Provide a written account for three change management strategies which might be available for a consultant being brought into an organisation externally. Discuss what difference this makes to overcoming resistance when dealing with change?
Executive Summary
This discussion entails an account of three change management strategies that might help a consultant and the difference this makes in overcoming resistance. The three change management strategies include Lewin, Kotter, and ADKAR. The three change management strategies are central in achieving the intended objectives and addressing resistance to change through effective and continuous communication, empowerment, rewards, and celebrating the short-term wins. The impact of bringing an external consultant is to introduce new ideas and making an unbiased judgment on the change elements.
Table of Contents
2.0 Change Management Strategies 4
2.1 Lewin Change Management Strategy. 4
2.2 Kotter’s Change Management Strategy. 5
2.3 ADKAR Change Management Model 6
3.0 Difference to Overcoming Resistance when Dealing with Change. 7
Organisational change is vital for organisations that want to evolve and remain competitive. On the other hand, change can disrupt the firm’s strategy if transformative initiatives are not employed. Therefore, organisational leadership and management are tasked with developing change management approaches that focus on the human behaviour aspect. According to (BEM, 2017), this aims to involve every stakeholder in the decision-making process and averting the potential disruption. Also, focusing on human behaviour has a significant impact on the business enhancement’s long-term and short-term success. For an external consultant approached by an organisation regarding the change, three potential change management strategies are outlined in this paper. They are based on the effective implementation of a new approach and the consideration of critical elements in the transformation process.
2.0 Change Management Strategies
Organisational change, in most instances, tends to be failure. According to Kotter and Schlesinger (2008), potential failure sources are resistance from the core stakeholders, employees and poor communication. Change management strategies are frameworks or approaches used to enhance the effective implementation of the new strategy in an organisation. The proposed approach is based on vast research, providing insights into the new ideas. To ensure a successful change, the following three management strategies are available for a consultant.
Kurt Lewin’s change management model involves three main stages of unfreezing, change, and freezing. In unfreezing change, it consists of preparing the company to accept that a new approach or strategy is critical. It also entails breaking the status quo before building a new approach to operating. Unfreezing stage commences by altering the values, beliefs, behaviours, and attitudes (Sarayreh, Khudair, and Barakat, 2013). It is founded on effective communication and transformational leadership strategy. Failure to integrate motivation and reasoning for the new approach results in limited participation, affecting the possibility of meaningful change.
The second stage is change. After informing the stakeholders regarding the need for a new approach, the change is then crafted and implemented. A key element in this stage is ensuring that every stakeholder participates in the change, especially the employees. During the first stage, the communication should also ensure that the employees understand the impacts they may have on their work. Therefore, during the change model, these aspects are effectively addressed. An example is training the employees to enhance their technical skills if the change involves information and communication technology.
The last stage, freezing, involves integrating the new approach into the firm’s culture and structure. It also entails internalising or institutionalising the changes. This is aimed at achieving stability in the organisation. The company should ensure that it celebrates the success of the changes, critical in finding closure and believing that the future change will also be a success.
2.2 Kotter’s Change Management Strategy
Kotter’s change management strategy involves eight stages, as outlined below. Similar to Lewin’s change management model, this framework is based on effective communication and collaboration with the different stakeholders, particularly employees (Rajan and Ganesan, 2017).
Stage 1: Creating Urgency. This involves developing the urgency around the need for a change. It is critical in sparking the initial motivation to ensure movement. It involves showing statistics or discussing the rising competition to show that change is vital.
Stage 2: Powerful Coalition. This entails establishing a team of influential individuals whose power may emanate from various sources, including expertise, status, and title. The coalition should work as a team to build momentum and urgency.
Stage 3: Creating Vision. This involves determining the central values to change, creating an effective strategy, and ensuring that the coalition’s approach and competencies are aligned with the change objectives.
Stage 4: Communicating the Vision. This involves frequent communication about the change to the employees and other stakeholders to influence support. It also involves addressing others’ anxieties and concerns honestly and openly.
Stage 5: Removing obstacles. This involves building a solid structure for the change and continuously addressing potential barriers and obstacles. This is central in achieving the intended milestones.
Stage 6: Short-Term Wins. This involves using short-term success to motivate the employee, giving the firm a taste of victory in the process. It involves creating short-term targets.
Stage 7: Building on Change. This involves building on the arising opportunities and identifying areas of improvement. It involves evaluating what went right or wrong during the short-term wins and working on improvements.
Stage 8: Anchoring the Changes to the Firm’s Culture. This involves making the change stick and ensuring it becomes a critical part of the company. It helps determine what is done and ensures that the vision’s values are reflected in daily activities.
2.3 ADKAR Change Management Model
This change management strategy involves five stages……..
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