Reflection On Change Management Process: A Case Study In IT Company Essay.

The process and factors of significance

Discuss about the case study for Reflection on Change Management Process.

Change management process is very complicated and it needs commitment from all the stakeholders of the organization from top to bottom of the organizational vertical. The process from inception to the execution and subsequent continuous improvement needs a strategic approach and the current discussion is about this approach and the possible typical considerations to be considered in devising a change management process.  Also discussion is made in reference to IT company change management process.

The process and factors of significance:

Factors to be considered for critical evaluation during the change management implementation process:

Change management is a critical task, and the outcome of that will depend on the collective action of different stakeholders of the organization and their commitment towards the change. Hence during the implementation, the sentiments of the stakeholders involved in the change process need to be considered. Firstly, a right motivation is to be provided to all the stakeholders involved in the process, their sentiments and the concerns towards the change to be considered. Incase, if there are any differences they need to be mitigated at the outset. Once these basic tasks performed, the actual change implementation process needed to be initiated. Other important aspects to be considered are the strategic plan and the phases in which the change management need to be performed. A well designed operational plan is to be kept ready before the actual implementation of the change management process. Feasibility of the change, stakeholders empathy towards the change, possible outcomes of the change are some of the several factors to be considered for critical evaluation before the actual change implementation process. Other factors of importance are the time span of the implementation process, resources required for change actual strategic plan of a change process. All of them need to be critically evaluated during the change management implementation process (UOW, 1988).

In a real IT company scenario – typical approval by the top managerial committees, employees consideration and analysis of the outcomes, etc. need to be considered in the change implementation process.

Critical success factors:

There are several factors to be considered for the complete success and effectiveness of a change process at any organization(Hall,2006). Any way the typical success factors needed for a change management in an IT organization are as follows

1. Visibility: There should be complete transparency in the way the change management is proceeding, there should be a clear and visible plan for the change management and all stakeholders should able to perceive what actually is going in the organization in this setup.

Inferences to an IT Company

2. Accountability: There should be responsibility towards the changes planned and being incorporated in the system, the stakeholders should able to know what is going on and they are responsible for the changes and the outcomes of the changes.

3. Measurability: A well-established system of metrics of the consequences of the changes in the organization is very much important and the system should be followed in complete agreement with the change expectations.

4. Continous improvement: Identification of the gaps in the systems and the rectification of the gaps from time to time are very much essential for keeping the system on track and to achieve the ultimate envisioned success (Margulies, 1973).

Typical inferences can be acceptance by the employees, co-operation for change implementation, readiness for taking in the accountability for the change management process etc. Other factors can be implementation of the changed system performance in terms of reduction in the operational delays, increased customer satisfaction index towards new change process, sustenance of the change in terms of employees and customer feedback and of course the system performance as per the expectations.

Visibility of the change management/Transparency may be resisted or may be hindered, by means of poor communication and poor collaboration of the stakeholders involved in the change process. Confusion and ambiguity and subsequent apathy towards the change initiatives are the likely symptoms of the resistance (Dent,1999).

Accountability lacking can materialize due to the poor commitment on part of top management. Lack of commitment and the lack of planning or poor planning can be symptoms of resistance to accountability

Metrics can be implemented only with the acceptance of the system under control, employees and the system should be evaluated for the change in the psychology or temperament or any particular change behavior with only the particular stakeholder agreement. Resistance towards the metrics or poor outcomes of the metrics can be result of the resistance in this domain.

Continuous improvement is possible only with a well-established system of proactive change. Every aspect of the system should support the change and should contribute for positive change. Pro-activity and positivity are the need of the hour and failure of feedback and control is the symptom that can be directly attributed to the resistance of the contributors (Lewis, 2010).

Figure 1 Graphical representation - Change management:

Phase-1: Defining the objectives – Visibility/Transparency

Phase-2: Strategy operational plan - Accountability

Phase-3: Implementation – Metrics

Phase-4: Sustenance – Continuous improvement

Conclusion:

Change management process is very critical for the success of an organizational change implementation. Apart from commitment a systematic strategic operational plan is required. With due consideration to all the possible resistances and other organizational problems that may surface during the process, organizational change can be implemented.

References:

University of Warwick. Centre for Corporate Strategy and Change. (1988).The management of strategic change. A. M. Pettigrew (Ed.). B. Blackwell.

Hall, G. E., & Hord, S. M. (2006). Implementing change: Patterns, principles, and potholes.

Dent, E. B., & Goldberg, S. G. (1999). Challenging “resistance to change”.The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 35(1), 25-41.

Margulies, N., & Wallace, J. (1973). Organizational change: techniques & applications. Good Year Books.

Lewis, E., Romanaggi, D., & Chapple, A. (2010). Successfully managing change during uncertain times. Strategic HR Review, 9(2), 12-18.