A Reflection on Managing Organisational and Personal Change and it s Implications for Organisational Practice 11005385

Fear and anxiety plagued my mind during this transition, however my wife and daughter kept my mind at ease. The information and instruction that was provided from the Professors at Durham Tech galvanized something deep within me. I began to strive for goals that I thought were unattainable as a naïve adolescent. Instructors encouraged me to work hard and to be persistent when it came to the immense obstacles of my course work such as giving a presentation at an honors symposium as an honors student. After countless years of self doubt and negative feelings towards education as a whole, for the first time in my life, I felt like college was an option for

"After working 12-hour shifts in a factory, the other options have become brutally clear. When I'm back at the university, skipping classes and turning in lazy re-writes seems like a cop-out after seeing what I would be doing without school. All the advice and public-service announcements about the value of an education that used to sound trite now ring

This new outlook will also alter your views on the nature of change. I wrote earlier that your current view of change is that an expert facilitates the change in client functioning. What you will come to realize is that the client himself or herself is the expert. The client knows himself or herself the best and it’s that person’s perception of reality that holds truth for that person. I realize this is a radical shift from your current perspective. Do not fear, your new understanding will develop as you move through the course modules.

Lippitt’s Phases of Change is an extension of Lewin’s Three-Step Theory. The focus on Lippitt’s change theory is on the change agent rather than the change itself.

The second step in the change theory is the transition stage. Once people are unfrozen, the problem now shifts to how to keep them going. This is now the actual change process a stage that is characterized by confusion as people try to change from the old to new ways. This stage is further characterized by fear because people tend to be unsure and is the hardest step in the whole process (Schein, 1995). During transition, new behaviors are developed, values and attitudes. It is achieved through development techniques and change in existing organizational structures. People undergoing this stage need to be given ample time to adapt to new ways. Of uttermost importance during this stage is support. Support is offered in terms of coaching and training as well as acceptance that mistakes will be part of the transition process (Smith, 2001).

According to Burnes, Kurt Lewin’s theory of change management has stayed relevant for over forty plus years, however as of recently, lewin’s approach was met with major scrutiny with critics often pointing out that change management theory applies to to work in situations where the work environment or project is small in nature and applies heavily on the fact that the organisation is stable and ignored instrumental politics in the business and furthermore was criticized for focusing too heaviliy on management driven tactics (Burnes, 2004). Burnes has specifically stated that the intention of the article is to reevaluate and to test the claims against the greater benefits that has been gained. It is very evident from the article that Burnes specifically talks about the social challenges that Lewin has faced and how that has in turn driven Lewin to create the Planned Approach to change and the elements of the change, which are Field Theory, Group Dynamics, Action Research and finally, the

My first semester of my first year at Glendon College is soon coming to an end with only two papers and one final exam left to write. As I reflect back on the semester, I recall telling myself at least once a week that I wanted to drop out of school, followed by many breakdowns, crying fits and calling defeat. The past few months, haven’t been at all easy for me, I have thought many times I wasn’t intelligent enough to be in university, I was disappointed with some of the grades I received and I was constantly engulfed in a swarm of stress. Despite all these tough times, I have had many good one’s as well, I have made new friends which are now integral to my everyday life and I have enhanced my knowledge to a new degree.

Change management is relevant as though the research finds that change is taking place at an ever-increasing pace, the evidence suggests that most change initiatives fail. For example, recent CIPD research suggested that less than 60% of re-organisations met their stated objectives which are usually bottom line improvement. This is consistent with other published research.

1.1 Change management is described by Armstrong (1) as “the process of achieving the smooth implementation of change by planning and introducing it systematically taking into account the likelihood of it being resisted”. Change, the fundamental constant in any successful organisation, can be adaptive, reconstructive, revolutionary or evolutionary and can happen for a number of diverse reasons:

Bolognese, A. (2002). Employee Resistance to Organizational Change. Retrieved December 2, 2006 from Internet, http://www.newfoundations.com/OrgTheory/

This illustrates the importance for helping my clients prepare for predicted transitions, such as what to do after Year 11 or their initial entry into employment. ‘Transitions do not begin on the first day a person is in a new environment. The preparation stage

For most, resistance to change inevitable, for some it is their personality and others it is fear of the unknown. Organizational structure may change through downsizing, outsourcing, acquisitions, or mergers. In this paper, I will be examining resistance to change during a merger and how to manage this type of stressful and many times unclear change in an organization. There are three key strategies for managing resistance to change; communication, participation, and empathy and support. Throughout this paper I will discuss the three strategies above as well as some other contributing factors to change in an organization.

This course like my entire first semester of university have provided me with both many challenges as well as taught me many lessons not only for my university career, but for the rest of my life. As I reflect back on the semester, I recall telling myself at least once a week that I wanted to drop out of school, followed by many breakdowns, crying fits and calling defeat. The past few months, haven’t been at all easy for me, I have thought many times I wasn’t intelligent enough to be in university, I was disappointed with some of the grades I received and I was constantly engulfed in a swarm of stress. Despite all these tough times, I have had many good one’s as well, I have made new friends which are now integral to my everyday life and I have enhanced my knowledge to a new degree. Some of the many lessons that I’ve already learned in my short university experience include how to manage my time, the importance of meeting deadlines as well as the continuous struggle of balancing the various different facets of life.

It is generally noted that Albert Einstein once said, “the measure of intelligence is the ability to change”. John Kotter embedded this mindset that continually adapting and evolving can lead to success within the novel Our Iceberg is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Condition. Kotter’s and Rathgeber structural organization allows change management to be introduced through a relatable fable highlighting the needed steps to properly manage a group dealing with change. Tone, approach, and mood management are amongst the areas defined as crucial in managing change and making it acceptable. Kotter also introduces what he defines as The Eight Step Process of Successful Change that are surrounded by the themes of Setting the stage, Deciding what to do, Making it happen, and Making it stick. This novel is the example of how to effectively manage change within an organization as well as individually.

An early model of progress created by Lewin portrayed change as a three-stage process. The primary stage he called "unfreezing". It included overcoming dormancy and disassembling the current "personality set". It must be some piece of surviving. Barrier systems must be circumventing. In the second stage the change happens. This is ordinarily a time of perplexity and move. We are mindful that the old ways are constantly tested yet we don 't have a reasonable picture with reference to what we are supplanting them with yet. The third and last stage he called "solidifying". The new attitude is solidifying and one 's solace level is coming back to past levels