Change Management M8a1 Final Exam

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Change Management M8A1 Final Examination

1. In order to prepare the staff for this upcoming change, a manager must first prepare themselves by anticipating the questions and concerns of their employees. This will provide a basic outline for the initial interviews about the upcoming change. According to Charles R. McConnell’s article Preparing Employees for Change, some questions to consider that may arise from staff members are what is the nature of the coming change, and what do we hope to achieve by it, who wants this change and who might be adversely affected, and finally why do we need to do this (www.nfib.com, 2007). Once these questions are considered, a manager needs to begin developing a plan of action that will assist in not only addressing the issue, but providing an open line of communication between management and employees. Some ways that a manager can help a distraught employee is through encouragement, asking questions, and celebrating their accomplishments; then a relationship built on confidence between both parties can begin to develop. The next step in the plan of action is the communication between manager and employee. There are two main areas that need to be addressed and they are: providing new information as it comes available and following up with updates as soon as possible. The primary reason for these two areas of communication is so that employees are receiving detailed reliable information from management rather than other employees; preventing unwanted rumors that have the possibility of creating negative situations. When revealing information, a manager must consider the material in order to decide on the proper method of communication (The art of managing people, 2007). In some cases, the material may be considered general so a group meeting of all staff would be sufficient; however certain material considered private should be disclosed within an office setting preferably near the end of the work day. During this time, one on one sessions with employees will help design individual strategies to assure employees of certain options that they have available to them.
2. Organizational change can be set off deliberately by managers, it can develop slowly within a department, it can be enforced by specific changes in policy or procedures, or it can come up as a result of external pressures. In order to promote and to adapt to change, it is therefore essential to define the origin of the need to change, as well as the nature of any proposed change. Change may originate from outside or inside the organization. External forces for change include market forces (e.g. financial pressures and competition), legislation (in particular environmental and employee legislation), tax structures, new technologies (e.g. new computer technology, process equipment,.. ) and last but not least political forces( world, national and organizational politics). Change also originates within the organization itself. Internal sources for change include the need for profitability (which is indeed a major thrust for change), conflicts between organizational components (e.g. departments and people) and changes in the culture of an organization. However most of the organizational change is triggered by external forces

3. Resistance to change can emerge in many forms and what is even more problematic, is the fact that the exact reasons for change are often hard to identify. Reasons for resistance to change can be either related to the "human situation", or to personality and other psychological variables