You have learnt so far that change is the process of moving from the current state to the desired state (vision) of future (Fig.). Making a change involves moving the work force in organisations and its work culture in line with the strategies, structure, processes and systems to achieve the desired state(vision).
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| The Process of Change |
The existing situation signifies the prevailing status at a point of time of what the organisations looks like. The desired situation is the status which one desires to prevail; it is also called the vision. The vision of an organisation helps in clarifying
• What do we want to become?
• How much needs to change?
• What the organisation should look like when the change is completed?
The transition state may be delineated by ascertaining the activities and processes necessary to transform the organisation from its current state to the desired state. It is a road map for specifying the activities, crucial interventions and events during the transition period. For making an organisation to change from the existing state to the desired state, some ‘force’ has to be applied.
Successful Change – The Three Step Model
In the three-step model (Fig.), successful change in an organisation follows three steps: Unfreezing, intervening and refreezing.
• What do we want to become?
• How much needs to change?
• What the organisation should look like when the change is completed?
The transition state may be delineated by ascertaining the activities and processes necessary to transform the organisation from its current state to the desired state. It is a road map for specifying the activities, crucial interventions and events during the transition period. For making an organisation to change from the existing state to the desired state, some ‘force’ has to be applied.
Successful Change – The Three Step Model
In the three-step model (Fig.), successful change in an organisation follows three steps: Unfreezing, intervening and refreezing.
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| The Three Step Model for Successful Change |
Let us discuss them, in brief.
1. Unfreezing
When a product, service or profit is in a deteriorating stage, maintaining a ‘steady state’ is not possible in the face of rapid changes. Therefore,change has to be introduced in a planned way to improve the status quo.This is called de-freezing or unfreezing. It aims at changing the existing equilibrium and creating motivation to change using mechanisms like
• lack of confirmation or disconfirmation,
• sharing one’s concerns and perceptions frankly,
• removing barriers of communications,
• induction of guilt and anxiety and creation of threats by reducing psychological safety,
• presentation of alternative scenarios, etc.
In case of any change, the effort is likely to be met with individual/collective resistance, which must be overcome. Status quo is maintained when the following two types of forces are in balance in an organisation (Fig. 5.8):
• Driving forces, which prompt change and drive away from the status quo, and
• Restraining forces, which hinder the movement.
When a product, service or profit is in a deteriorating stage, maintaining a ‘steady state’ is not possible in the face of rapid changes. Therefore,change has to be introduced in a planned way to improve the status quo.This is called de-freezing or unfreezing. It aims at changing the existing equilibrium and creating motivation to change using mechanisms like
• lack of confirmation or disconfirmation,
• sharing one’s concerns and perceptions frankly,
• removing barriers of communications,
• induction of guilt and anxiety and creation of threats by reducing psychological safety,
• presentation of alternative scenarios, etc.
In case of any change, the effort is likely to be met with individual/collective resistance, which must be overcome. Status quo is maintained when the following two types of forces are in balance in an organisation (Fig. 5.8):
• Driving forces, which prompt change and drive away from the status quo, and
• Restraining forces, which hinder the movement.
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| Driving and Restraining Forces |
These competing forces should be identified for effecting change in an organisation. While the driving forces ought to be intensified/added,restraining forces should be removed / weakened. Moreover, both strategies should be followed simultaneously.This technique, called the force field analysis, is explained in Box .
Box : Force Field Analysis
2. Intervening
The steps to be taken for carrying out the desired change should be planned considering all aspects: tasks, technology, structure and human resources. Since any organisation is composed of these four inter-related and interdependent components, the impact of the changes should be anticipated and examined. New responses should be developed by providing new information.
3. Refreezing
The change interventions start making the desired impact in due course of time and need to be stabilised. Refreezing stabilises a change intervention by balancing the forces which have created the desired changes (driving forces) and those, which are inhibiting the changes (restraining forces). For rapid and deep change, the forces applied should be strong, the direction should be clear and the force should be applied inthe right direction. This stage helps in stabilising and integrating the changes. This is attained by integrating the new responses into persons and into significant ongoing relationships through reconfirmation.
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