Change Management Critical Analysis

Week 3 Assignment Introduction Briefly explain the change management initiative. Change management initiative is a logical method of an organization transformation process—based on qualitative and quantitative information—from key stakeholders perspective. When an organization is experiencing a change process, it goes through several phases: acceptance, acclimation and commitment. From this change process, Palmer, Dunford and Akins discuss in Managing Organization Change the six different images of managing change. These images of change are director, navigator, caretaker, coach, interpreter, and nurturer.

Briefly explain the importance of the Images concepts and application to the change management initiative. Change manager as director is based upon achievable outcomes from a manager’s perspective. These images provide managers with the freedom to audible and make the appropriate adjustments to strategic initiatives in order to fulfill a goal and gain results. Change manager as navigator is when external forces set the narrative for change and the manager has to maneuver through obstacles and improvise when necessary to achieve positive outcomes.

Change manager as caretaker is when both external and internal forces limit a manager’s ability to produce results from known or creative efforts. A caretaker results are normally stagnant and becomes only a manager of bureaucratic ideas. Change manager as coach is when a manager orchestrates and instructs an organization strategic agenda on how to execute and produce results. Change manager as interpreter is when a manager effectively communicates key stakeholders agenda within an organization. Change manager as nurturer is when an organization is affected by external forces that severely control the outcome of a manager.

Therefore, a manager comforts and supports an organization by reinforcing a positive attitude, supportive to others, and providing hope. Application Analysis Provide a history of information from your organization or case study that supports the change management initiative. Provide a review of the change management process related to your chosen topic. When my company was going through financial woes due to the U. S. economic downturn in 2009, the CEO and VP of Operations introduced Lean methodology to the company.

The Lean concept was based on continuous improvements for every department and emphasized on producing efficiency and cost reductions. The managers managed the change by coaching and nurturing the strategic change initiative. Each company site had a project manager that was trained in Lean and Six Sigma. In turn, every project manager coached Lean throughout the organization and appointed Lean champions (project Lean coordinators) from every department to execute the strategic agenda. After providing this review of the change, based on how the change was managed, how would you assess the people/person who managed this change?

What Image would you use to describe the change manager(s) style and why? The Lean strategy produced a high production of results and a culture of continuous improvement throughout the organization. Even though the strategy was successful, my company still reduced its workforce by 20%. During this time, the project manager as coach also became the project manager as nurturer. It was extremely difficult to produce results when many employees’ morale was down. Project managers were very influential in encouraging employees to stay focused and weather the economic storm.

This approach made most employees hopeful and positive, which produced positive results. Lessons Learned Briefly explain what you have learned by applying the concept to the strategic change initiative. The concept of strategic change initiative focuses on cross-functional support, effective communication, and a consensus approach to produce positive organizational results. Based on what you learned, explain in some detail how a practicing manager could use this knowledge to better manage change. Change is inevitable for all companies.

A practicing manager could use these six change images technique to fully optimize opportunities. The manager will be able to produce positive outcomes by being an effective leader through adversity. Identify any mistakes that were made in using the change concept and how you would fix the situation. There were some goals that were not achievable due to the reduction in force and environment. The situation could have been fixed by simply doing an employee assessment and modifying the strategic initiative to reflect the actual number of workers. This would have made the goals more achievable.