Reflective Diary in Change Management - Assignment Example

?Introduction The ability to move through change management is one which is considered an essential part of every business. This allows the business to grow and stops gaps from occurring between employees and management. With my own reflections, I have realized that the need to focus on change management within an organization makes a difference with the personal interactions and beliefs about a company, managerial responses and the ability for the organization to respond correctly. I have also realized that the most important part of the change is communicating the right messages on several levels and interchanging this with actions that will benefit the company. By analyzing my own work environment, I have realized that the gaps in a company hinder a business from moving forward, specifically with applications to theories within the work force. Day 1 Reflection DESCRIPTION What happened? I went to my work area as a customer service representative, where I realized that there was a direct association with resistance to change, specifically with my manager’s unwillingness to cooperate with the workers, even for smaller things, like changing a schedule. FEELINGS What were you thinking & feeling? This is aggravating when working and makes the job harder to complete. It reminds me of the square wheel demonstration where resistance from the manager creates frustrations and harder work for others involved. EVALUATION What was good & bad about the experience? BAD – The manager is inflexible and workers are unable to keep the needed pace because of what has happened, making both the employees and organization suffer. GOOD – I can recognize what the environment is and understand that there is a resistance to change from the manager. There is a direct recognition of Maslow’s matrix (Timm, 1993) with the manager needing security of a job. ANALYSIS What sense can you make out of the situation? An organization can’t change unless the resistance from everyone stops. Top managers have to recognize the resistance and be pro-active in the change. CONCLUSION What else could you have done? The only thing employees can do is to try to initiate the change by stating the problem to managers. However, this requires a change in the organizational environment. ACTION PLAN If it arose again what would you do? I can respond by making a statement about the need to change. I can also consider talking to other managers about one or two situations that have arisen to grab their attention about the problem. Reflection Day 2 DESCRIPTION What happened? I have talked to other employees about changing managerial job descriptions. The conclusion which I have drawn comes from the horticultural application of the need to ‘make a change’ within the organization (Jenkins, 2006). FEELINGS What were you thinking & feeling? Urgency first arises with the need to change the organization. This leads into pressure from the awareness of what might happen to my job if change doesn’t occur. I then feel a sense of urgency and begin to communicate with terms such as “We have to start making changes or the organization won’t grow.” EVALUATION What was good & bad about the experience? BAD – The feelings that arise from the need to change are never followed through. The same problems and sense of resistance within the organization continues to arise. GOOD –I can recognize the patterns that are dangerous to an organization, specifically which can help me in the future. ANALYSIS What sense can you make out of the situation? There is a strong difference between thinking about change and communicating with analysis, as opposed to actually going in and making the change. For the message to communicate to a team, each individual has to have the same responses and understanding. CONCLUSION What else could you have done? At this point, there isn’t anything that can be done to change the outcome of the work organization. ACTION PLAN If it arose again what would you do? If an action arose, I would be a part of the plan and make sure to help to implement the change, otherwise the environment can’t change. I believe the employees have as much insight as higher management to tasks, which would assist with the change. Reflection Day 3 DESCRIPTION What happened? I decided to talk to one of the employees about the condition of the customer service representatives and what was occurring in the work space, specifically to gather information about resistance to change. I found that most of the attitudes were a combination of pessimistic and uncaring, similar to the approach which Bingell points out. They were expecting to leave the company, the future of the company wasn’t as important to them and they believed that the management wasn’t willing to change. FEELINGS What were you thinking & feeling? Even though I had talked to others about growing the business, I knew that eventually I would leave. There was a sense of anxiety of what would happen first if I stayed without the change and second if the change made things worse in the environment. EVALUATION What was good & bad about the experience? BAD – I realized that there isn’t really a desire for change from the culture and that the emotional responses of most employees’, are limited. GOOD – I realized that it takes more than wanting to develop and change a specific area for it to happen. There has to be a strategy that comes first from the management which would stop anxiety and uncaring of the company. Similar to the Adkar Change Model, change has to start with individuals, then go into the company to influence other individuals. Unless management were aware of the change, it couldn’t lead to individual initiatives (Hiatt, 2006). ANALYSIS What sense can you make out of the situation? The information which Bingell provides about attitudes and problems within the work environment gives an overview of the dimensions which cause resistance. As one can understand the resistance, it becomes easier to cope with and build a different relationship from others in the company for change. CONCLUSION What else could you have done? There isn’t anything else that can be done as this has to come from higher management. ACTION PLAN If it arose again what would you do? If there was a movement for change, I might resist it until I knew what was happening. Understanding and knowledge is the main way in which this would change my mind and confidence levels. However, with the way that management currently works, it would take a lot of persuasion for the overall organizational environment, specifically from the others which are working in the company. Reflection Day 4 DESCRIPTION What happened? Today I was looking at the different materials on successful and unsuccessful businesses that are able to implement change. I was also looking at the top reasons why businesses fail, realizing that it was the basic communication needed. I began to think about personal and organizational situations. The complications which always arise are based on lack of communication. FEELINGS What were you thinking & feeling? I noticed that there was a personal reaction and recognition of the failures. Lack of skills, lack of management, understanding, effective planning, etc. all began to relate to my own situation (Cunmings, 2009). I began to understand that these each linked to clarity of goals and the communication and interpretation which one had. EVALUATION What was good & bad about the experience? BAD – Most won’t change their communication styles because it is what we have been taught and what we can relate to. GOOD –When recognizing that the main problem links to a lack of communication, I found that I can make my own changes with personal relations and possibly within the job environment that I am in. ANALYSIS What sense can you make out of the situation? If I am in a situation where there are problems with communication, I need to be able to identify this easily. By doing this, there is the ability to stop the resistance and to recognize where the problems are beginning. CONCLUSION What else could you have done? In past situations, I may have not planned or implemented change in the correct manner. To alter this, I could have used more effective management and organization skills and communicated this to others involved. ACTION PLAN If it arose again what would you do? Next time, I will work on the communication and organization before getting others involved. After this, I will be able to work toward effective solutions based on managing change within the organization. Reflection Day 5 DESCRIPTION What happened? I was at a mandatory group meeting at work area for the news and basic updates. An evaluation of how much productivity was done, how customers were responding and what the strengths and weaknesses were of employees was given. Time management and the consistency in scheduling worked; however, there were often negative responses from customers. FEELINGS What were you thinking & feeling? My anxiety and resistance began to grow because I recognized that this problem made employees accountable for the problem when we believed it came from the manager. I also believed this couldn’t be resolved. EVALUATION What was good & bad about the experience? BAD – I didn’t say anything at the meeting, even though I knew the different problems which were associated with the situation. GOOD – I understand that the lack of communication and other dimensions contributed to this main problem. ANALYSIS What sense can you make out of the situation? From the situation, I realized that the management wasn’t aware of the problems which were arising among employees as well as the responses which were being noted among employees. Instead, they were only looking at the basic facts and figures and how this reflected the company. The resistance to change, even among the managers, created a misunderstanding about the environment and the inability to comprehend what was occurring. CONCLUSION What else could you have done? At this time, I could have said something. The management had called the meeting as a reflection of what the company had done. ACTION PLAN If it arose again what would you do? There are other meetings held with the management that are a part of the organization, all which have the same problems and reflections associated with them. I now have the desire to talk with one of the managers about why I believe this is happening with requests for new initiatives to be taken. Reflection of Lewin’s Theory Organization in Crisis: Losing potential profit plus the economic downfall is changing the organization. Employees are dissatisfied with the organization and a sense of anxiety is now a part of this because most believe they will be laid off from the current environment. The employees and management are starting to become strict in terms of policies and the applications that are required by the business, specifically with the hope of saving the business from the economic crisis. When applying Lewin’s theory to this scenario, the actions need to change to save the business. Unfreeze: Communication about what is happening needs to be approached by management and those running the company, specifically with employees that are worried about the changes. Restructure: A plan of action needs to be constructed during this communication to find potential solutions. Command: Management and those who see the potential solutions need to communicate the vision and allow those that are a part of the employment to begin to restructure according to what is expected. Restructure / Open Space: Feedback to the current plan of how to raise the economic status of the company, specifically by listening to the employees. Transition: The management changes the approach to change based on the feedback of employees and the crisis related to the economic downturn. Whole System Planning / Education: Employees and management need to be trained on how to change the environment, as well as understand the plans which are occurring. Combining this with ways that are going to be developed in response to the economic crisis will continue to allow the business to grow and will stop the anxiety from occurring in the organization. The scenario can then be overcome while growth in the business becomes a driving factor. References Cummings, Thomas. (2009). Organization Development and Change. UK: Cengage Learning. Hiatt, Jeffrey. (2006). Adkar: A Model for Change in Business, Government and Our Community. Colorado: Prosci Research. Jenkins, H. (2006). “Small Business Champions for Corporate Social Responsibility.” Journal of Business Ethics 5 (2). Timm, Paul. (1993). People at Work: Human Relations in Organizations New York: West Publishing Company. Read More