Basic Principles Of Change Management
There are five key principles that members and the chosen leaders of these organizations need to remember when they are carrying out their activities. The first one is the various members will react differently to any changes that will be instituted. Before assigning out any task, it is necessary to factor in the different reactions that people might elicit or else unexpected delays caused by squabbles or poor workmanship might arise. The second one is “everyone has fundamental needs that have to be met.”(Cameron et al, 2004, p 118) Having a bigger picture of the entire scenario will free you from making decisions that can simply be summarized as “the ends justify the needs.” Goals are achieved in group activities through teamwork and once the individual members feel that their fundamental needs aren’t being valued, then their output will be far below expectation. (Cameron et al, 2004, p 119)
The third principle is change is necessary and change often involves a loss. People will be forced to make concessions so as to achieve the greater good and this period is identified as going through a “loss curve.” The fourth and fifth principles can be summed up together; “Expectations need to be managed realistically and fears have to be dealt with.” (Cameron et al, 2004, p 119) Only realistically achievable goals need to be set and these set goals can only be achieved if the individual members know what is expected of them. With each task that would be assigned, there will always be fears and doubts as to whether it can be tackled. These fears have to be brought to the fore front so that an amicable conclusion can be reached. In our project group, most of these principles where applied fully but some of them were only partially followed and this might have contributed to the difference of opinions that manifested itself during our activities. Everyone was satisfied with the flow of information and the facts were laid out in the open. Even though there was some element of overoptimistic speculations and unrealistic expectations, the entire group was able to relate with the facts that were given. The group leader was impressive in his role of ensuring that information was comprehensively understood by everyone. There was a briefing where everybody attended which was followed up by individual sessions that tried to weigh in the individual reactions to the tasks that were handed out. The project members were asked which choices will be the most suitable and they were held responsible for any possible consequences that might arise from their personal choices. (Paton, et al, 2001, p 46)
One of the areas where the project appeared to be deficient was the lack of time given to members to express their fears especially during the “loss curve.” The decision making process needed to be slowed down a bit so that some members would be able to express their views and be more in control of the changes that were instituted.
Processing your request, Please wait....
