Response the below post:
post 1:
I've decided to choose group/team change and will provide coaching examples of the process, your response to the change and adjustments that were necessary in order to sustain this change.
Coaching to me aims to identify and "improve dysfunctional behaviors that prevent employees from having productive relationships in the organization." (Corbett & Colemon, 2006) When coaching your employees you feel part of a team. It's much different than telling others what to do. I always feel more fulfilled at the end of the day when I coached others and it was successful. Coaching helps your self esteem and makes your attitude stay positive. I believe this is one of my first steps in creating change. Giving employees a chance to overcome obstacles and analyzing your employees skills begins with coaching. You can watch your employees interact with each other in a group, share your opinions, listen to their opinions, and decide where to place employees within the group. Some groups and team building skills have four purposes which are discussed in this weeks readings. By establishing these within your groups while coaching you can achieve a greater percentage of success. These priorites include: establishing goals or priorities; determining roles and responsibilities, examine group process, and examine interpersonal relations. (Beckhard, 1972)
Coaching helps sustain success. Your ability to adapt to change within your organization must be like a night and day. There are times when you turn the light off to calm tension and times all the lights shine on your established priorites. As you become a leader and a motivator, your abilities increase to productivity feed back into the organization and create lasting change. Let me know your thoughts.
Post 2:
I chose organizational/system change. This is a much harder process as as employees seem to have a harder time breaking the routine. When a group of individuals have come together in the routine of there day to day activities and responsibilities at work it is very difficult to get them to change it. Change is almost always met with some discord. Some may welcome the changes but most will have a hard time dealing with it. It is imperative that we coach all employees and upper management through these changes to make it as seamless as possible. Making the changes as painless as possible will help sustain these changes. Changes are always hard to cope with and with the right coaching will be alot less hard to adapt to.
post 3:
The five models of change include: developing a need for change, establishing a change relationship, working towards change, generalizing and stabilizing change, and achieving a terminal relationship. First, you have developing a need for change. An example of this would be a new manager taking over a business and seeing that the culture of the staff needs to be changed, this is where the OD steps in and helps make a difference. Next, would be establishing a change relationship. An example would be a new manager that wanted to change the staff idea of the culture, so he works with his peers and the OD to create a new vision or direction for the company. Working toward the change is the next step. This phase can be compared to the research phase of the process. If you're a manger looking to improve the culture, collect the data on what is needed to actual change the culture. Generalizing and stabilizing change is when you take the change and spread that through the company. Let the employees understand the vision or the new culture you are trying to promote. Last, is achieving a terminal relationship. This is when the OD and the client actually end their relationship. The manager at this point has a good grasp on how to change the culture or vision.
Change is what allows us to grow and become better companies, however many people do not like change. It is natural for people to feel ambivalent about new beginnings. Bridges (2003) recommended that leaders provide the four P's to help employees start anew: A purpose, a picture, the plan, and a part to play (Bireme 2014). Those 4 areas will allow your employees the chance to embrace the changes you have made and help them accept the new direction of the business.
post 4:
Our text lists 5 different change models. The first is Lewin's 3-step change model. The first step is unfreezing which is when people become aware that change is needed, moving is when action is taken to create the change in the system, and refreezing is when the change, or move has been made and reinforcement is needed to keep the change in place (Bierema, 2014). The next model is Schein's modified 3-step change model. Again the first step is unfreezing, which Schein identified three ways it can happen 1) disconfirmation: the notice of need for change, 2) guilt or anxiety: feeling guilty about one's own actions can promote change, and 3) creation of psychological safety: the knowing that change will not mentally harm others. The second step is moving which he found two processes for 1) identifying with new role models, and 2) environmental scanning. The last step is refreezing which is when the change is made permanent (Bierema, 2014). The third model is the Lippitt, Watson, and Westley's change model. This model expands on Lewin's model and includes 5 phases instead of 3 steps 1) develop a need for change, formerly known as unfreezing, 2) establishing a change in relationship, 3) working toward change, formerly known as moving, 4) generalizing and stabilizing change, formerly known as refreezing, 5) achieving a terminal relationship. "This model assumes the role of a change agent, an individual who acts as a catalyst for the change and has influence over the process" (Bierema, 2014, para. 19). The forth model is Bridges's transitional model. This model points out that change is about endings instead of beginnings. He claims that change is situational but transition is psychological. In this concept change itself is not difficult, but the transition is. Three points that he makes are that endings usually represent some form of failure or wrong doing. The neutral zone is the transitional space where we try to compose an ending and create a new beginning. The new beginning is embracing the new change. The last model was created by David Cooper and focuses on the positive instead of the negative to negotiate change. Appreciative inquiry (AI) is the approach used in this model. AI changes the way people look at change. Instead of looking for the "bad" in a particular way to doing things it focuses on the good and asks employees to come up with ways to improve the way the company does things. AI'S 4-D cycle is a set of questions in 4 categories that can be asked to aid in initiating change 1) discovery, 2) dream, 3) design, 4) destiny.
I have chosen to compare and contrast Lewin's 3-step model and the AI approach. Lewin's model is similar to the AI approach in that it brings to light the three main phases that people go through when change must occur. Both of these models show that the change needs to be enforced so that it is accepted as permanent. The main difference is that unlike Lewin's model, AI focuses on the good within a company and masks change as an addition to a working plan. AI allows the employees to decide on the changes to be made and feel as if they are in control of the change which will aid in having less resistance.
Resistance can happen no matter how the change occurs. Resistance to change is a normal reaction; however there are ways that organizations can cut down on the negative reactions and have a smoother transition into the new modified ways of operation. One way to cut down on resistance is to come up with a motivator such as a contest. If employees are encouraged to participate in a contest that embraces the new change they will more than likely feel more comfortable with that new change.