Developed by Authenticity Consulting, LLC
Organizational Change and Development
(Managing Change and Change Management)
- © Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.
- Extensive guidelines for accomplishing successful change in organizations are included the books Field Guide to Consulting and Organizational Development and Field Guide to Consulting and Organizational Development with Nonprofits .
Today, teams and organizations face rapid change like never before. Globalization has increased the markets and opportunities for more growth and revenue. However, increasingly diverse markets have a wide variety of needs and expectations that must be understood if they are to become strong customers and collaborators. Concurrently, scrutiny of stakeholders has increased as some executives have been convicted of illegal actions in their companies, and the compensation of executives seems to be increasing while wages of others seems to be decreasing or leveling off. Thus, the ability to manage change, while continuing to meet the needs of stakeholders, is a very important skill required by today's leaders and managers.
NOTE: This site distinguishes the difference between "organizational development" and "Organization Development." The former phrase refers to the nature and scope of change in organizations, i.e., the change is to the entire organization or to a significant portion of the organization. The latter phrase refers to a field of well-trained people with expertise in guiding successful organizational development.
(For training about consulting to organizations, see the Consultants Development Institute.)
Sections of This Topic Include
Foundations for Managing Change in Organizations
Introduction
- - - Why Is It Critical for Leaders and
Managers to Be Successful at Organizational Change? Because It's
Their Job
- - - Focus and Scope of this Library
Topic
Broad Context for Organizational Change
and Development
- - - Understanding
Organizations, Leadership and Management
- - - Understanding
Organizational Performance Management
- - - Systems Thinking
Professionalism of Practitioners Focused
on Organizational Change and Development
- - - About the
Field of Organization Development (OD)
- - - Understanding
Yourself as an Instrument of Change
- - - Consulting
-- Professionalism and Ethics
Approaches and Methods for Managing Change
Overview of Change Management
- - - Clearing Up
the Language About Organizational Change and Development
- - - An Orientation
to Change Management
- - - Specific Types
of Organizational Change
- - - Key Roles During Change Management
- - - An Example
Philosophy and Some Various Perspectives and Models From Which
to Manage Change
- - - Miscellaneous
Perspectives on Organizational Change
Example of a Planned, Systemic Change
Process -- Action Research
- - - Phase 1: Clarifying
Expectations and Roles, Assessing Readiness, RFPs, Contracts and
Getting Buy-In
- - - Phase 2: Joint
Discovery and Feedback to Identify Priorities for Change
- - - Phase 3: Joint
Planning of Organizational Development Activities to Address Priorities
- - - Phase 4: Change
Management and Joint Evaluation
Possible Organizational Development Activities
("Interventions") to Use in Change Management Processes
- - - How People
Choose Organizational Development Activities
- - - Human Process
Interventions (Group and Individual Human Relations)
- - - Technostructural
Interventions (Structures, Technologies, Positions, etc.)
- - - Human Resource
Management Interventions (Individual and Group Performance Management)
- - - Strategic
Interventions (Organization and Its External Environment)
General Resources
General Resources
- - - Service Organizations
Focused on Organizational Change and Development
- - - Online Groups
- - - Toolkits,
Etc.
- - - Bibliographies
of Books About Change Management
Also see
Related Library Topics
Also See the Library's Blogs Related to Organizational Change
In addition to the articles on this current page, see the following blogs which have posts related to Organizational Change. Scan down the blog's page to see various posts. Also see the section "Recent Blog Posts" in the sidebar of the blog or click on "next" near the bottom of a post in the blog.
Library's
Consulting and Organizational Development Blog
Library's
Leadership Blog
Library's
Supervision Blog
FOUNDATIONS FOR MANAGING CHANGE IN ORGANIZATIONS
Introduction
Why Is It Critical for Leaders and Managers to Be Successful at Organizational Change? Because It's Their Job
Significant organizational change occurs, for example, when an organization changes its overall strategy for success, adds or removes a major section or practice, and/or wants to change the very nature by which it operates. It also occurs when an organization evolves through various life cycles, just like people must successfully evolve through life cycles. For organizations to develop, they often must undergo significant change at various points in their development. That's why the topic of organizational change and development has become widespread in communications about business, organizations, leadership and management.
Leaders and managers continually make efforts to accomplish successful and significant change -- it's inherent in their jobs. Some are very good at this effort (probably more than we realize), while others continually struggle and fail. That's often the difference between people who thrive in their roles and those that get shuttled around from job to job, ultimately settling into a role where they're frustrated and ineffective. There are many schools with educational programs about organizations, business, leadership and management. Unfortunately, there still are not enough schools with programs about how to analyze organizations, identify critically important priorities to address (such as systemic problems or exciting visions for change) and then undertake successful and significant change to address those priorities. This Library topic aims to improve that situation.
Don't Do Change for the Sake of Change -- Do Change to Enhance Organizational Performance
Organizational change is undertaken to improve the performance of the organization or a part of the organization, for example, a process or team. Therefore, it's very useful for the reader to scan the topic Organizational Performance in the Library, to get a basic sense of an overall framework to enhance the performance of an organization. Then return to this topic on organizational change to learn more about how to guide successful change within that framework.
Focus and Scope of This Library Topic
The focus of this Library topic is on principles and practices to successfully accomplish significant change in organizations.Successful organizational change can be quite difficult to accomplish -- it can be like trying to change a person's habits. Fortunately, there is an increasing body of research, practice and tools from which we all can learn. A major goal of this Library topic is to make this body of information much more accessible to many -- to give the reader more clear perspective on overall organizational change and development, along with sufficient understanding to begin applying principles and practices for successful change in their roles and organizations.
The following resources are not sufficient to guide a large, comprehensive and detailed organizational change effort -- that amount of resources comprises a significantly sized book -- and besides, there is no standard procedure for guiding change. However, the following resources might be sufficient to provide the reader at least a framework that takes him or her from which to begin guiding change in smaller efforts for organizational change -- and then to begin to learn more.
There are many approaches to guiding change -- some planned, structured and explicit, while others are more organic, unfolding and implicit. Some approaches work from the future to the present, for example, involving visioning and then action planning about how to achieve that vision. Other approaches work from the present to the future, for example, identifying current priorities (issues and/or goals) and then action planning about to address those priorities (the action research approach is one example). Different people often have very different -- and strong -- opinions about how change should be conducted. Thus, it is likely that some will disagree with some of the content in this topic. That's what makes this topic so diverse, robust and vital for us all.
Broad Context for Organizational Change and Development
Understanding Organizations, Leadership and Management
To really understand organizational change and begin guiding
successful change efforts, the change agent should have at least
a broad understanding of the context of the change effort. This
includes understanding the basic systems and structures in organizations,
including their typical terms and roles. This requirement applies
to the understanding of leadership and management of the organizations,
as well. That is why graduate courses in business often initially
include a course or some discussion on organizational theory.
This topic includes several links to help you gain this broad
understanding. The following links (broadly reviewed in the following
order) might be helpful to establish some sense about organizations,
and their leadership and management.
Introduction
to Organizations (to get a sense for the system, forms, roles
and structures)
Introduction
to Leadership (to get a sense for what leadership is, its scope,
and where it might fit during change)
Introduction
to Management (to get a sense about planning, organizing and controlling
resources)
Understanding Organizational Performance Management
Organizational change should not be conducted for the sake
of change. Organizational change efforts should be geared to improve
the performance of organizations and the people in those organizations.
Therefore, it's useful to have some understanding of what is meant
by "performance" and the various methods to manage performance
in organizations.
Basics
of Performance Management
Employee
Performance Management
Group
Performance Management
Organizational
Performance Management
It's also to have some sense of what it takes for an organization
to be sustainable. See
Organizational
Sustainability
Systems Thinking
The past few decades have seen an explosion in the number of
very useful tools to help change agents to effectively explore,
understand and communicate about organizations, as well as to
guide successful change in those organizations. Tools from systems
theory and systems thinking especially are a major breakthrough.
Even if the change agent is not an expert about systems theory
and thinking, even a basic understanding can cultivate an entire
new way of working. The following link is to many well-organized
resources about systems thinking and tools.
Systems
Thinking
In that topic, the subtopic, Systems Thinking in Organizations, is particularly useful to understand.
Professionalism for Practitioners Focused on Organizational Change and Development
About the Field of Organization Development (OD)
The field of Organization Development is focused on improving the effectiveness of organizations and the people in those organizations. OD has a rich history of research and practice regarding change in organizations. Why not learn from that history? This topic includes links for the reader to get a basic understanding of the overall purpose of the field and also provides many resources from which to learn more.
NOTE: This site distinguishes the difference between "organizational development"
and 'Organization Development." The former phrase refers to the nature
and scope of change in organizations, i.e., the change is to the entire organization
or to a significant portion of the organization. The latter phrase refers to
a field of well-trained people with expertise in guiding successful organizational
development.
About
the Field of Organization Development (OD)
Understanding Yourself as an Instrument of Change
Your nature and the way you choose to work has significant
impact on your client's organization, whether you know it or not.
You cannot separate yourself from your client's organization,
as if you are some kind of detached observer. You quickly become
part of your client's system -- the way the people and processes
in the organization work with each other on a recurring basis.
Thus, it is critical that you have a good understanding of yourself,
including your biases (we all have them), how you manage feedback
and conflict, how you like to make decisions and solve problems,
how you naturally view organizations, your skills as a consultant,
etc. The following articles will help you gain understanding of
yourself, how you might prefer to work and how you actually work.
Understanding
Yourself as Instrument of Change (ends with a self-assessment)
Consulting -- Professionalism and Ethics
Nowadays, with the complex challenges faced by organizations and the broad diversity of values, perspectives and opinions among the members of those organizations, it's vital that change agents work from a strong set of principles to ensure they operate in a highly effective and ethical manner.
Before reviewing the resources listed below, do a quick can
of the list of subtopics in the overall topic of Consulting to
get a sense for the broad field of consulting, because people
who work to guide and support organizational change are consultants.
See All About Consulting
Principles for Effective Consulting
Ethical Consulting
Boundaries for Consultants
Multicultural Consulting
Minimize Consulting Liabilities and Risk
APPROACHES AND METHODS FOR MANAGING CHANGE
Overview of Change Management
Clearing Up the Language About Organizational Change and Development
There are several phrases regarding organizational change and
development that look and sound a lot alike, but have different
meanings. As a result of the prominence of the topic, there seems
to be increasingly different interpretations of some of these
phrases, while others are used interchangeably. Without at least
some sense of the differences between these phrases, communications
about organizational change and development can be increasingly
vague, confusing and frustrating.
Cleaning Up the Language About Organizational
Change and Development
An Orientation to Change Management
The following links are to articles that together provide an
increasingly comprehensive and detailed orientation to change
management.
Basic
Overview of Organizational Change
Biggest
Mistakes in Managing Change
Requirements for Successful Organizational Change
Change
Management 101
Specific Types of Organizational Change
There are different overall types of organizational change,
including planned versus unplanned, organization-wide versus change
primarily to one part of the organization, incremental (slow,
gradual change) versus transformational (radical, fundamental),
etc.. Knowing which types of change you are doing helps all participants
to retain scope and perspective during the many complexities and
frequent frustrations during change. Read the following article
to understand more about each type of change.
Types
of Organizational Change
The following articles provide another perspective on types
of change.
The
Three Shades of Change
Coping
With Type I Change
Managing
Type II Change
Key Roles During Change Management
Successful change efforts often include several key roles,
including the initiator, champion, change agent, sponsor and leaders.
The following article describes each of these roles.
Major
Roles During Change and Capacity Building
Organization-wide change in corporations should involve the
Board of Directors. Whether their members are closely involved
in the change or not, they should at least be aware of the change
project and monitor if the results are being achieved or not.
How
to Make Sure the Board of Directors Participates in the Project
for Change
Benefits of Involving Boards in Projects for Change (Part 1 of 2)
How to Ensure Board is Appropriately Involved in Projects for Change (Part 2 of 2)
As the change agent, you might be performing different roles
during the project. The following article might help you decide
which role to perform.
How
to Know When to Facilitate, Train or Coach
Example of a Philosophy and Some Perspectives and Models From Which to Manage Change
This section helps the reader to appreciate the diversity of ways that people can approach the management of change in organizations.
Appreciative Inquiry -- Example of Overall Philosophy From Which to Manage Change
Appreciative Inquiry is a recent and powerful breakthrough
in organizational change and development. It's based on the philosophy
that "problems" are often caused as much by our perception
of them as problems as by other influencing factors. The philosophy
has spawned a strong movement that, in turn, has generated an
increasing number of models, tools and tips, most of which seem
to build from the positive perceptions (visions, fantasies, wishes
and stories) of those involved in the change effort.
Appreciative
Inquiry
Various Perspectives From Which to Manage Change
The following articles provide ways or perspectives from which
to manage change.
Four
Change Management Strategies
An Educational Process for Change and Improvement
Efforts
Various Models for Change Management
There are numerous well-organized approaches (or models) from which to manage
a change effort. Some of the approaches have been around for many years -- we
just haven't thought of them as such. For example, many organizations undertake
strategic planning. The implementation of strategic planning, when done in a
systematic, cyclical and explicit approach, is strategic management. Strategic
management is also one model for ensuring the success of a change effort. The
following links provide more perspectives on approaches to managing change.
(Note that, with the maturation of the field of OD, there are now more strong
opinions about which are change management approaches and which are not -- there
seems to be no standard interpretation yet.)
Strategic Management
(systematic, explicit implementation of a strategic plan)
Plan Do Check Act (this approach also is quite common)
Lewin's Freeze Phases
McKinsey 7S Model
Kotter
8-Step Model
Bridge's
Transition Model
Embedding
Adaptive Change
Prosci ADKAR
Many people would agree that traditional models of organizational
performance management are also models for managing change.
Examples
of Organizational Performance Management Systems
Various Perspectives on Organizational Change
There is now a vast array of highly reflective articles about the nature of change. Many of these articles focus primarily on the role of leaders during change. However, it's not likely that the reader can gain useful frameworks for change primarily from reading numerous reflective articles, so be sure to review at least some of the other articles in each subtopic in this overall Library topic. You can learn a lot about the overall design and approaches to change even by scanning how the subtopics are organized in this topic, as listed at the top of this page.
Role of Change Agent
Here We Are. Now What?: Tips for Change Agents
in 2011
Change
Agents: The Power Behind Effective Change Management
Organization Change: Learning from the Best
Reflections on Change
Teaching the Caterpillar to Fly
Reflections on Change
Change Is Not Necessary?
The
Case for Change Management
I Hate Change and So Do You
Conserving
Our Best During Change
Factors of Change
Seven Drivers Of Organizational Success
Factors of Change
Guidelines for Change
Six Keys to Changing Almost Anything
Top Down or Bottom Up Approaches to Change
Managing Change More Effectively
Implementing Successful & Sustainable Change
Change Management and Employee Communication Strategies
Four Ways to Increase the Urgency Needed for Change
Change Model 3: John Kotter's 8 Steps of Leading
Change
7 Dimensions: Principal Skills of Change Facilitators
Change As Influence: How to Get the Attention
of Deniers, Followers, Dreamers, and Leaders?
6 Lessons for Successful Change Implementation
You Don't Need an Empire to Build Strength for
Change
Effective Communication: Getting Everyone On Board The Change Train
Change Management: How to Avoid Resistance Part 1
Change Management: How to Avoid Resistance Part 2
Example of a Planned, Systemic Change Process -- Action Research
A typical planned, systemic (and systematic) organizational development process often follows an overall action research approach (as described below). There are many variations of the action research approach, including by combining its various phases and/or splitting some into more phases. This section provides resources that are organized into one variation of the action research approach. Note that the more collaborative you are in working with members of the organization during the following process, the more likely the success of your overall change effort.
Phase 1: Start-Up -- Clarifying Expectations and Roles, Assessing Readiness, RFP and Contracts, Getting Buy-In
This phase is sometimes called the "Contracting" and/or "Entry" phase. This phase is usually where the relationship between you (the initial change agent) and your client starts, whether you are an external or internal consultant. Experts assert that this phase is one of the most - if not the most - important phases in the organizational change process. Activities during this stage form the foundation for successful organizational change. The quality of how this phase is carried out usually is a strong indicator of how the project will go.
Types
of Clients (this helps answer the critical question: "Who
is the current client?")
Defining Project "Success"
Assessing
Client's Readiness for Change
Whole Field Assessment And The Change Readiness
Checklist
Example of an Entry Conversation Between Consultant
and Client
Requests for Proposals, Proposals and Contracts
Before You Can Get Buy-In, People Need to Feel
the Problem
Here are some useful skills for the change agent to have at
this point in the process.
Interviewing
Listening
Non-Verbal
Communications
Questioning
Building
Trust
Phase 2: Joint Discovery to Identify Priorities for Change
The more collaborative the change agent is in working with members of the client's organization, the more likely that the change effort will be successful. Your client might not have the resources to fully participate in all aspects of this discovery activity -- the more participation they can muster, the better off your project will be.
Whether you are an external or internal change agent in this project, you and your client will work together during this phase to understand more about the overall priority of the change effort and how you all can effectively address it. It might be a major problem in the organization or an exciting vision to achieve. Together, you will collect information, analyze it to identify findings and conclusions, and then make recommendations from that information. Sometimes the data-collection effort is very quick, for example, facilitating a large planning meeting. Other times, the effort is more extensive, for example, evaluating an entire organization and developing a complete plan for change. The nature of discovery also depends on the philosophy of the change agent and client. For example, subscribers to the philosophy of Appreciative Inquiry (referenced above) might conduct discovery, not by digging into the number and causes of problems in the organization, but by conducting interviews to discover the visions and wishes of people in the organization.
Sometimes, people minimize the importance of - or altogether skip - this critical discovery phase, and start change management by articulating an ambitious and comprehensive vision for change. Many would argue that it is unethical to initiate a project for organizational change without fully examining (or discovering) the current situation in the client's organization. Focusing most of the change efforts on achieving a robust vision, without at least some careful discovery, often can be harmful to your client's organization because your project can end up dealing with symptoms of any current issues, rather than the root causes. Also, the project could end up pushing an exciting vision that, while initially inspiring and motivating to many, could be completely unrealistic to achieve -- especially if the organization already has many current, major issues to address. Therefore, when working to guide change in an organization that already is facing several significant issues, you are usually better off to start from where your client is at -- that usually means conducting an effective discovery to identify priorities for change.
Preparation -- Establishing a Project Team
One of the most powerful means to cultivate collaboration is by working with a project team. Besides, no change agent sees all aspects of the situation in the organization -- team members help to see more of those various aspects.
Establish
the Project Team
Team Building
Joint Planning and Conducting Data Collection
Basic
Research Methods (planning, selecting, methods, etc., to collect
data about performance)
Designing
Assessment and Evaluation Tools (to evaluate during and at end
of project)
Diagnostic Models
(these sometimes suggest what data to collect)
Organizational
Assessments (tools to assess current performance)
Selecting
from Among Publicly Available Assessments
Some
Common Types of Data to Collect
Some
Sources of Data and Methods to Collect that Data
Joint Analysis of Research Results
Analyzing,
Interpreting and Reporting Results
Diagnostic Models
(these can guide the overall analysis and also suggest findings)
Systems
Thinking (see recognize overall patterns, cycles, themes in the
data)
Critical
Thinking (for more robust analysis of data)
Problem
Solving (for means to make conclusions, etc., from data)
Maximum
Performance -- Different Things to Different People
Joint Generation of Findings and Conclusions
Decision
Making (to make final recommendations)
Some
Types of Issues Reported, or Found from Data, in Nonprofits
Some
Types of Issues Reported, or Found from Data, in For-Profits
Writing Reports
Communications (Writing Research Findings and Recommendations)
Joint Sharing of Findings and Recommendations in Client's Organization
Meeting
Management (if recommendations shared in a meeting)
Group
Facilitation
Presenting
Sharing
Feedback
Managing
Group Conflict
Handling
Difficult People
Negotiating
Phase 3: Joint Planning of Organizational Development Activities to Address Priorities
In the previous phase about discovery, you and your client conducted research, discovered various priorities that needed attention, generated recommendations to address those priorities, and shared your information with others, for example, in a feedback meeting. Part of that meeting included discussions - and, hopefully, decisions - about the overall mutual recommendations that your client should follow to in order address the priorities that were identified by you and your client during your discovery. This phase is focused on further clarifying those recommendations, along with developing them into various action plans. The various plans are sometimes integrated into an overall change management plan. Thus, the early activities in this phase often overlap with, and are a continuation of, the activities near the end of the earlier discovery phase. This is true whether you are an external or internal consultant. Action plans together can now provide a clear and realistic vision for change. They provide the "roadmap" for managing the transition from the present state to the desired future state.
Development of the various action plans is often an enlightening experience for your client as members of their organization begin to realize a more systematic approach to their planning and day-to-day activities. As with other activities during change management, plans can vary widely in how they are developed. Some plans are very comprehensive and systematic (often the best form used for successful change). Others are comprised of diverse sections that are expected to somehow integrate with each other. Subscribers to the philosophy of Appreciative Inquiry (referenced above) might do planning by building on past positive outcomes and on the strengths of members of the organization.
Selecting Organizational Development Activities to Address the Findings from Discovery
NOTE: A following section in this topic, Possible Organizational Development Activities ("Interventions") to Use in Change Management Activities, includes many other examples of activities (or "interventions") for organizational change and development. During this phase, you might select one or more of those activities from that section, as well.
Some
Types of Capacity Building in For-Profit Organizations (and how
clients choose them)
Some
Types of Capacity Building in Nonprofit Organizations (and how
clients choose them)
Joint Development of Action Plans
Basic
Guidelines to Successful Planning
Visioning
(in context of strategic planning, but applies to change management,
too)
Setting
Goals
Action
Planning
Joint Development of Evaluation Plans
Basic Guide to Program Evaluation (is also relevant to projects -- use to develop evaluation plans)
Joint Development of Learning Plans
Complete Guidelines to Design Your Training Plan (to capture the learnings during the project)
Phase 4: Change Management and Joint Evaluation
During this phase, emphasis is on sustaining and evaluating the change effort, including by addressing resistance that arises from members of the organization -- and sometimes in the change agent, as well.
Client's Ongoing Communication of Action Plans
Basics
of Writing and Communicating Plans (in context of strategic planning,
but applies to change management plans, too)
Basics of Internal Organizational Communications (to communicate
the actions plans)
Client's Implementation of Action Plans
Client and Change Agent Maintain Momentum During Change
Motivating
Others (e.g., to implement the changes and action plans)
Coaching (e.g., to clarify and achieve goals, and learn at the
same time)
Delegating
(e.g., for leaders and supervisors to ensure action plans are
implemented)?
Dealing
with resistance (scroll down to the section, "Resistance
to change")
Stress
Management
Joint Evaluation of Project Activities and Desired Results
Evaluation occurs both to the quality of implementation of plans so far during the project and also regarding the extent of achievement of desired results from the project. Results might be whether certain indicators of success have been achieved, all issues have been addressed, a vision of success has been achieved, action plans have been implemented and/or leaders in the organization agree the project has been successful.
Basic Guide to Program Evaluation (use to conduct evaluations during and at the end of the project)
As part of the final evaluation, you might redo some of the assessments that you used during the discovery phase in order to measure the difference made by the project.
Also see
Evaluation
(in Training and Development)
If the Project Gets Stuck
During this phase, if the implementation of the plans gets stalled for a long time, for example, many months, then you might cycle back to an earlier phase in the process in order to update and restart the change management project. Projects can get stuck for a variety of reasons, e.g., if the overall situation changes (there suddenly are new and other priorities in the client's organization), people succumb to burnout, key people leave the organization, the relationship between the consultant and client changes, or people refuse to implement action plans.
Project Termination
(Many times, this activity is defined as a separate phase in the project plan.) These activities are very important to address, even if all participants agree that the project has been successful and no further activities are needed. Project termination activities recognize key learnings from the project, acknowledge the client's development, and identify next steps for you and your client. They also help to avoid "project creep" where the project never ends because the requirements for success keep expanding.
Possible Organizational Development Activities ("Interventions") to Use in Change Management Processes
The field of Organization Development uses a variety of processes, approaches, methods, techniques, applications, etc., (these are often termed "interventions") to address organizational issues and goals in order to increase performance. The following partial list of interventions is organized generally in the order presented by Cummings and Worley in their "Organization Development and Change" (West Publishing, 1993). The following types of interventions are often highly integrated with each other during a project for change.
How People Choose Organizational Development Activities
There are no standard activities that always successfully address certain types of issues in organizations. Many times, the success of a project lies not with having selected the perfect choice of activities, but rather with how honest and participative people were during the project, how much they learned and how open they were to changing their plans for change.
However, there are some basic considerations that most people make when selecting from among the many choices for organizational development, or capacity building, activities. Considerations include:
- First, does the change-management method (if one was used) suggest what organizational development activities to use now, for example, the method of strategic management might suggest that a SWOT analysis be done, strategic goals be established along with action plans for each goal, and then implementation of the action plans be closely monitored.
- Is the activity most likely to address the findings from the discovery, that is, to solve the problems or achieve the goals? To find out, review any research about use of the activity, discuss the potential outcomes with experts and also with members of the organization. Consider posing your questions in online groups of experts about change.
- Does the nature of the activity match the culture of the organization? The best way to find out is to discuss the activity with members of the organization.
- Does the change agent and key members of the organization have the ability to conduct the activity? For example, technostructural and strategic interventions sometimes require technical skills that are not common to many people.
- Does the activity require more time to conduct than the time available in which to address the problem or goal? For example, a cash crisis requires immediate attention, so while a comprehensive strategic planning process might ultimately be useful, the four to five months to do that planning is impractical.
- Does the client's organization have the resources that are necessary to conduct the activity, considering resources such as funding, attention and time from people and facilities.
The following article provides another set of considerations.
Four Change
Management Strategies (scroll to near the bottom of the article)
Management for You: Interventions for Change
Before you and your client select types of interventions for
the project, be aware of your strong biases about how you view
organizations. Without recognizing those biases, you might favor
certain types of interventions primarily because those are the
only ones you can readily see and understand, even if other types
of interventions might be much more effective in your project.
Understand
the Preferred Lens Through Which You View Organizations
Human Process Interventions (Group and Individual Human Relations)
With today's strong emphasis on humanistic values, the following interventions are getting a great deal of attention and emphasis during efforts for change. They focus on helping members of the organization to enhance themselves, each other and the ways in which they work together in order to enhance their overall organization. Although the types of interventions selected for a project depend on a variety of considerations and the interventions in a project often are highly integrated with each other, the following human process interventions might be particularly helpful during change projects in organizations where there is some combination of the following: many new employees, different cultures working together, many complaints among organizational members, many conflicts, low morale, high turnover, ineffective teams, etc.
Guiding Individuals
Coaching
Counseling
Delegating
Leading
Morale
(Boosting)
Mentoring
Motivating
Group-Based
Conflict
Management
Dialoguing
Group
Facilitation
Group
Learning
Self-Directed
Work Teams
Large-Scale
Interventions
Team
Building
Virtual
Teams
Technostructural Interventions (Structures, Technologies, Positions, etc.)
The following are examples of activities that focus on improving the performance of organizations primarily by modifying structures, technologies, operations, procedures and roles/positions in the organization. Although the types of interventions selected for a project depend on a variety of considerations and the interventions in a project often are highly integrated with each other, the following technostructural interventions might be particularly helpful in the following kinds of situations: rapid growth but few internal systems to sustain that growth, much confusion about roles, a new major technology or process has been introduced, many complaints from customers, etc. These interventions might also be useful in new organizations where internal operational systems must be developed and implemented.
Balanced
Scorecard
Business
Process Re-Engineering
Downsizing
and Outplacing
ISO9000
Management
by Objectives
Organizing
Staff
Organizing
Tasks, Jobs and Roles
Six
Sigma
Total
Quality Management
Six Overlooked Keys to Organizational Alignment
Strategy First ... Then Structure
Basic
Principles of Organizational Design (Part 1 of 2)
Basic
Principles of Organizational Design (Part 2 of 2)
A Strategic Nonprofit Reorganization Plan
The Importance of Organizational Design and Structure
Human Resource Management Interventions (Individual and Group Performance Management)
The following activities aim to enhance overall organizational performance by improving the performance of individuals and groups within the organization. Performance is in regard to setting goals, monitoring progress to the goals, sharing feedback, reinforcing activities to achieve goals and dissuading those that don't. Performance also is in regard to developing employees, including by enhancing their overall sense of well-being. Although the types of interventions selected for a project depend on a variety of considerations and the interventions in a project often are highly integrated, the following human resource interventions might be particularly helpful in the following kinds of situations: new organizational goals have been established, a major new system or technology must be implemented in a timely fashion, many new employees, plans don't seem to get implemented, productivity is low, ineffective teams, etc.
Employee Performance Management
Establishing
Performance Goals
Performance
Plans
Observation
and Feedback
Evaluating
Performance
Rewarding
Performance
Recognizing
Performance Problems ("Performance Gaps")
Performance
Improvement / Development Plans
Staffing
Firing
Employees
Employee Development
Career
Development
Leadership
Development Planning
Management
Development Planning
Personal
Development
Personal
Productivity
Personal
Wellness
Supervisory
Development Planning
Training
and Development
Employee Wellness Programs
Diversity
Management
Drugs
in the Workplace
Employee
Assistance Programs
Ergonomics:
Safe Facilities in the Workplace
HIV/AIDS
in the Workplace
Personal
Wellness
Preventing
Violence in the Workplace
Safety
in the Workplace
Spirituality
in the Workplace
Strategic Interventions (Organization and Its External Environment)
The following activities focus especially on the organization and its interactions with its external environment, and often involve changes to many aspects of the organization, including employees, groups, technologies, products and services, etc. Although the types of interventions selected for a project depend on a variety of considerations and the interventions in a project often are highly integrated, the following strategic interventions might be particularly helpful in the following kinds of situations: rapid changes in the external environment, rapid or stagnant sales, significantly increased competition, rapid expansion of markets, mergers and acquisitions, the need for quick and comprehensive change throughout the organization, etc.
Business
Planning
Cultural Change
Large-Scale
Interventions
Open
Systems Planning
Organizational
Alliances
Organizational Transformation
Strategic
Planning
General Resources
Service Organizations Focused on Organizational Change and Development
International
Association of Facilitators
International Society
for Performance Improvement
Institute
for Cultural Affairs -- World-Wide
Midwest
Facilitators' Network
National OD
Network
Regional OD networks
Society for Human
Resource Management
Online Groups
Toolkits, Etc.
Change
Management Resource Library
Organizational
Change Resources
Change
Management Toolbook
Managing
Change
Bibliographies of Books About Change Management
Here's several lists of books about OD, some of them seminal
and foundational books.
Books
about OD and organizational change.
Additional Library Resources in the Category of Organizational Change and Development
Related Library Topics
Recommended Books - Organizational Development and Change
Managing Organizational Change
Managing Organizational Change
-
Field Guide to Consulting and Organizational Development
- by Carter McNamara, published by Authenticity Consulting, LLC. Provides complete, step-by-step guidelines to identify complex issues in for-profit or government organizations and successfully resolve each of them. This book is also helpful to organizations that are doing fine now, but want to evolve to the next level of performance. This is one of the truly comprehensive, yet practical, books about this complex subject! Includes online forms that can be downloaded. Many materials in this Library's topic about guiding change are adapted from this comprehensive book.
-
Field Guide to Consulting and Organizational Development With Nonprofits
- by Carter McNamara, published by Authenticity Consulting, LLC. Provides complete, step-by-step guidelines to identify complex issues in nonprofit organizations and successfully resolve each of them. This book is also helpful to organizations that are doing fine now, but want to evolve to the next level of performance. This is one of the truly comprehensive, yet practical, books about this complex subject! Includes online forms that can be downloaded. Many materials in this Library's topic about guiding change are adapted from this comprehensive book.
The following books are recommended because of their highly practical nature and often because they include a wide range of information about this Library topic. To get more information about each book, just click on the image of the book. Also, a convenient search window is included below the rows of boxes.
Growing Your Organization
The following books are recommended because of their highly practical nature and often because they include a wide range of information about this Library topic. To get more information about each book, just click on the image of the book. Also, a convenient search window is included below the rows of boxes.
