Kotter's Eight-Stage Change Process

Step 2 is forming a powerful guiding coalition. Leadership will have to be on board and on the same page in regards to the change. Kotter and Cohen reveal the core problems people face when leading change. Their main findings are that the central issue concerns not structure or systems but behavior and how to alter it (Farris, 2008). The success of the changes will depend on the ability of the managers to show their commitment to change and motivate the employees to do the same. Without any process to track the implementation, the change can also fail.

This course has taught me a lot in terms of initiating and managing change, and Kotter’s eight-stage process is a very useful approach when it comes to making changes within an organization. This course has helped me strengthen my skills in overcoming barriers that tend to get and make it difficult to

In order to successfully and effectively implement change all of the employees should have a good understanding of how the changes will benefit the organization, their positions, and how it might impact their routines. To many employees the implementation of change is not always properly communicated, and the process of change on paper as it is being implemented can be threatening as well as confusing. Also, the people behind the scenes making the changes may not have taken specific details into consideration regarding effective changes that perhaps the employees

“The images, metaphors, or frames that we hold, both of managing and of change, influence our ideas of what we think managing change is all about” (Palmer, Dunford, & Akin, 2009). As people we all see through our own eyes, we call see a different perspective and have a different reaction to what is coming next. As human beings we react differently to situations. Situations of change are transitions that some are able to adapt to quickly while others have a hard time. Being the leader of that change can be difficult and helping make a change does not come easily or effectively. Keep and Newcomer (2008)

Managers need to determine the best method of communicating the changes to the employees that are directly affected. This material presented in last weeks class and in the course material helped us understand how important communication is when implementing changes in a work environment. The course book identified four main approaches to managing change in an organization. Lewins’ Three-Step Model argued that successful change in an organization follows three steps: Unfreezing the status quo, movement to a desired end state, and refreezing the new change to make it permanent. (Robbins & Judge, 2011). This approach requires manages to evaluate the need for change and implement a plan of action to help the organization manage changes effectively.

It was noted that communication efforts must be verbal and active (Kotter, 1995). Kotter eight step change model has many drawbacks and benefits. The advantages are that it is the step by step, which is easy to follow model. Another is that it does not focus on the change itself, but rather the acceptance and the preparation of this change, which makes it an easy transition. In Kotter’s and Lewin’s models, both consider the difficulties that organizations encounter when trying to move people from their comfort zone for the change to happen. In both of the models they use a different set of calculations to know whether there is any need to change to take place in the

Not only were the leaders impressed by the employees insights, they took action to address all of the problems. As a result, participation increased, communication improved, relationship between employees and management improved, and access to training and development opportunities were wide-spread. But most importantly, once the original change initiatives were introduced, employees embraced the initiatives, offered insights on how to improve their outcomes, and ensured their success.

Creating short-term wins is Kotter and Cohen’s sixth step in the change model process. Short-term wins are especially effective during a long and involved change initiative. When a team focuses on tasks that enable quick, visual, and meaningful achievements during the change process, it shows employees that progress is being made and builds momentum to continue the change effort (Kotter & Cohen, 2002, p. 123). In addition, short-term wins reward employees for their hard work, build confidence in the change effort, validate the vision and strategies of the change leaders, and demonstrate to change resistors the positive effects of the change (Kotter & Cohen, 2002, p. 125).

Change is inevitable but is not accepted by most people. Implementing change can be a daunting task because it can be embraced in a positive way or negative way. As a leader, it is hard to determine whether the change will help improve production or slow down work processes. In our text, it list several ways to implement change that can make the transition an easier process. Jick recommends his list of Ten Commandments. The first, is to analyze the organization and its need for change. This obviosuly is the first step in implementing change. I feel that when changes are necessary communication needs to come form the top down. When things are communicated openly thier is less tension among employees and supervisors. Second create a shared vision

Several change initiatives consists of a series of phases. These processes require a considerable amount of time. Developing a vision is a very important stage for successful change. In order for workers to be willing to make a change, the vision must be clear. In describing the vision, one must illustrate the future outcome the organization is working toward as well as potential sacrifices that must be made and reiterate the positives of the outcome. Kotter describes six characteristics of an effective vision; an effective vision should be; “imaginable: conveys a picture of what the future will look like, desirable: Appeals to the long-term interests of employees, customers, stockholders, and others who have a stake in the enterprise , feasible: comprises realistic, attainable goals, focused: Is clear enough to provide guidance in decision making, flexible: Is general enough to allow individual initiative and alternative responses in light of changing conditions, and communicable: Is easy to communicate; can be successfully explained within five minutes

Once a quality improvement plan (QIP) has been developed and evaluation methods determined, a plan for implementing the initiative must be created. An action plan is a series of steps and timelines that will ensure a QIP is implemented successfully (Desjardines, 2011). The purpose of this paper is to outline an implementation plan for the QIP of reducing the rate of worsening pain in the elderly with dementia and other forms of cognitive using a nursing education strategy in the Veterans Centre (VC) at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

In order to examine this issue further, this research will look at a number of different sources. Contemporary managerial sources are explored in order to understand how other voices in the field are describing similar methods for change. First, popular structures for change management are examined, especially within their correlation to Palmer & Dunford (2009). This is followed with an extensive

In a recent study of major change, it was found that employees are highly critical of even well thought-out attempts to communicate change and multiple communication channels are preferred when communicating a change vision, plan and process (Elving, 2005;

Change happens in all aspects of life. Leaders view change as being good most of the time. An organization can’t move forward without change. This paper will discuss how leaders can use levels of change and the steps of Kotter’s change model to implement change. It will also give a Christian worldview as it pertains to the topics. Leader must learn the language to effectively communicate change. This will give managers an advantage and help demonstrate the vision for the future.

In the review of the book, “Making Change Work: Practical Tools for Overcoming Human Resistance to Change,” I decided to summarize the major steps the book establishes. It discusses how to begin the change process by understanding your need for change, to the final step of the change process where an organization needs to implement changes. After summarizing the steps, I am going to show how the book relates to the textbook, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, as well as giving a managerial implication.