faced with these sudden challenges again strategies that focused on Systems Theories especially Cybernetic Theory were identified and integrative approaches for managers and leaders would help provide environments for stake holders who are already stressed and lack self awareness to feel protected, nurtured and supported. Collaboration based on communication and feedback would enable common goals and outcomes to be achieved.

TRACEY FEBO STUDENT ID 162288 MANAGING AMBIGUIITY AND CHANGE ASSESSMENT ONE TERM3 2011

REFERENCES

Arringdale, C. (2008). Why a Strategic Plan is Important? Retrieved November 15, 2001, from Ezine Articles : http://EzineArticles.com/175553 Bertalanffy, V. (1968). General Systems Theory: Foundation, Development, Applications. London: Allen Lane . Day,A. and Power , K. (2009) 360 Degrees . Developing Leaders for a World of Uncertainty,Complexity and Ambiguity. Retrieved November 21 2011, from https://www.ashridge.org.uk/Website/Content.nsf/w360/2009-W++Developing+leaders+for+a+world+of+uncertainty++complexity+and+ambiguity?opendocument Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence . New York: Bantam Books. Haggett, P. (1972). On Systems and Models (2nd edn). New York: The Open University Press. Internal Communication Strategies - The Neglected Strategic Element . (2011). Retrieved November 21, 2011, from TheWork911.com Supersite: http://www.work911.com/articles/comstrat.htm Miles, R. (1997). Corporate Comback: The Story Of Renewal and Transformations at National Semiconductor. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Rogers, C. (1951). Client Centred Therapy . Boston: Houghton Mifflan. Walonick, D,S. (1993). General Systems Theory. Retrieved November 15, 2011, from Gerneral Sytems Theory: http://www.statpac.org/walonick/systems-theory.htm Wood, Z. and Fromholtz, F. (2006). Organisational Behaviour: Core Concepts and Applications. Milton: John Wiley and Sons Australia, LTD.