Planning and Executing Change Effectively PDF

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From my own understanding, one of the most useful frameworks in this area is the three-stage model of planned change developed in the 1950s by psychologist Kurt Lewin (Lewin, 1951). This model assumes that change will encounter resistance. Therefore, executing change without prior preparation is likely to lead to failure. Instead, organizations should start with unfreezing, or making sure that organizational members are ready for and receptive to change. This is followed by change, or executing the planned changes. Finally, refreezing involves ensuring that change becomes permanent and the new habits, rules, or procedures become the norm. The first stage is the unfreezing. It means preparing for change and includes several steps: communicating a plan for change, developing a sense of urgency, building a coalition, providing support, and allowing employees to participate. - Communicating a plan for change is important to make employees feel safer and happier. Nobody likes to be uncertain about their future but if they know the exact plan, they feel much more comfortable. Sharing such plans with employees builds trustful relationships between them and managers. - Developing a sense of urgency means making employees feel that they really need this change. - Building a coalition means finding opinion leaders and using them to affect groups of people instead of convincing each employee individually. - Providing support - emotional and instrumental - ensures employees that the change is for good and that they will perform well in the future. Such support can include both initiating discussions with workers and providing them with training and the ability to gain the knowledge and skills necessary in the new system. - Allowing employees to participate in planning means a lot to employees because they can express their concerns and thoughts which can not only let them feel that they are heard but also motivates them to save problems and realize that there actually is an urge to change. The second stage is executing change. It means implementing the planned changes and also includes a couple of steps: creating small wins and eliminating obstacles. - Creating small wins is important for employees to see the changes because when it is a long-term change people sometimes do not notice the results and feel frustrated. When employees see that small wins help them to improve and succeed, they will become more motivated and more likely to accept the coming changes. - Eliminating obstacles might be needed if some obstacles appear during the change. Finally, the last stage is refreezing. It means reinforcing the implemented change and it consists of: publicizing success, rewarding change adoption, and embracing continuous change. - Publicizing success is important because some employees might feel stressed because of the changes. You can support, motivate, and make them confident by sharing the positive result of the changes. - Rewarding change adoption (not necessarily with money) can motivate other

employees to accept and support this change (especially if this rewarding happens in front of others). - Embracing continuous change is not typical for all kinds of organizations but is relevant, for example, for learning organizations. Change is a continuous process. Some companies pay attention to employee actions and implement small changes constantly. Speaking about learning organizations, the biggest benefit for them is the fact that as soon as their employees try something new and successful, such organizations adopt it and continue to implement small changes in daily activities. To sum things up, unfreezing, executing the change, and refreezing means preparation for change, implementing the change, and reinforcing the change. It is important to support employees emotionally and instrumentally and share all the results and wins to show that the change is a positive one. References Carpenter, M., Bauer, T., & Erdogan, B. (2010). Management Principles, v. 1.1. Retrieved from https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/management-principles-v1.1/ Lewin K. (1951). Field theory in social science. New York: Harper & Row...