With new technology, changing social patterns, new working relationships and changing business needs, today’s Consultant must understand why people resist change, only then can they help develop an appropriate plan.
Kurt Lewin’s approach of recognising that organisations exist in a temporary stable state, however there are always forces driving change and some forces restraining them. Lewin uses a three step model for change:
- “Unfreeze” (change the balance of forces)
- “Move” (as a result of the more powerful force the organisation moves)
- “Refreeze” (by creating a new balance)
Beckhart and Harris use a five step approach to model the key points:
- Diagnose the present state
- Define a present state
- Define a future state
- Assess the present in terms of the future: what must be done to reach the future state
- Manage transition state: institute the change necessary to close the gap
There are many other approaches such as:
- McKinseys seven change levers – style, skills, staff, systems, strategy, structure and superordinate goals
- Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton “Balance Scorecard”. This is often used to measure performance and set strategy
Some of these models are also useful for uncovering “client behaviours, objectives and needs”. They can also help you to identify drivers and resistors associated with leadership, culture, structures and politics.
The four basic tips for change management
- Firstly, lookout your own organisation and establish which are the successful assignment and which are the failures.
- Secondly, examine the successes and failures to see why some work when others do not. You may find that there are factors which were blocking success. Unfortunately, as no-one recognised them, nobody removed the the blocks or found ways to circumvent them.
- Thirdly, study reactions to change. Once you have isolated the blocking factors you should decide which are the ones where you as a consultant have most influence.
- Lastly, relate the findings to your present assignment. You create an action plan designed to reduce the possibility of failure. Consultants must be involved in the creation of this plan as it is their responsibility to ensure the assignment is a success. This plan must allow for any changes to working practice to be made.
The four stages of planning change
Stage 1 – Understanding the organisation
Concern for change is shown in many different ways. It will depend on the type of organisation and type of person, ie the “corporate culture”. It could manifest itself in a refusal to co-operate.
- “We want to help BUT…. ” or worse:
- “We will follow the rules and procedures to the letter” or even worse:
- “We will obstruct the system in any way we can”
You could blame poor company, departmental or assignment communication. However it is likely to be far more complex than that. The key is to ensure “Issue awareness”: recognise that something os amiss’, that a state of affairs exists which need remedying, or that an opportunity exist for development. So why can change fail? This occurs when line manager see the changes as being unhelpful or even disadvantageous. They look for short cuts and easy options. The “hack” around the procedures.
Ignoring the change – “The old methods work, why should we fill in all these new forms?” “Lets do what we know.” You may find people retain their old methods, they may even use their calculator to “check the computer output because it might be wrong”.
Rejecting the change – This happens when a change is forced upon a department. The change is often designed for the designer’s convenience. The business and department culture is ignored. People may leave or the new product or service may be derided and destroyed.
Stage 2 – Identifying organisational blocks
Once you have seen which assignment “fail” and which do not, you can relate them to the “organisational Blocks”. In their book “Organisational Change” Dave Francis and Mike Woodcock identify eleven success blockers:
- Inadequate selection and recruitment
- Confused organisational structure
- Inadequate control
- Low motivation
- Low creativity
- Poor team work
- Inappropriate management philosophy
- Lack of succession planning and management development
- Unclear aims
- Unfair rewards
If you are implementing a change then you have to understand which of the blocks are relevant. The relevant blacks will vary depending upon what the change is, where it is to be used and who will be affected.
A simple piece of software installed on a PC for one department may be accepted very readily. The benefits are easily understood, the only block might be inadequate training. Compare this with a factory automation system. Suddenly many people are affected. Whole department or even the whole organisation may be “under threat”. Planning for such a change by identifying the potential blacks is crucial. Any unacceptable change could destroy the organisation.
Stage 3 – Recognises reactions to change
“There is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, then to initiate a new order of things” (Machiavelli)
“The greater the rate of change, the more you need to re-organise. The more you re-organise the greater the disturbance”. Many organisation have not even tried to implement change have not even tired to implement change because the managers involved were afraid that they were incapable of successfully implementing them.
Reaction to change – “Its not going to help me”. People may think the change will cause them to lose something of value. Resistance therefore often results in “office politics” or jockeying for position. The resistance may be sufficiently strong to create two camps, them and us, publicly fighting.
“I don’t know why we need it”. This occurs when people are unaware of the benefits or implications of a change – “Nobody asked me, nobody told me”. To fall into this trap indicates a lack of trust between the consultant and the people affected by the change. The misunderstanding will create contempt obviously, a consultant must ensure that people see clear reason for change and they accept those reasons as being in their interest.
Another reason why people resist change is that they assess the situation differently from their manager or those initiating the change. They see more cost than benefit resulting from the change, not only for themselves but also for their company. These difference lead to resistance. The people affected by change may see their cause as perfectly just:
“we’re at the grass root” – “We understand what is really needed” – “they’re too remote”.
Resistance to change may manifest itself into other ways:-
Personal – New methods may cause stress to individual; conflicts of loyalty. The individual may fell unsure and start looking for ways of coping with the change.
Department – New methods may change the department hierarchical order. The old team changes, the manager’s skills are less relevant. Power bases disappear. The department itself may need to grow with new people and new skills to absorb.
Stage 4 – Managing the resistance
Many consultants underestimate the impact of change and have no plans on how to influence people or groups so that they can become happier about change. There are six recognised tactics – some or all of these tactics may be used, but pick the right one to fit the problem.
Education and communication – Help people to see the need for change. Education can be done by memos – “keeping everyone posted”. A good program should help you overcome a lot of the resistance that is based on poor information. It may also get the resistors on your side.
Participation and involvement – Identify the potential resistors and get them involved. It becomes “their baby”, but be careful, participation takes time and some changes may have to be made immediately. When you can get people involved in developing solutions and selecting the “best balance choice” the change may succeed. That said you do not always have time for a “participation approach”
Facilitation and support – Provide additional resources, give time off after some demanding work, listen to people’s problems and understand their view. This method of dealing with resistance is particularly useful when fear and anxiety is at the heart of the resistance. You need time, money, and patience to use a supportive method to reduce resistance.
Negotiation and agreement – Gives your resistors incentive – “if you can do this, then we can do…”
Manipulation and co-operation – It may be necessary to try something slightly devious – eg promoting a resistor and giving the job to someone keen to help.
Explicit and implicit coercion – In the last resort coercion may be necessary – usually via a higher lever of authority.
Change Implementation
Successful implementation often use more than one approach. It is the consultant’s task to decide which approaches are appropriate. The decision depends on many things such as
- Amount and type of expected resistance
- Power, position and trust of resistance
- The speed at which the change must be implemented
- Who has information about the change
- Stakes involved
Obviously, there are many other possibilities and you may find yourself forced to compromise in many different ways.