Managing Transitions by William Bridges is a well-constructed text written on Change Management. Bridges begins by expressing the clear distinction between “change” and “transition”, with emphasis that change and transition are not interchangeable terms, but completely separate processes. The concept, according to Bridges, is simple: Change is situational, it is eventful, visible and tangible. Change is the WHAT. Transition is psychological, a continuous process that happens over a span of time, it is internalized by people. Transition is the HOW. Transition is internal, it is what happens to the person mentally as they process the change.
“Change is situational: the move to a new site, the retirement of a founder, the reorganization of the roles on the team, the revisions to the pension plan.”
“Transition is psychological: a three-phase process people go through as they internalize and come to terms with the details of the new situation that the change brings about.”
Bridges says that these phases have no sequential order of occurrence and the people will go through transition at their own pace. It is not uncommon for an organization to be in more than one phase in the transition process at a given time. This simply depends on how each team has handled the change, some people may have already started the Neutral Zone while others are still lagging behind in the Ending phase. Bridges’ Transition Model is illustrated in figure 1.1.
Figure 1.1 (photo credit:
In the third stage, the group develops solidarity. Team members understand each other’s trait and express personal opinions. In this phase norms and roles are established. “Neuman and Wright (1999) described this as a stage of developing shared mental models and discovering the most effective ways to work with each other” (Bonebright, 2010, p. 114). Tuckman (1965) stated that in this phase, the team becomes an entity because members develop in-group feeling and seek to maintain and immortalize the group as a result the conflicts are avoided for effort to ensure
Providing clarity about the change can improve the transition process. According to Mclean (2011), leaders
Change should be seen as a challenge and embraced with enthusiasm (Marquis & Huston, 2012). In my professional and personal life, I view and respond to change as a way to make improvements to existing regulations and circumstances. I embark upon the quest with determination to succeed at whatever task is presented to me. Life without change can become unchallenging and stagnant (Marquis & Huston, 2012). As society and technology advance, you must incorporate the necessary transformations that arise with it.
In today's session, Group members were presented with education regarding the stages of change and the characteristic of each stage of change. Group members were then identified and shared which stage of change that he/she presently was in; and discuss how to progress to the next stage of change.
There are many metaphors for change. I had been challenged one time at my church gathering to view change as a journey, from one place to another. It is easier to focus on where the journey started, and finally where it ended and forget any lessons learned while travelling. I have often heard it said, “When one door closes, another one opens”. What they don’t tell you, is that between the closed door and the open one is a long dark hallway. I think whether in an organization or in my personal life, change can feel like stumbling around in the dark. The familiar is left behind, and we venture into the unfamiliar. I believe the biggest challenge is not getting lost on this
Choosing a change model can be difficult for an organization. The company must ensure that the model it chooses will help them make the smoothest transition possible for everyone involved. The chosen change model must also help the company reach its goal within the time frame the company needs to have changes made.
Transitions are transformative for Individuals and others as they affect how people grow and learn through experiencing the pain of change. But, with courage and determination these obstacles can be surpassed and new beginnings and opportunities will soon be revealed. Being able to move on and start fresh, support, understanding and guidance are needed to be successful, and lastly, they need to have the self belief that anything can be achieved with hard work and determination. Experiences are evidence that you have been through obstacles in life and the person who you become is a result of how you handle change and be able to grow and achieve self worth and understanding. Having said this, some transitions can be challenging, difficult
Week 3, the lecture on Managing Change describes organizational changes that occur when a company makes a shift from its current state to some preferred future state. Managing organizational change is the process of planning and implementing change in organizations in such a way as to decrease employee resistance and cost to the organization while concurrently expanding the effectiveness of the change effort. Today's business environment requires companies to undergo changes almost constantly if they are to remain competitive. Students of organizational change identify areas of change in order to analyze them. A manager trying to implement a change, no matter how small, should expect to encounter some resistance from within the organization.
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).
Transition- Once you have done the necessary actions, there are a few results you should expect to see.
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:
Burke (2014) stated that organizations change from day to day. The changes that take place in organizations can be intentional or unintentional. Generally, the changes that occur is accidental. It is important to have a broader and deeper knowledge of understanding organization change. Understanding what is currently happening as well as trends in which the organization is functioning can provide such awareness.
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
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.
Change is a common thing that happens all around us on a daily basis sometimes even without us noticing. It can range from family level to international levels, likewise in time frame it can happen on a daily basis, a monthly, yearly or even a decade. In the words of Senior & Fleming (6) Change can be simply defined as process of moving from one state to another. It is this transition that creates distress to the people due to fear of the unknown. We can not stop change but rather we can only manage it. So then what is change management?