Change Management

Section 1 Understanding Change Management

Change management is the structured process of transitioning an organization

from its current state to a desired future state. It involves planning, implementing,
and reinforcing changes to ensure a smooth and successful transition. Effective
change management minimizes resistance and fosters employee buy-in. It's not simply
about implementing a new technology or process, but rather a holistic approach that
considers people, processes, and structures.

Importance of Change Management

Change management is crucial for organizations to navigate through transitions
effectively, ensuring minimal disruption to operations and maximizing the benefits of
the change initiative
Here's what effective change management entails:
 Planning: Clearly define the desired future state, identify stakeholders, assess
potential risks and impacts, and develop a detailed implementation plan.
 Communication: Transparent and consistent communication throughout the
process is crucial. This includes keeping employees informed, addressing
concerns, and fostering a sense of understanding.
 Training & Support: Equip employees with the necessary skills and knowledge
to navigate the changes effectively. This could involve training on new processes,
tools, or mindsets.
 Resistance Management: Recognize that some level of resistance is natural.
Develop strategies to address concerns, provide support, and encourage
participation.
 Reinforcement & Monitoring: Once implemented, actively reinforce the change
through ongoing communication, recognition programs, and performance
reviews. Monitor progress and make adjustments as needed.

The Need for Change Management

o Market Dynamics
o Employee Resistance
Change, no matter how positive it is perceived to be, can be stressful for people
because it likely means that their day-to-day activities, systems & processes,
products, and services, or ways of working will shift significantly.
While some people may be more prone to resist change than others, personality
is only one small factor that may result in change resistance. More often,
employee resistance to change stems from unclear, infrequent, inconsistent or
one-way communication about the change that results in uncertainties around
whether or not the change is feasible due to resource constraints, lack of critical
skills and abilities, or lack of support and understanding from those
determining the change.
Furthermore, resistance to change can be contagious (and so can buy-in!). The
more people who are resistant, the more they may convince others of the
negative impacts of the proposed change, making it harder for leaders to
generate engagement, alignment & momentum.
 To mitigate change resistance, it’s important for leaders to understand and
accept that resistance is a normal psychological behavior that they can
positively impact through strong, 2-way communication, change preparation
activities, and change management processes.

o Organizational Resilience

Section 2 Strategies for Effective Change Management

 Start with a Strong Vision: Clearly articulate the "why" behind the change and
the benefits it will bring to the organization and employees. Explain the
rationale behind the changes and actively listen to employee feedback. Highlight
the positive outcomes for both the organization and employees.
 Engage Stakeholders: Actively involve key stakeholders (employees, managers,
customers) in the planning and implementation process. This builds ownership
and fosters buy-in.
 Create a Culture of Change: Promote an environment that embraces change as
an opportunity for growth and development. Recognize and reward employees
who champion positive change.
 Utilize Change Management Models: Several well-established change
management models like Kotter's 8-Step Change Model or ADKAR provide a
framework for planning and implementing change effectively.

Popular models for managing change

The best models provide guiding principles and help managers align the scope of
proposed changes with available digital and nondigital tools. Popular models include
the following:

1. Lewin's Change Management Model. Psychologist Kurt Lewin created a three-

step framework that is also referred to as Unfreeze, Change, Refreeze model.
You must first “unfreeze” your current process and analyze how it can be improved
so that everyone affected understands the need for change. You then make your
changes and guide employees throughout the transition. Once changes have been
deployed and tweaked according to employee feedback, you must solidify or
“refreeze” the new status quo

So few phases don’t guarantee a fast transition. The Lewin’s Model often involves
spreading out the “change” phase over a long period of time to overcome resistance
and provide adequate training. Use this model when you have strong support from
senior management and need to make organization- or team-wide changes.

2. The ADKAR Change Management Model

The ADKAR Model is a bottom-up method created by Jeffrey Hiatt. It puts the
focus on the people behind the change. This is not a sequential method; each letter
in the acronym represents a goal to be reached as a company:

 Awareness (of the need to change)

  Desire (to participate in and support the change)
 Knowledge (on how to change)
 Ability (to implement required skills and behaviors)
 Reinforcement (to sustain the change)
 Awareness: This is when individuals become aware of the change. During this
phase, it’s critical that leaders foster two-way communication with individuals
so that they are not only aware that the change is happening, but also why it is
happening and how it might impact them, their team, and the organization.
 Desire: This is the level to which an individual will buy-into, engage with, and
support the change. During this phase, it’s important that leaders work with
individuals to mitigate potential resistance or fear. Continuing with regular,
open communication and addressing concerns and roadblocks along the way
can foster trust and increase desire to engage with the change initiative.
 Knowledge: This is the level to which an individual understands how they can
make the change. During this phase, it’s important for leaders to assess any
knowledge or awareness gaps that their people may have and to answer any
questions that arise along the way so that resistance doesn’t emerge at a later
time.
 Ability: This is the level to which an individual is able to execute the change
they are being asked to make. If individuals lack skills, abilities,
accommodations, tools, information, or resources like time, people, or
financials, they may feel like implementing the change is not possible. It’s
critical that leaders continue to communicate with their teams to address
individual and team gaps and needs in order to remove barriers and roadblocks
to effective execution.
 Reinforcement: This is the level to which an individual will stick with the
change without reverting back to old behaviors, systems, or processes. Debriefs,
celebrations, feedback, accountability models, and check-ins on processes are
all ways to help reinforce and sustain change. Without this, long-term change
may not happen, or individuals may lack the engagement and accountability to
make it stick.

By putting the focus on employees, the ADKAR method limits resistance and
thus speeds up implementation. The ADKAR model values employee input and
support. Instead of going to your employees with a mandate for change, you
start a conversation to make employees aware of the need for change so that
you can convince them that they will benefit from it. This will foster their desire
to participate in the implementation.
The method’s knowledge and ability goals are closely linked, but knowledge
focuses more on understanding how the change can be made, while ability is
about giving employees the confidence they need to complete the
transformation. This people-centric method ensures a higher success rate for
sustained change compared to methods that do not actively involve the people
affected by the change. This framework is best suited for small, incremental
changes so that daily routines are not significantly disrupted all at once.

3. Kotter's 8-Steps for Leading Change. Harvard University professor John Kotter's
model has eight steps:
The Kotter model is slightly more process than people focused, but does consider
the psychological side of change within practical, systematic steps:

1. Create a sense of urgency: When leaders explain to their people why the
change is happening, why it’s happening now, and how it benefits not only the
organization but also the individuals, it is more likely that the positive impacts
of the change will be noticed and a sense of urgency will be built.
2. Build a guiding coalition: Beyond the leadership team who envisioned the
change, others will likely need to be onboarded to lead the change and drive the
initiatives forward. Depending on your organization’s needs and the complexity
of change, encouraging diversity within the guiding coalition can help to
generate buy-in throughout the organization.
3. Form a strategic vision: Beyond explaining the why behind the change, it’s
important for leaders to also clearly articulate what the end destination looks
like, or the vision they are working towards. If everyone who is driving the
change initiative forward is aiming for the same end result, it is more likely they
will maintain alignment, engagement, and momentum.
4. Enlist a volunteer army: For change to truly cascade throughout the teams it
impacts or throughout the entire organization, greater buy-in and engagement
is essential. People are at the heart of change, and buy recognizing and
incorporating those who want to participate in the change early on, there is a
potential to spread enthusiasm and galvanize others around working towards
the same strategic goals.
5. Enable action by removing barriers: Even if organizations work through a
rigorous change preparation process that includes a needs assessment, gap
analysis and stakeholder engagement process, barriers and roadblocks often
still pop up throughout the process of implementing change. When leaders
proactively engage with their people to address and remove obstacles, it will
likely increase trust and confidence that the initiative will be successful, which
can sustain buy-in and engagement.
6. Generate short-term wins: Change can take time, and is often not easy. By
acknowledging and celebrating wins and successes, it can remind the people
behind the change of the great work they are doing and the positive outcomes it
is already having. Recognizing wins along the way is a great way to keep morale
strong while implementing change.
7. Sustain acceleration: Once the change is underway, it can be tempting for
some organizations to relax the rigor of communication, tracking and
monitoring. For a change to be successful and have long-term impact, it’s
critical that leaders apply the same level of rigor and change management
practices until the change is fully embedded.
8. Institute change: If a change is implemented, but the systems, processes and
behaviors aren’t in place for it to be sustained over time, people might fall back
on previous ways of doing things. In order to institute change, it’s important for
leaders to assess systems, processes, behaviors, habits, and perspectives that
might need to be adjusted before deeming the change complete and successful.
 4. McKinsey 7-S Framework. Business consultants Robert H. Waterman Jr. and
Tom Peters designed a model to look holistically at seven factors that affect
change: shared values, strategy, structure, systems, style, staff and skills.
The 7 S’s of the McKinsey 7-S Model make it one of the more complex models, but
that complexity may be necessary when implementing complicated organization-
wide changes. The model’s seven elements are not designed to be addressed in a
specific order but rather assessed by how they affect each other so that
weaknesses can be identified:

 Strategy
 Structure
 Systems
 Shared Values
 Style
 Staff
 Skills
 The first three — strategy, structure, and systems — are considered the “hard”
elements, meaning they are simpler to identify and easily influenced by
management. The hard elements are such things as the company plans to be
more competitive (strategy), organizational charts (structure), and
routines/processes for how work is to be done (systems).
 The remaining four “soft” elements, conversely, are more difficult to describe
and are influenced by the company culture. Your staff, their skillsets, the
company’s overall leadership style, as well as the values or culture of the
company are more fluid and subject to continuous change. The key is to keep all
seven elements in harmony by analyzing how they interact with and affect each
other.
 The McKinsey 7-S model is perfect for when you know there is something wrong
within the organization, but you’re not sure how to address the issue. Once you
have identified what changes need to be made, the seven elements serve as a
guide to keep your company in balance.
 This model can help you identify misalignments, such as your company touting
a focus on family but not offering paternity leave. It can then help you navigate
the implementation of the necessary change, such as ensuring that your staff
has the skills to cover responsibilities for anyone who takes advantage of a
paternity leave option.

5. Kübler-Ross Change Curve

You will likely recognize the Kübler-Ross Change Curve as it is based on the five
stages of grief, which was defined by the psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. By
acknowledging that change is often met with emotional reactions (as opposed to
more logic-based objections), you’re better prepared during each of the method’s five
stages:

 Denial
 Anger
 Bargaining
  Depression
 Acceptance

Employees may move through these stages in random order and even repeat stages.
It’s essential to communicate and empathize, so employees feel that you are
acknowledging their emotions throughout the journey towards acceptance.

The unpredictability of emotions makes this change management framework ill-

suited for large-scale changes.

The Kübler-Ross Change Curve is great for small groups because it allows you to
connect with employees on an individual level. Pair this model with another change
management framework that outlines clear steps towards the desired result.

6. Satir Change Model

Also related to the Kübler-Ross Change Curve, the Satir Change Model monitors the
emotional progression of employees by tracking their performance through five
stages:

 Late status quo

 Resistance
 Chaos
 Integration
 New status quo

Using a model with a phase called “chaos” might not seem enticing, but there are
advantages to anticipating the negative reactions that generally accompany big
changes. This model aims to avoid issues that arise when people get frustrated and
give up on new processes.

The Satir Change Model focuses on preparation for change but does not help
determine what changes need to be made, so it makes sense to use this framework
when you know what you want to rework.

This approach acknowledges that many changes are abandoned due to resistance,
confusion, and lack of communication, but it does not necessarily provide you with
a roadmap to reinforced, sustained change.

7. Deming Cycle (PDCA)

The Deming Cycle, originally developed by Dr. Williams Edwards Deming, is also
known as the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle. This framework focuses on process
improvement and is divided into four phases:

 Plan
 Do
 Check
 Act
 The four phases help you identify the issues that need addressing, tackle those
problems through change, and keep the pulse on the implemented changes to see if
further action or adjustment is needed.

PDCA is called a cycle instead of a model because it is designed to work on a loop.

You identify issues and potential improvements during the planning stage, then
implement them on a small scale, such as within one team or a small department.

You then check and monitor progress to see if this change could benefit from
adjustments, and then act accordingly. Acting could mean implementing the change
in other areas of the company, or it could mean going back to the planning stage.

This change management framework works best on a small scale, testing changes
on a single team or department and tracking change management metrics and
results before implementing changes company-wide.

Section 3 Implementing Change Effectively

4 STEPS TO SUCCESSFUL CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Strong change management starts with preparation and analysis, and then moves into
the development of processes and plans to implement the change, with consistent
communication throughout each step of the way.
Steps to manage a complex change might look like the following:
 Preparing for the Change
 Analyzing & Addressing Gaps & Needs
 Selecting a Process to Manage Change
 Developing a Change Management Plan (with Continued Communication, Tracking
& Assessment of the Change Initiative)

Stage 1 Preparing for the Change.

The 5Ps Exercise to Analyze Gaps & Needs:

During this exercise, there are five areas that your leadership team will discuss and
map. If possible, map out the first of the four Ps and then engage in 2-way
communication with your people who will be impacted by and will be implementing
the change to get their perspective so that you develop a fulsome understanding of
perspectives, needs, and gaps.

Project

 What is the change?

 What specifically needs to happen?
 Who is responsible for driving this forward & achieving success?
 What does the completed change look like?

Purpose

 Why is this change important?

 Why do this at all, and why now?
 What are the desired outcomes or success metrics?
 What are the positive impacts on the organization, departments, teams &
individuals?

Particulars:

 What is needed to enable this change? (Ex: training, tools, more people, new
processes, etc.)
 Are there any systemic, operational, or behavioral barriers to navigate or remove?
 Are there any gaps or risks that may make this change more difficult to adopt?

People:

 Who will be impacted by this change, and to what extent? (List all different groups
and/or individuals)
 Who will be implementing the changes?
 Who do you need buy-in and engagement from?
 Are there any potential early adopters or champions who might inspire others?
 Are there any potential resistors that may require extra communication?

Process (Model):

 This is a structured way to launch, implement, and assess change over time
 There are several change management models to choose from, and the most
effective models consider both people and processes.
 The two models that we prefer are Kotter’s 8-Step Model and the Prosci ADKAR
model

Stage 4 Developing a Plan for the Change

Once you’ve chosen which process you will apply to your change initiative, it’s
important to develop a plan that will take you from your current state (where you are
now) to your future state (where you are aiming for).

Utilizing a change management model will help guide your plan implementation, but
it’s important to also have:

 A clearly articulated vision & destination that you are all aiming towards
 A project charter or team agreement that highlights roles and responsibilities
for leading and implementing the change initiative
 Milestones, or large steps along the way, with deadlines and a person who is
accountable for them
 An action plan broken down into smaller action items with deadlines and a
person who is responsible for each one
 Communication processes that include synchronous and asynchronous methods
of communication regarding the change initiative
 A process to track and monitor progress towards both outcomes (metrics) and
actions (tasks)

KEY POINTS

Managing change is essential for continued organizational success.

Change will rarely be welcomed, but proper management can minimize negative
reactions. Choose a change management model that functions as a compass pointing
you towards your “True North” or desired outcome, and the path to successful change
adoption will be much easier to navigate.

Change management is not a one-size-fits-all approach. By understanding the core

principles, employing effective strategies, and proactively addressing resistance,
organizations can navigate change smoothly and emerge stronger on the other side. In
today's dynamic world, successful change management is no longer an option – it's a
necessity for organizational survival and growth.

Effective change management requires a combination of leadership, communication,

stakeholder engagement, and structured methodologies to navigate transitions
successfully and achieve desired outcomes within organizations.