4: Implementing Change

Implementing Change

ILM Unit 504 - Leading Innovation and Change

START

Eliesha©

Index

Let's get started!

Leading change

Planning change

Communicating change

01

03

02

Eliesha©

Let's begin

01: Planning change

Eliesha©

Project Planning is centered around the tools which will set the foundation of a project. Some of these tools (which you may have covered in previous topics) include:

Planning change

SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis

Work breakdown structure

Work breakdown structure

PERT Diagrams

PERT Diagrams

SMART

SMART

Gantt Chart

Gantt Chart

Eliesha©

The following pearl of wisdom® explains Gantt charts; a visual representation of a project schedule. It explains how to go about constructing a Gantt chart to produce a critical path. By watching this pearl of wisdom® you will be able to:

• Describe how Gantt charts capture the relationships between activities and timescales in projects
• Identify the steps to build a Gantt chart
• State what a critical path is on a Gantt chart

Activity: Watch Gantt Charts pearl of wisdom®

Eliesha©

Setting and agreeing a project budget

A Project Budget is the total amount of authorised financial resources allocated for the particular purpose(s) of the sponsored project for a specific period of time. It is the primary financial document that constitutes the necessary funds for implementing the project and producing the deliverables. The project budget gives a detailed statement of all the direct and overhead costs required to carry out the project goals and objectives. The budget is usually reviewed and allocated after a cost benefit analysis has been carried out and a business case presented.

Budget Accountability and Management: Key Considerations for Project Managers

Eliesha©

The following Budgeting Methods pearl of wisdom® explores two different approaches to budgeting. By watching this pearl of wisdom® you will be able to:

• Define the features of incremental and zero based budgeting
• Compare and contrast incremental and zero based budgeting
• Explain the advantages and disadvantages of incremental and zero based budgeting

Activity: Watch Budgeting Methods pearl of wisdom®

Eliesha©

02: Communicating change

Let's begin

Eliesha©

When we have decided who the stakeholders are and have identified their power and influence, it can be useful to apply a RACI matrix. The acronym RACI stands for:

• Responsible: The person who does the work to achieve the task. They have responsibility for getting the work done or decision made. As a rule this is one person; examples might be a business analyst, application developer or technical architect.
• Accountable: The person who is accountable for the correct and thorough completion of the task. This must be one person and is often the project executive or project sponsor. This is the role that responsible is accountable to and approves their work.
• Consulted: The people who provide information for the project and with whom there is two-way communication. This is usually several people, often subject matter experts.
• Informed: The people kept informed of progress and with whom there is one-way communication. These are people that are affected by the outcome of the tasks, so need to be kept up-to-date.

RACI Matrix

Activity: Complete your own RACI Matrix

Eliesha©

This pearl of wisdom® explores how by considering the power that stakeholders have over your project, and the interest they might have in your work, you can see who will influence the success of your efforts. It introduces the concept and the process of the stakeholder Power/Interest Grid to enable you to map the influence of your own stakeholders By watching this pearl of wisdom® you will be able to:

• State the value of the Stakeholder grid
• Reproduce a stakeholder grid for your own work situation or project

Activity: Watch Stakeholders - Analysing Power and Interest pearl of wisdom®

Eliesha©

Identifying and Managing Stakeholders

Whenever you begin a project there will be people above you who may have differing opinions on how it should be completed. The more important the project the more opinions on how it should be completed. Some will be large supporters of you, others will be less positive. Stakeholder management is the process of identifying the key stakeholders around your organisation, and getting their support.

The analysis process

Low power, low interest people

High power, low interest people

Low power, high interest people

High power, high interest people

Power

Interest

Eliesha©

Let's begin

03: Leading change

Eliesha©

This pearl of wisdom® suggests that although change is all around us and we are becoming more used to change in our work life, still resistance to change is common. It looks at the reasons for resistance and discusses what a manager can do to overcome them. After you watch this pearl of wisdom® you will be able to:

• State the four key categories of resistance
• Describe approaches to overcome the resistance so commonly faced during change

Activity: Watch Change - Overcoming Resistance pearl of wisdom®

Eliesha©

Why are people resistant to change? Knowing and understanding the reasons will help you anticipate, prepare for and overcome resistance and lead your staff to welcome and embrace new opportunities. Let’s consider the 4 main reasons for resistance:

Overcoming resistance to change

Insecurity

Organisational strategy

Management of change

Personality

Eliesha©

People respond to change in different ways. For some change can be frightening and for others it’s exciting. One way of considering how people respond to change is to consider everyone as having a comfort zone, which is a way of operating and understanding their world within which they feel safe.Everyone's comfort zone is unique. Some things which might be safe to one person will strike fear into the heart of another. In the same way changes at work will stretch the comfort zones of some people and might be hardly noticed by others.

Overcoming resistance to change

Factors which may influence responses to change

Eliesha©

This pearl of wisdom® takes a first look at the Kubler-Ross Change Curve and explores the effect of change on performance as we process our emotions to that change. By watching this pearl of wisdom® you will be able to:

• State the various stages along the change curve
• Redefine negative emotions as part of the overall change process

Activity: Watch Kubler-Ross Change Curve pearl of wisdom®

Eliesha©

This curve has been described as a common reaction to any big changes, and the business community were quick to adopt it. The model is now a classic but it remains a valuable tool for understanding individual’s reactions to change and helping deal with those emotions. The axes looks at levels of performance or motivation up the side and time from left to right. Towards the left of the model is the reactive phase, and towards the right is a more proactive phase. This model can help us understand and accept our own reactions to change, and so support others with theirs.

Kubler-Ross Change Curve

Activity: Reflect

Activities: Responses to change

Activities: Responses to change

Eliesha©

This pearl of wisdom® explores the practical application of the curve for the manager. It discusses the managers role in supporting others through the stages until the change is embraced. By watching this pearl of wisdom® you will be able to:

• Describe the benefits of this curve to a manager
• State how to use the knowledge of where people are on the curve to more quickly move them through it

Activity: Watch Kubler-Ross Change Curve - Manager's Guide pearl of wisdom®

Eliesha©

Kubler-Ross Change Curve

For a manager the model shows a chain of reactions that individuals in their team might experience right from the point that a significant change is announced. There are no shortcuts from one side of the ‘dip’ to the other, no bridge over that chasm. The manager’s role is not to seek a quick fix, but rather to support people to get through from one side to the other as quickly as possible. And for each individual, that timescale is likely to be different, so patience and flexibility are the watchwords.Change can be a challenging and emotional experience. A manager who appreciates that negative emotions are part of the change process, and is there to support individuals through that process, will be recognised as a great change agent.

Eliesha©

John  Adair is a leading British authority on leadership. His approach to the understanding of leadership is essentially a practical one. He has been more concerned to identify what a leader does rather than describing what leadership is. He developed an approach called Action-Centred Leadership, in which he says that certain functions have to be performed and that there are 3 critical areas to which leaders need to respond. The leader must give each one of these attention with no one element being more or less important than another. The model expresses the 3 elements as 3 overlapping circles with the leader operating from the centre:

Action-centred leadership

TASK

TEAM

INDIVIDUALS

Eliesha©

Transformational vs Transactional Leadership

Eliesha©

Transformational vs Transactional Leadership

Transformational Leadership

Transactional Leadership

Activity: Reflective questions

Eliesha©

Complete!

Well done! You have completed this section. Head back to your course page and continue working through the unit.

Eliesha©

So our key role becomes helping people from one stage to the next. Now that sounds quite ridiculous when you are getting people to move from bargaining to depression but on the bigger scale we are moving people from left to right along the curve to a point where they can accept and move on and be more productive. The way we do this is by being responsive to the language that we are hearing so that we can recognise which stage people are in and give them the information they need at that stage to move on to the next stage. There is no point in talking to someone who is in shock and denial about the great things that are going to happen in the future, they are not ready to process that yet, they just need to move on to the next stage. So for example someone who is expressing denial in the way they are talking to you flags up that they need help to understand that ‘yes this is really happening’. So be ready with some information that will convince them and move them from denial to the next stage.

The low point in the curve – termed depression – is simply the point where you realise that all the resistance that’s been raised up to now hasn’t stopped the change from coming – “this is really happening and there is nothing I can do to stop it”. It’s only a small step from this realisation to thinking “well, if it’s happening I’d better make the best of it” – and it’s at this point that attitudes change. Only now does the positive exploration of what the change might bring become possible.

Activities: responses to change

1. Identify positive and negative responses to change
2. As a manager or leader you will have a responsibility to support and guide your team through organisational changes. The natural, human responses to change have been described in the Kubler-Ross Change Curve. When applied to organisational change, we often simplify the stages to those in Column A.
3. Match the following management actions to the appropriate stage in the model - Column B.

Note: each management action could be thought of as a technique. The idea of this approach is that each stage calls for particular approach and that a good manager will adapt their behaviour to correspond to the appropriate stage in the curve. This is expected to speed up the process of getting from shock to integration.

Column A

Column B

DenialResistanceAcceptanceExperimentationCommitment Growth

Encouraging Mentoring Directing Supporting Facilitating Understanding

Low power, low interest people: this is the “monitor - minimum effort” box. Minimum effort, but don’t ignore these completely – their power or interest may increase so you want them onside.

Once the realisation sinks in that the change is going to happen, then denial typically moves on to anger as individuals process the impact the change is going to have, and realise the disruption it will cause them personally. After that point we might get to a bargaining situation as part of coming to terms with what the change really means in practice. “Well if you want me to do this then I can’t do that”.

Low power, high interest people: the “keep informed” box. Talk to them as these people can often be very helpful with the detail of your project and may be able to influence more powerful stakeholders.

PERT Diagrams This stands for Programme evaluation and review technique. This chart is used to schedule, organise and coordinate tasks within a project. The primary benefit of the PERT diagram is that as it is made using software, the timelines receive instant updates with every change in the workflow. This means the project manager can see how one changed timescale will effect the rest of the project. This therefore provides an overview of the entire project instead of individual details, demonstrating how parts of the project can impact each other.

Task needs – how the group achieves the task, including the actions and behaviours required to make things happen.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)This model will define the 'what' of a project by outlining only the objectives. The goal is to breakdown one large and arduous task into many more manageable constituents. The WBS does not describe actions, only the deliverables. Every item in the WBS must correspond with an end product, whether real or virtual. For example if you are building a bike , you will say 'Bike Chassi' (deliverable), not 'Attaching Wheel' (activity).

Activity: Think about a recent big change at your work. Can you recognise the emotions you felt in the change curve? If we can accept that this is a journey we go through in dealing with change, it help us to process our frustrations more positively. It can be comforting to know that such negative feelings are just a common and accepted part of processing change.

Team needs – these are concerned with making sure the group maintains cohesion, motivation and commitment to achieving success.

If someone comes at you depressed, fantastic. Of course, keep that reaction internal – we’re not celebrating that someone is at the low point, but what we are excited about is that the next step is the turning point and with the right support and help and guidance from you they are going to progress to acceptance and moving on which is where you want them to be.

High power, high interest people: the “manage closely” box. These are people you must fully engage and make the greatest efforts to satisfy; Their co-operation is of key importance for new strategies.

High power, low interest people: “Keep Satisfied”: These people are important because they are powerful, but low interest means they’re reactions are predictable and expectations can be managed.

Add another dimension to your grid by using a Red, Amber, Green status when you plot your stakeholders. Whilst it is a subjective approach, nevertheless it gives you a snapshot of the status of your stakeholders and can help you plan your communication strategy.

The Analysis process starts with:

1. Brainstorm, where you identify all the stakeholders that may have in impact on, or be impacted by your project.
2. Having done that, identify their needs and their interests, and in the process,
3. You might classify groups of interest. You may be able to
4. Identify areas of conflict, such as organisation vs stakeholder, or stakeholder vs stakeholder.
5. Prioritise, reconcile and balance stakeholders and
6. Take the time to align significant stakeholder needs with the organisations strategies and actions.

Your team members’ responses to change may be influenced by many factors, such as:

• perceived benefits of the change
• size/extent of the change
• perceived threat e.g. redundancy
• sense of injustice
• uncertainty
• personality, personal style, personal circumstances
• recent experience of change
• perceptions of the change
• performance indicators if not aligned with change
• level of resilience
• perceived loss resulting from the change, for example, loss of face, status, money, colleagues

These perceptions can give rise to negative and positive reactions.

Gantt ChartThese are primarily used for the planning and scheduling of projects. They help assess timescales, resources and planning and are also helpful for managing the dependencies between tasks. Due to this, Gantt charts are regularly used for project management and timekeeping, as they are very useful to see where you are keeping pace with your goals and where you are slipping behind.

Now the change curve takes an up-turn. “Well, this is how it is but maybe things aren’t so bad” and if we can keep that momentum going then we climb up to a point where we’re moving on and actually looking at the change in a positive light.

Activity: Complete your own RACI matrix

When implementing a complex decision, you may have identified a number of tasks in your work breakdown structure. You could apply the RACI matrix to each to ensure that you understand what level of involvement each stakeholder should have in each task. For e.g.

Getting people through the process as quickly as possible might start at the point of announcing the change, by anticipating the likely reaction. If we’re not aware of this process people go through when dealing with change then, when we hear aggressive or negative language, we’ll take it at face value and it’s challenging to manage. But if we accept that people will wrestle with negative emotions as part of the dealing with change, then we can re-frame that negative language. Instead of taking anger personally, instead we can consider ‘Ah, they’re angry – that means that they’re making good progress through the change curve’. It gives us a far more positive point of view on the expression of negative emotions.

Activities: responses to change

1. Identify positive and negative responses to change
2. As a manager or leader you will have a responsibility to support and guide your team through organisational changes. The natural, human responses to change have been described in the Kubler-Ross Change Curve. When applied to organisational change, we often simplify the stages to those in Column A.
3. Match the following management actions to the appropriate stage in the model - Column B.

Note: each management action could be thought of as a technique. The idea of this approach is that each stage calls for particular approach and that a good manager will adapt their behaviour to correspond to the appropriate stage in the curve. This is expected to speed up the process of getting from shock to integration.

Column A

Column B

DenialResistanceAcceptanceExperimentationCommitment Growth

Encouraging Mentoring Directing Supporting Facilitating Understanding

SMARTThere have been many interpretations of the acronym however the most common is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. SMART allows you to create clear, meaningful, attainable goals and develop the action plan needed and support needed to achieve them.

The curve is shown sliding down to a dip in the middle where productivity and energy is at its lowest. It then (hopefully) takes an up-turn where we can explore the future and ultimately our levels of motivation and performance are higher than they were before the change was announced.

Often before a change is announced we know that something is coming so there is often relief when finally an announcement is made. This is the start of our journey through the change curve. Our relief at an announcement passes into shock at the news as we initially take it in. After that disbelief we move along the curve to denial and language that says “we aren’t really going through with it”. People convince themselves that they’ve got it wrong or they must have misheard it and carry on as if it was never going to happen.

Transformational Leadership At the heart of transformational leadership is the notion of the inspiring vision, communicated in a way that motivates people to give extra effort and thereby achieve extraordinary results, often in times of change and very demanding circumstances. The following list of characteristics is a summary of what many writers have highlighted:

• Charismatic: Highly esteemed, role models whom followers strive to emulate who align others around a vision, common purpose and mission
• Inspirational: Provides meaning and optimism about the mission and its attainability
• Intellectually Stimulating: Encourages followers to question basic assumptions and to consider problems from new and unique perspectives
• Individually Considerate: Works with followers, diagnosing their needs, transcends their self-­‐interests, enhances their expectations and develops their potential.

The SWOT analysisThis provides a simple but useful framework for analysing the strengths and weakness of your organisation. It relies on self awareness and honesty. However, if done properly, the model can be very effective at demonstrating the opportunities and threats you face. As such, it will allow you to focus on your strengths and become aware the factors which threaten you development and opportunities.

So, what should your first reaction be if you hear someone who’s complaining and getting angry and bitter about the change that has just been announced? Your first reaction should be Yay! Don’t dance in celebration necessarily, but this is good news. Why? It’s good news because they are not in denial or shock anymore. Their anger means they are working their way progressively through the change curve.

Organisational Strategy

• New products may have a significant impact on financial resources
• Belief amongst staff that the change will only create more work
• Staff can't see the rational behind change

As a manager it is your job to help staff adjust to change. Explain why the business has to make the change. It may not be ‘broke’ but if the organisation doesn’t move with the times then it will become stagnant and eventually cease to exist.

Personality

• Dislike of uncertainty, ambiguity, lack of control
• Fear of the unknown

You need to be aware of individual concerns, dislikes and fears. They may be different to your own but no less important to them, so respect their perspective. If your staff trust and respect you they will share their feelings with you and together you can identify and address personal issues. There are tried and tested techniques to reduce resistance, including: involvement, providing regular information and coaching. Above all, hearing people’s concerns and respecting their viewpoint will enable you to react positively to reduce resistance.

Insecurity The individual may fear the loss of their role, status, opportunities for promotion or even their job.

• They may question whether they will have the ability to do their new job
• They may not see the advantage of learning the new system, 'What's in it for me?'

Organisations have to change and respond more quickly than ever, and change for staff will become the norm. Those who are insecure need reassurance and time to discuss and explore the benefits. Where development or re-training is involved, help them to see this positively as an opportunity to develop their skills.

Transactional Leadership This style of leadership starts with the idea that team members agree to obey their leader totally when they accept a job. The "transaction" is usually the organisation paying the team members in return for their effort and compliance. The leader has a right to "punish" team members if their work doesn't meet the pre-determined standard. Team members can do little to improve their job satisfaction under transactional leadership. The leader could give team members some control of their income/reward by using incentives that encourage even higher standards or greater productivity.Alternatively, a transactional leader could practice "management by exception" – rather than rewarding better work, the leader could take corrective action if the required standards are not met. Transactional leadership is really a type of management, not a true leadership style, because the focus is on short-term tasks.

Activity: Reflective questions

• Think about your own leadership style. Do you have a “default” style? If so, how would you describe it? When is this style appropriate /inappropriate?
• Think about the theories and style introduced in this topic. Identify three different theories/models.
• Give examples of when you would use the leadership styles in these models.

Individual needs – these concern the needs of the individuals in the group, ensuring they feel part of the group and are enabled to make a contribution.

• Information needed – gather information about potential finances required e.g. what were the budgets for similar previously-completed projects.
• Timescales – to show when money is due to come in and out – e.g. when finance is likely to be available.
• Priorities – to target resources correctly to support the efficiency and effectiveness of the project - e.g. prioritising workforce costs; assessing and arranging payments for urgent, planned and essential purchases.
• Financial resources – to match funding with anticipated income and expenditure – e.g. helping to arrange business loans to finance long-term projects; dealing with increases and decreases in revenue and expenses.
• Contingencies – e.g. negotiating and setting aside budgets and resources for unpredictable and unforeseen circumstances.
• Responsibility and accountability – the project manager will be responsible for managing the budget but there might be another person, e.g. the finance director, who has final accountability.

Budget Accountability and Management: Key Considerations for Project Managers

Management of Change

• Staff may not feel prepared, consulted, informed or involved.
• They have a poor opinion of management in charge of the change
• Lack of communication

Communication is the key. If staff receive regular communication and, where possible, are consulted and involved, then they are more likely to embrace and commit to the change. You may not have influence on the ‘powers that be’, but consider what you can do with your team to keep them motivated.