Organisational Change And Tuckman's Model Of Team Development Essay.

Types and challenges of organisational change

The developmental procedure of reduction and transformation that occurs within the internal environment of an organization is called as organisational change (Cimini et al.,2020). The organizational changes are dynamic and drastic with the ability to completely transform the operations of the organization and gradually altering the processes.  The changes in the organization whether external or internal overall affects the functioning of the organization. Organizational change is of different forms that can consists of change in the structure of company, strategy, processes, policies, or technology (Warner & Wager, 2019). The change could be planned for years or imposed on an organisation due to a change in the environment. At times, it is required for the organization to undergo changes for adapting new and improvised strategies for the betterment. The main purpose of organizational change is to successfully adapt new processes, products, corporate strategies while focusing in minimising negative consequences (Li et al., 2021).

Change in an organization affects employees from different level of hierarchies and even minor staffs (Rajamohan et al., 2019). It is one of the crucial elements for growing and evolving in the everchanging market. However, management faces challenges in identifying the challenges like conflicts, planning, lack of communication, and resistance while implementing changes.

Change is not familiar to anyone and it can rise feelings of fear, frustration and uncertainty. Employees can be resistant to adapt to new changes implemented in the organization (Duchek, 2020). There can be difference of opinion, lack of confidence and integrity. People do not want new changes as it will disrupt their older habits. Amidst conflict, the organization might fail to identify the benefit brought in by the changes as a whole. Employees with low morale can act as a barrier to organizational changes (Kiesnere & Baumgartner, 2019).

Change can only be implemented with proper planning and strategies. Without proper planning, change can bring in downfall rather than benefits. It is important to understand the new changes that need to be made and how the changes will take place.

An organization is made up of a number of employees to whom it is answerable. Employees are always eager to know what changes are being executed and whether it has a positive or negative impact. Lack of communication from the end of the employers make the employees feel undervalued which leads to friction within the organization.

Competition is prevalent in the market and it is essential for organization to introduce current changes to exist in the market. Failing to change might affect the company’s ability to sustain in the market place. Even though the employees differ in opinion and show resistance in welcoming changes in the organization. Resistance to evolve is a prime reason for which organizations fail to change. Organisational change reactions can range from objection to compliance to enthusiastic endorsement, with the latter being the exception rather than the standard.

As per the Tuckman's model, connections progress as the maturity and ability of the team increases and style of leadership changes in leaders (Vaida & Serban, 2021). In 1965, Tuckman formulated a Team development model that has five stages: Forming, Norming, Storming, Performing and Adjourning (Jones, 2019). The model defines the stages that teams move upwards from the beginning till the completion of one project, and the concerned factors that can be responsible for the failure of the team or project. Moneyball is a movie that portrays team development and is used as an example to be discussed in the Tuckman five stages of team development.

Impact of change on employees

The initial procedure of enduring up the team’s framework collectively is referred as the forming stage (Neville, 2019).  Due to the immense need to be accepted and approved by the group, the members of the team feel uncertain and conflict is kept at bay. In the first stage, there is higher reliance on the part of the leader for leadership, instruction and guidance. The leader must be available with the necessary information and willing to response to the several interrogation that will be hurled at her or him through the entire stage; boundaries, abilities, and flaws will be evaluated and of the leader’s..

In the movie, Moneyball when The Oakland Athletics baseball team was a strong team yet lost against Yankees the elimination game, the players in the team wanted to depart. Beane, the general manager, aimed to establish a competitive team in replacement of the players. Brand, an economics graduate was hired by Beane as an assistant athletic manager in forming a team of scouts that are undervalued but are high on base percentage. Initially there was uncertainty and obstacles faced by Beane in developing a new team within and outside the team for adoption of traditional style.

This stage emerges as the process of structuring activities and procedures uncovers interpersonal tensions. It is driven by leadership, knowledge, power, and composition. People begin to challenge the boundaries during the storming stage (Cresswell Yeager T, 2020). Team members may face or encounter conflict or tension as one of their personalities – and preferrable working methods that appear and bump into others.

In the Moneyball, the team members were initially dismissive towards the ideologies of Beanie for scouting players and played poorly. Beane as a general manager of the team was visible about the defined roles, expectations and responsibilities. He was able to explain his vision and strategy to the Athlectic manager. Slowly and steadily, the performance improved, the team members started to get along and find the ways best suited for them.

In norming, the members of the team are originating new methods or techniques to work and interconnect with other members. Leadership concentrated within one member moves to collective leadership with the enhancement of group cohesion. Working of the shared responsibility of the leadership, the members of the team must learn to develop trust among themselves.

Beane, the general manager always refrained from attending the games. He had a superstition of not even following the game as he believed that the team might lose. In those times, the team worked hard and shared a role of collective leadership.

Performing stage of growth of team members is distinguish by interconnection. Individuals adapt to meet the needs of different team members to form a team that is flexible in nature. The stage is active in bringing positive changes professionally and personally. Group members mainly emphasizes on achieving common goals after the establishment of roles and regulations. been established, and they often achieve exceptionally high levels of achievement. By this stage, team members are competent, self-sufficient, capable of taking decisions without guidance or supervision. Criticism is anticipated and welcomes till it is directed through an acceptable channel.

Overcoming resistance to change

In Moneyball, Beane went to watch the game of Oakland against royals after persuasion of his family members to watch the match after the 19^th win of Oakland. The Oakland team was leading with 11/0 however, with the arrival of Beane, the team continues to lose score and Royals equals the score. Due to walk-off home run arranged by Hatteberg, the athletics were able to win it for the 20^th time in a row. Beane was satisfied with his and Brand’s demonstration of values and methods.

At the stage of Adjourning, the members of the team are willing to move forward causing substantial changes in the structure of the team, purpose or integration. The group comes to adjourn, after the satisfactory completion of the job and achievement of the group purpose. The team undergoes through stages of adjustment and alteration. By this step, the team learns to work efficiently and require certain amount of tenure for accessing the sensibility of change and termination.

The team in Moneyball managed to triumph the American league West although fails to win to the Minnesota Twins in the American League Division Series. Beane, the general manager is disappointed with the loss and sees it as a failed venture while Brand encourages him about the home run. The Athletic team eventually adjourned. Beane declines the offer of Red Sox to be the highest paid manager and at the end the Red Sox wins 2004 world series by implementing the same model of Athletics.

Adapt to changes in organization is important as it helps in being able to survive in the dynamic market. Few recommendations for adapting change methods are:

• Leadership- A leader always aims at helping the team to grow, develop and move towards the objective set. A weak leader or leader with no vision will fail to bring in change in the organization and gain support of the employees. Employees tend to follow an able leader for future direction and guidance. Failing to do so may lead to incapability of the organization to acquire change.
• Communication- Decisions about organizational changes are passed down from top management to employees. The information received by the employees might be unclear and requires transparent clear frequent communication between the employers and employees.
• Negotiation- Every member in the team has a specific view point. However, all can be accumulated but cannot be implemented. Hence, the objectives can be negotiated and settled down with the approval of all.
• Team Work- A team can win or succeed only with a co-operative approach. Everyone in the team must understand the goal and work towards it instead of having individual approach. Team work can facilitate growth for the organization and leads to collaborative viewpoint. However, a team that fails to have cohesiveness will not be able to adjust to changes due to disparity in thought processes.
• Goal Setting- The goals must be outlined clearly to the employees of the organization for having a clarity. It also enables the employees to understand the expectations of the employers out of them.
• Relationships- Employees are an asset to the organization and they must not be undervalued. It is essential to strengthen the bond between each and every employee with their organization to enhance organizational commitment. Feelings of dissatisfaction can lead to failure in organizational changes.
• Conflict Management- Leaders must step up to resolve conflict within the organization if any exists. Employees must be rigid in admiring the objective of the organization. However, they must be listened, their opinions to be incorporated and conflicts to resolve.

Conclusion

It can be concluded that to bring changes in organization is not an easier job. It requires a lot of effort, vision, planning and strategies for successfully implementing changes. The team has to go through various stages to be encased in one single group with one valued objective to look forward. Tuckman steps of team development can be followed to identify the evolvement of team connections and outlook. However, there can be discrepancies within the team members which can be resolved by the active participation of the leader with clear goals in mind and guidance.

References

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Duchek, S. (2020). Organizational resilience: a capability-based conceptualization. Business Research, 13(1), 215-246. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40685-019-0085-7

Jones, D. (2019). The Tuckman’s Model Implementation, Effect, and Analysis & the New Development of Jones LSI Model on a Small Group. Journal of Management, 6(4). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3525281

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Neville, M. R. (2019). Group Development in Natural Resource Collaboration in the Crown of the Continent: Forming, Storming, Norming & Performing. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/grad_portfolios/12/

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