BBAH526

Transition Management

Module-1
 Change = the “external” event

Transition = the “internal” process

Transition: The human side of change

“It isn’t the changes that do you in,

it’s the transitions. Change is not the
same as transition. Change is
external, transition is internal.”

-William Bridges
Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change
• Change is situational: the new site, the new boss,
the new team roles, the new policy, the new
process…

• What is changing for you?

• Transition is the psychological three-step process people go
through to internalize and come to terms with a change.
 TRANSITION
• Transition psychology originated from work on bereavement, family crisis and
depression.

• Models of transition endeavour to describe how individuals respond to change,

either in their own lives or environment. There are many types of change and
varying degrees of impact.

• Not all changes cause transitions. Most transitions are associated with significant
life events - changes to the individual’s role or environment that require radical
restructuring of the individual’s view of themselves and their world.
• Transition is a process or a period of changing from one state or
condition into another one. In business reality it means changing
from current way of working to a new one.

• Successful organisations are not stable, they are agile, adaptable,

flexible, driven by change or in other words by transitions.

• Transition is a way of delivering change.

 TRANSITION MANAGEMENT
• Transition management is now a key aspect of any organization's change
process.

• Transition management is about what employees experience personally

within themselves. It is concerned with helping employees let go of how
things used to be and adapt to the way things are or are going to be.
Managing transitions means helping employees to make a difficult process
less stressful and disruptive for everyone
Three phases of transition
 Endings
• Transition starts with an ending.

• This is paradoxical but true.

• This first phase of transition begins when people identify what they are
losing and learn how to manage these losses.

• They determine what is over and being left behind, and what they will
keep.

• These may include relationships, processes, team members or locations.

 Neutral Zone
• The second step comes after letting go
• People go through an in-between time when the old is gone but the new
isn’t fully operational.
• It is when the critical psychological realignments and repatternings take
place.
• It is the very core of the transition process. This is the time between the
old reality and sense of identity and the new one.
• People are creating new processes and learning what the new roles will
be, but it’s in flux and doesn’t feel comfortable yet.
• It is the seedbed of the new beginnings that are sought.
 New Beginnings
• Beginnings involve new understandings, new values and attitudes.

• Beginnings are marked by a release of energy in a new direction – they

are an expression of a fresh identity.

• Well-managed transition allows people to establish in new roles with an

understanding of their purpose, the part they play, and how to
contribute and participate most effectively.

• They are reoriented and renewed.

 The Four Ps
To make a new beginning, people need the four Ps:

1. The Purpose

2. A Picture

3. The Plan

4. A Part to Play
 Three Phases of Transition
Ending New
Beginnings

Denial Enthusiasm

Anxiety Trusting

Shock Excitement

Confusion Relief/Anxiety

Resignation Hopeful/Skeptical

Anger Impatience

Fear Acceptance

Realization of Loss

The Neutral Zone

Frustration
Creativity
Approach-Avoidance
High Stress
Confusion
Conflict
Undirected Energy Guilt
Four Stages of Self-Management
1. Identify the phase you are in.

2. Focus on opportunities.

3. Ask questions.

4. Employ strategies.
How to Help Yourself and Others During Transition
Letting Go (Endings)

• Identify who’s losing what

• Don’t be surprised by overreaction
• Acknowledge the losses openly and sympathetically
• Expect and accept signs of grieving
• Give people information, and do it again & again
• Show how endings ensure the continuity of what really matters
How to Help Yourself and Others During Transition

Neutral (somewhere between what was and will be)

• Make the most out of the situation
• Try to limit other unrelated/unexpected changes
• Encourage innovation/ experimentation
• Offer training and information sessions
• Help individuals be OK with the ambiguity and uncertainty– welcome dissent
and other ways of thinking
How to Help Yourself and Others During Transition

New Beginnings

• Be consistent in your messages and your actions

• Ensure quick successes: Reassure the believers, convince the
doubters, and confound the critics
• Symbolize the new identity
• Celebrate the success
 Dealing with Ambiguity

• Accept uncertainty- it is the new reality

• Ask for information
• Contribute
• Talk with others
• Search for land mines
• Minimize surprises; find out what is expected of you
• Keep learning so you can adapt
• Help build a trusting environment
Transition management cycle
(source: Loorbach, 2010)
 The Strategic Component
• Covers
• the definition of the major problems to be dealt with
• the development of a long-term vision
• the formulation of long-term goals

• A crucial element is the establishment of a ‘transition arena’.

• Loorbach defines a transition arena as “a small network of frontrunners with different
backgrounds, within which various perceptions of a specific persistent problem and
possible directions for solutions can be deliberately confronted with each other and
subsequently integrated” (2010, p. 173).
• The transition professionals should critically select a small but diverse group of
frontrunners based on their background and competencies.
• Frontrunners should have competencies such as being able to think strategically and
systemically and being able to communicate innovative ideas to others.
The Strategic Component(contd..)
• Once the transition arena is established its participants will first engage in problem

structuring in an attempt to develop a shared problem definition about the current state

of the system.

• Another major strategic activity is the formulation of a joint vision for the desired future

of the system.

• This long-term vision will serve as the basis for the more concrete transition agenda’s and

transition paths that are developed as part of the tactical component of the TM cycle.
 The Tactical Component
Tactical activities are:
1. Development of coalitions
2. Establishment of transition agendas on basis of the long term vision
• Tactical activities are about developing an agenda for the coming five to fifteen
years and finding the right parties to bring the agenda further.
• The specification of problems and visions through the development of transition
paths and transition agendas should proceed through deliberation and collective
learning processes in which the perspectives of the participating actors are
aligned.
The Tactical Component ( Contd..)

• Coalitions are established that may work on separate Transition agendas.

These coalitions may also include ‘regime actors’.

• Regime actors are actors that associate themselves with the dominant
institutional structures, paradigms and patterns in place.

• The progress of transitions often depends on the cooperation of regime

actors because regime actors hold important economic and political
resources
 The Operational Component
The operational activities:

1. bottom-up establishment and implementation of transition experiments

2. mobilization of the resulting transition networks, broadening the group of actors

involved.

• The transition agendas formulated in the tactical component are used as a basis for the
identification of short-term actions and experiments that can be implemented in order to
advance along the transition paths outlined in the transition agendas.

• Attempts are also made to scale up transition experiments by mobilizing a larger network
of actors outside the transition arena
 The Reflexive Component
Reflexive activities are:

Monitoring, evaluation and learning of lessons from the transition

experiments, and accordingly, making adjustments to the vision, agenda, and
coalitions based on the results of the experiments

• The TM framework explicitly combines anticipatory and adaptive

approaches to constantly re-evaluate long-term goals and short term-
actions and adapt them to changing conditions and dynamics