Week 3: Overcoming Obstacles to Change and Why Change is Imperative

Week 3: Overcoming Obstacles to Change and Why Change is Imperative

Introduction

Have you ever experienced people resisting a change you communicated to them? How did you handle the situation? Did you try to convince them? Communicating a change needs to be planned. You also need to understand the reasons that may lead to resistance, which, in turn, leads to failure of organizational change.

There are various action steps that you as a manager can take to overcome resistance to change. This week, you will learn about these action steps. You will also learn how to diagnose organizational changes.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this week, you will be able to:

• Evaluate the importance of diagnosis and planning in organizational change efforts
• Evaluate the reasons for failure in organizational change
• Synthesize the components required for effective organizational change

Learning Resources

Please read and review this week’s Learning Resources before you complete the Discussion.

Reading

• Course Text: Champions of Change: How CEOs and Their Companies Are Mastering the Skills of Radical Change
• Chapter 5, “Winning Hearts and Minds: Overcoming the Obstacles to Change”
• • Chapter 5 explains the most common types of corporate change and the inevitable resistance of employees to organizational change. The chapter also offers techniques for overcoming resistance to change.

    Focus on the 12 action steps that successful leaders have used to manage transitions in their organizations.

  • Chapter 6, “Setting the Stage: Recognizing the Change Imperative”

    Chapter 6 focuses on the five phases of organizational change. The chapter also describes the substantive tools and techniques that may be used in these five phases.

    Focus on the vital sources—internal data, benchmarking, frontline employees, and the workforce at large—on which the success of any diagnostic process depends.

  1. Discussion – Week 3

  COLLAPSE

  Changes take place in every organization. There are three challenges that leaders in any organization face when managing change: Instability, uncertainty, and stress. In response to these three challenges and to overcome resistance to change, 12 action steps have been developed. In this Discussion, you will address the action steps you witnessed in your organization.

  In your initial posting, please address the following:

  Given a change initiative that you witnessed in your current or former organization, identify how the action steps either matched or fell short of the action steps identified in Chapter 5, “Winning Hearts and Minds: Overcoming the Obstacles to Change,” in Champions of Change. Please address each action step in your answer.

  With these thoughts in mind:

Week 3: Overcoming Obstacles to Change and Why Change is Imperative

Introduction

Have you ever experienced people resisting a change you communicated to them? How did you handle the situation? Did you try to convince them? Communicating a change needs to be planned. You also need to understand the reasons that may lead to resistance, which, in turn, leads to failure of organizational change.

There are various action steps that you as a manager can take to overcome resistance to change. This week, you will learn about these action steps. You will also learn how to diagnose organizational changes.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this week, you will be able to:

• Evaluate the importance of diagnosis and planning in organizational change efforts
• Evaluate the reasons for failure in organizational change
• Synthesize the components required for effective organizational change