Stakeholder Focus Change Management

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

Introduction

Todays organisations are operating in a fast-changing

market place, as change is every where.

Global competion, rapid technological advances, and

more demanding consumers are putting pressure on organisations in every sector to provide high quality products and services.

The contemporary business environment is by nature

turbulent, providing the catalyst for organisations to need to change. Technological changes were noted as one of the most insidious and fast moving of environmental pressures, as well as the changing expectations and knowledge of consumers.
13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

 There are many different types of change and different

approaches to managing change.

It is a topic subject to more than its fair share of

management fads, quick fixes and guaranteed win approaches.

Managing change involves being able to balance the

seemingly endless stream of conflicting priorities and making difficult choices.

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

Stakeholders and Change Participants

Change participants are all those affected by the change. They will need to know the reasons behind the change as well as the intended effect on them and their working practices. They come under the umbrella term of stakeholders but a change may also have stakeholders who are not directly affected. Stakeholder Analysis is required to help plan the change.
13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

 Identifying the key stakeholders and their influence on the change as well as potential

resistance will assist in devising a programme that will address their concerns and fears, as well as identifying and dealing with potential conflicts.
The key stakeholders are those who can influence the success of the change project, in many cases these people will also be change participants. It is however a feature of our environment that academics can often act as 'indirect stakeholders'

where they feel that proposed changes are not in keeping with their culture and values.
13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

Selling Change Management to Stakeholders

Almost every change of substance requires the

cooperation, collaboration, and co-ownership of others. It is only by giving the assessment and scrutiny of these stakeholders full consideration that the change can expect full acceptance. Everyone in an organization is a salesperson, selling his or her ideas, proposals, and recommendations. Even a CEO, president, or owner needs to achieve buy-in of key strategies and tactics from the necessary people if they are to succeed.
13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

 That success, i.e., the implementation of meaningful improvement in an organization, requires answering three questions: What to change,
To what to change to, and How to make the change happen.

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

 These questions are not just an issue of

technical solutions and project management.
It also involves dealing with the "people factor" the

dreaded "resistance to change."

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

Driverspressures Change for Competitive

Globalization

The impact of global instability

Demand for greater transparency and

accountability
The question of global sustainability
13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

 Loss of trust in institutions The quest for productivity Technology

The e-economy
The consumer revolution

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

 The social context

Demographics Social fragmentation Stereotypical social attitudes

Changing industrial relations climate and employment legislation The rise of the stakeholder Human capital accounting
13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

Resistance to Change
Like "beauty and the beholder," resistance to change is

in the "eye of the proposer." The proponent of a change may perceive as resistance what his or her audience considers careful assessment and scrutiny.

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

Peeling the Onion of Resistance

These characteristics these layers of resistance

each need to be addressed, and like the layers of an onion, once one is dealt with, another often appears.
The Stakeholder Focus process utilized by the clients

of Focused Performance is based on a set of logical, analytical tools for that are used to both build a solution and to sell it.

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

The above diagram describes the level of resistance to change

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

 These tools, the Theory of Constraints (TOC),

thinking processes, provide a path through the layers of resistance and actually take full advantage of "resistance to change" of stakeholder scrutiny to not only enhance the solution beyond the original concept, but also assure effective implementation.

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

Change usually involves three aspects:

people, processes and culture as shown in the following figure:

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

Types of Change
Entering uncharted change territory without some sort

of route map puts you at an immediate disadvantage from the start. One of the first stages in charting the territory is to understand a little more about the type of change you wish to make.
There are a number of ways in which change can be

categorised, most are related to the extent of the change and whether it is seen as organic (often characterised as bottom-up) or driven (top-down).
13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

Ackerman (1997) has distinguished between three types of change:

Types of Change Characteristics

Developmental

May be either planned or emergent; it is first order, or incremental. It is change that enhances or corrects existing aspects of an organisation, often focusing on the improvement of a skill or process. Seeks to achieve a known desired state that is different from the existing one. It is episodic, planned and second order, or radical. Much of the organisational change literature is based on this type. Is radical or second order in nature. It requires a shift in assumptions made by the organisation and its members. Transformation can result in an organisation that differs significantly in terms of structure, processes, culture and strategy. It may, therefore, result in the creation of an organisation that operates in developmental mode - one that continuously learns, adapts and improves.
13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

Transitional

Transformational

Planned Versus Emergent Change

Sometimes change is deliberate,

a product of conscious reasoning and actions - planned change. In contrast, change sometimes unfolds in an apparently spontaneous and unplanned way. This type of change is known as emergent change

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

Change can be emergent rather than planned in two ways:

1. Managers make a number of decisions apparently unrelated to the change that emerges. The change is therefore not planned.

2. External factors or internal features influence the change in directions outside the control of managers. Even the most carefully planned and executed change programme will have some emergent impacts.

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

This highlight two important aspects of managing change:

1. The need to identify, explore and if necessary challenge the assumptions that underlie managerial decisions.
2. Understanding that organizational change is a process that can be facilitated by perceptive and insightful planning and analysis and well crafted, sensitive implementation phases, while acknowledging that it can never be fully isolated from the effects of serendipity, uncertainty and chance (Dawson, 1996).
13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

Episodic versus Continuous Change

Episodic change, is 'infrequent, discontinuous and

intentional'. Sometimes termed 'radical' or 'second order' change. Episodic change often involves replacement of one strategy or programme with another.
Continuous change, in contrast, is 'ongoing, evolving

and cumulative'. Also referred to as 'first order' or 'incremental' change. Continuous change is characterized by people constantly adapting and editing ideas they acquire from different sources.
13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

Using these characteristics proposed changes can be placed along two scales:
Radical - incremental and core - peripheral. Radical changes to an institution's or department's

core business will normally generate high levels of disturbance; incremental changes to peripheral activities are often considered to be unexceptional and can be accommodated as a matter of course, especially if the group involved has a successful past record of continuous improvement.
13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

Change
1.

Strategies

Five different broad approaches to effecting change were identified by Thurley and Wirdenius (1973) and summarised by Lockitt (2004).

Directive strategy.

This strategy highlights the manager's right to manage

change and the use of authority to impose change with little or no involvement of other people.
This approach may lead to valuable information and

ideas being missed and there is usually strong resentment from staff when changes are imposed rather than discussed and agreed.
13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

2. Expert strategy.
This approach sees the management of change as a

problem solving process that needs to be resolved by an 'expert'.

This approach is mainly applied to more technical

problems, such as the introduction of a new learner management system, and will normally be led by a specialist project team or senior manager.

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

3. Negotiating strategy.
This approach highlights the willingness on the part of

senior managers to negotiate and bargain in order to effect change. Senior managers must also accept that adjustments and concessions may need to be made in order to implement change.
This approach acknowledges that those affected by

change have the right to have a say in what changes are made, how they are implemented and the expected outcomes.

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

4. Educative strategy.
This approach involves changing people's values and

beliefs, 'winning hearts and minds', in order for them to fully support the changes being made and move toward the development of a shared set of organizational values that individuals are willing, and able to support .
A mixture of activities will be used; persuasion;

education; training and selection, led by consultants, specialists and in-house experts.

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

5. Participative strategy.
This strategy stresses the full involvement of all of

those involved, and affected by, the anticipated changes. Although driven by senior managers the process will be less management dominated and driven more by groups or individuals within the organisation.
The views of all will be taken into account before

changes are made.

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

 The five change strategies are not mutually exclusive

and a range of strategies can be employed to effect change.

Part of the skill of effective change management is to

recognize what strategy/ies to employ, when, where and how to use them.

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

The change management strategies and their main advantages and disadvantages are summarised above

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

The Transition Curve

The three stages of transition are shown in a

Transition Curve and whilst this curve is over simplified, it is a useful tool for understanding the sorts of issues people might be facing during a change.
When managing change it's important to recognize that transition is an individual reaction.

The role of managers is to help others through to new beginnings whilst maintaining the level of activity or service.
13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

Here are some points to bear in mind when assessing where people are on the transition curve.
Some people repeat sections of the curve to best handle transition People will exhibit different emotions depending upon the nature and

number of changes occurring to them at the same time and their 'emotional intelligence'. This is normal. Realising where you and the people around you are on the curve will help you initiate appropriate actions and respond effectively. Teams may travel the curve together but individuals will arrive at 'beginnings' at their own personal rate. It's OK to be slow so long as you're moving and not stuck somewhere. It's OK to be slow so long as you're planning on arriving sometime. It's OK to be fast so long as you're tolerant and supportive of slower travellers. It's OK to be fast so long as you honestly acknowledge your own 'endings'
13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

Understanding Endings

In the 'Endings' stage, staff may want to deny the existence of the

initiative and other related change events. Their denial can move them to fear and uncertainty about the future.
Staff may acutely feel the loss of the familiarity and security they

felt in the organization before this and other changes occurred. They are likely to be trying to reconcile or accept the fact that things will now be different from the way they have been. They will be trying to accept that they will have to let go of their current sense of identity in the organisation.
Follow this link for a checklist of actions to consider in the

Ending Zone.
13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

Understanding the Neutral Zone

The Neutral Zone or exploration stage is the time

between the current and the desired state. Staff will be attempting to orient themselves to the new requirements and behaviours.
This can have a negative impact on activities. Because

things can be chaotic at this stage, staff may question the status quo or the accepted way of doing things.

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

Understanding New Beginnings

The New Beginnings stage of the Transition Curve is

that time when people are ready to commit to the new direction and the change.
They feel secure in the new organisation and are ready

to function as a significant contributor. This typically occurs as the initiative starts to achieve some of its desired goals.

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

Change! Change!! Change!!!

Given the macro drivers for change, organisational

change is not an option but a necessity.

Drivers for change are affecting not only the way we

work, but the way we live.

Work place innovation has a direct impact on

productivity. Structured change can adversely affect work place innovation.

13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)

 The pace of change in an economy, in society in general, in

organisation and institutions, and in individual attitudes and behaviour flows at different speeds.
Given that change is likely to be ongoing, knowing how to

change (and learn) will become a key survival skill, marketing out the strong from the weak at a societal, organisational and individual level.
Success is no longer determined by the company alone, but

also by its stakeholders - internal and external.

Short-term success needs to be achieved in the contest of

longer-term sustainability.
13th Dec. '09 (H. Ajonbadi)