Change Management Tools 4

Kotter's Model for Change Management

According to Kotter, management implies adaptability and the ability to create a dynamic company. Managers have to be prepared to implement changes that continuously adapt the company to new demands. As a means to effectively implement changes, Kotter presents 8 phases, which can contribute to the success of the change efforts.

1. Create a feeling of necessity, so that employees become willing to leave their routines and their comfort zone. This can be difficult, as people normally attempt to fight for maintaining their usual ways of doing things. In the change process, a burning platform, as Kotter defines it, has to be created. Visible financial losses often contribute to creating a feeling of necessity. Find some arguments that convince the employees that change is necessary. The creation of necessity is essential in creating cooperation across the organization.

Kotter mentions different concrete initiatives to how you can create a burning platform. For example, the manager can insist that the employees speak more frequently with dissatisfied customers. Additionally, you can open up to a more honest dialogue about the company's problems through the intranet or through management presentations.

2. Establish a group that is at the forefront of change. Try to get stakeholders and mid-level leaders to support the changes and mention them in a positive way to the employees. This may contribute to spreading a positive spirit about the changes. If the middle managers and stakeholders are not positive towards changes, resistance to change will often increase until it suppresses the initiatives. Kotter describes four characteristics, which are essential when creating a team that is at the forefront of change.

• The first one is about the power of positions. Are enough key players included, particularly line managers?
• The second point is about expertise. Diversity in the team composition is important in the form of discipline, skills, and experience.
• The third point concerns credibility: does the group consist of enough people with a good reputation, so that they will be well-received by the rest of the company.
• The final point is about management: does the group consist of employees with management experience, so that the team is capable of managing changes?

3. Formulate a vision and a strategy for the change process. The vision may be expressed in a short and concise strategy that is easy to follow. It has to be easy for employees and customers to understand the strategy. A vision is a picture of the future, which leads the company towards the goal. It is a good idea to appeal to both intelligence and emotions in the presentation of the strategy.

In a change process, the formulation of a vision has the following three purposes:

• A clearly defined overall goal both frames and simplifies several other detailed objectives and decisions associated with the change.
• The vision serves as a motivational factor for the employees.
• A clear vision is essential for the coordination of many individuals, structures, and processes of change.

The strategy for change is precisely formulated objectives, which aim to achieve the vision. It is thus a means to achieve the end; the vision. The strategy is one way, in which management is able to build a bridge between the status quo and the safety involved, and a way for the company to demonstrate the need for change. The strategy is usually very process-oriented and formulated to ensure a clear understanding of the organization.

4. Communicate the vision verbally and through actions. It is important that management is at the forefront of change and talks about the vision and strategy for change. At the same time, the management's actions have to reflect the change, as it serves as a great indicator of its necessity.

The change vision gets surprisingly little attention in many organisations. This is seen in the light of the communication in the company. Thus, it is of great importance for the implementation of the strategy, that the vision is simple, specific, and easy to carry out in practice.

Below is a list of seven important parameters for effectively communicating the vision:

• Simple and easy to understand. It is important that the vision does not contain ambiguities or other elements that can be interpreted differently.
• Metaphors present the core elements of the vision.
• Communication has to occur in several forums between members of the organization. As such, it can be communicated in various ways.
• Repetition of the vision is important for the implementation.
• Management has to be a frontrunner and show the importance of action to the other employees in the company.
• Explain apparent inconsistencies between action and strategy. It is important to articulate contradictions and inconsistencies to support credible communication.
• Focus on two-way communication, as this supports employee involvement in the change process.

5. Remove the resistance to change by changing the structures and factors that work against change. Include the employees in this process and encourage them to present their ideas and take initiatives.

The following four barriers to change are important to take into account when management has to respond to and eliminate resistance toward change:

• Inflexible formal structures limit the possible actions.
• Managers do not recognise actions that are intended to implement the new vision.
• Lack of necessary resources and skills.
• Information systems that do not support the new change, and impede new routines and behaviors.

Through awareness of the above, it is possible to create the conditions for increased employee engagement and understanding of the vision.

6. Create visible results quickly to make the benefits of change visible. Plan results that can be implemented quickly and reward those employees who have contributed. Results in an early phase of the change process are important for the progress and motivate employees. Furthermore, it is also a way to demonstrate the need for change. Conversely, the change can stagnate if the changes are taking too long to produce results. Therefore, it is important that the management sets up some sub-objectives for the process, in order for the progress and achievements to be recognized.

An achieved sub-objective has the following three characteristics:

• Visibility: The subobjective has to be visible to all employees involved in the change process. It has to be clear to everyone that the goal has been achieved.
• Unambiguity: It is important that it is indisputable whether the sub-objectives have been achieved or not.
• Correlation between the sub-objectives and their significance for the change: It is important for the employees' commitment and continued involvement in the process that there is a clear correlation between the effort and the final result.

7. Maintain improvements and change process by using the credibility and feeling of success, which the achieved results have provided. However, it is important to note that the recognition of sub-objectives can ruin the feeling of necessity and stop the continuing change.

Changes usually have consequences for other elements in the organization. This complicates the change initiatives, as it is not possible to isolate individual elements. Instead, one is forced to change the whole organisation at once, and this requires a significant amount of patience. It also means that more change projects are in focus at the same time.

In order to ensure the maintenance of the improvements, it is necessary that management is focused on the overall strategy for the company, while the responsibility for change projects is delegated. This also helps to ensure that as many people as possible become involved in the process.

8. Anchoring new working methods in the organizational culture is of great importance in order to maintain the changes, and the process itself is important for the change to become a success. A phase does not have to be completed for the next one to be initiated, as long as they commence one at a time.

Shared values, and thus the organizational culture, are more difficult to change than norms of behavior, as they are less visible and deeply embedded in the culture. If the changes contradict the organizational culture, these are difficult to implement long term. Thus, it is important to be aware that you have to anchor changes in the culture and the shared values that define the organizational culture. Furthermore, changes in the corporate culture often require a necessity to replace key personnel who maintain old values and behaviours.