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.Accordingto authors Michael Beer and Nitin Nohria, A SWAT team of IvyLeague-educated MBAs, armed with an arsenal of state-of-the-artideas,is brought in to find new ways to look at the business and man-age it.The consultants can help CEOs get a fix on urgent issues andpriorities.They also offer much-needed political and psychologicalsupport for CEOs who are under fire from financial markets. 7Theory O change programs, in contrast, rely far less on consult-ants.Instead, consultants act as expert resources who prepare andempower employees to do the heavy lifting of change, includingbusiness analysis and the crafting of solutions.This is, in effect, whathappened in General Electric s famous Work Out initiative of thelate 1980s a prototypical Theory O change program.That programaimed to stamp out bureaucracy (which CEO Jack Welch loathed)and reshape the operating units to behave more like entrepreneurialsmall companies.Consultants had the job of organizing New Englandstyle town meetings for each of the company s operating units.Small groups of employees were invited to these meetings,where con-sultants facilitated discussion between bosses and employees on howeach group s business could be improved. 051-068 HBE-MCT C4 3rd 10/15/02 12:25 PM Page 67Implementation 67Thus, the best approach to using consultants is bound to beheavily situational.If the goal is restructuring, change consultantscan and should play a major role they have very specializedknowledge and experience for these rare events.But if the changeinvolves changing how people work, put your own people inchange and use consultants as facilitators.Summing UpThis chapter addressed the all-important phase of implementationin a change program.Without effective implementation, all thefront-end analysis, strategizing, and planning will be a waste of timeand money.Six activities were identified as essential for implementation:1.Enlisting the support and involvement of key people. Thismeans assembling a team with the right blend of skills, author-ity, resources, and leadership.2.Crafting a good implementation plan. Remember to keep itsimple, flexible, divided into achievable chunks, and with clearlydefined roles and responsibilities.3.Supporting the plan with consistent behaviors. Make sure thatmanagement walks the talk. 4.Developing enabling structures. This means training, pilotprograms, and alignment of the rewards system with yourchange goals.5.Celebrating milestones. Identify important milestones in theproject and celebrate them when they are reached.6.Communicating relentlessly. Tell them why, tell them how, andtell them often.Do these well and you ll tilt the odds of success in your favor.The role of consultants was also discussed in this chapter.Exactly 051-068 HBE-MCT C4 3rd 10/15/02 12:25 PM Page 6868 Managing Change and Transitionhow consultants should participate is generally a function of the typeof change you re aiming for." If the change is restructuring, with the purchase, sale, and/orconsolidation of units, consultants will play a large role." If the change involves how people work together, companypersonnel should be prepared to carry the burden of leadership. 069-082 HBE-MCT C5 3rd 10/15/02 9:56 AM Page 695Social and Human FactorsReactions to ChangeKey Topics Covered in This Chapter" The rank and file, and how they respond tochange" Change resisters, and how to deal with them" Change agents the people who can makethings happen 069-082 HBE-MCT C5 3rd 10/15/02 9:56 AM Page 70rgani zati ons are inherently social systems.Thepeople in these systems have identities, relationships,Ocommunities, attitudes, emotions, and differentiatedpowers.So when you try to change any part of the system, all ofthese factors come into play, adding many layers of complexity to achange process.Successful management of change requires that yourecognize the primacy of people factors and the social systems inwhich they operate.The rank and file, the resisters, and the change agents are thethree sets of players typically encountered in a change initiative.Each has unique characteristics, and each requires a different styleof management.The Rank and FileIf you ve spent much time observing life in the forest, you ve proba-bly noticed how animals establish routines.Deer, for example, createpaths between their daytime sleeping areas and the streams, fields,and meadows where they look for food and water after dark.Theystick to those paths as long as they are safe and offer few impedimentsto movement.People also develop routines.Think about your own routine on atypical Saturday morning.Sleep until 8.Start a load of laundry.Cookthe nice breakfast you never have time to make during the week.Paythe week s bills.Take the dog for a walk to the park.Chances are that 069-082 HBE-MCT C5 3rd 10/15/02 9:56 AM Page 71Social and Human Factors 71you have routines at work as well.Like the woodland deer, peoplefollow trails that are familiar, comfortable, safe, and satisfying.Andthey aren t eager to change unless given compelling reasons to doso.People also have social routines at work associations withcoworkers that satisfy their needs as social animals and changesthat impinge on those routines are equally unwelcome.Occasional diversions from routines and existing social patternsadd variety and interest which please us.But diversions may alsocreate tension, anxiety, discomfort, and even fear.As the late long-shoreman-philosopher Eric Hoffer wrote in The Ordeal of Change: Itis my impression that no one really likes the new.We are afraid of it. He notes that even small changes from the routine can be upsetting.Back in 1936 I spent a good part of the year picking peas.I started outearly in January in the Imperial Valley [of California] and drifted north-ward,picking peas as they ripened, until I picked the last peas of theseason in June,around Tracy.Then I shifted all the way to Lake County,where for the first time I was going to pick string beans.And I still re-member how hesitant I was that first morning as I was about to addressmyself to the string bean vines.Would I be able to pick string beans?Even the change from peas to string beans had in it elements of fear.In the case of drastic change the uneasiness is of course deeper andmore lasting.We can never be really prepared for that which is whollynew.We have to adjust ourselves and every radical adjustment is a crisisin self-esteem: we undergo a test, we have to prove ourselves.It needs in-ordinate self-confidence to face drastic change without inner trembling.1Certainly no two people feel the same trembling described byHoffer.And some individuals are absolutely energized by change.The Myers-Briggs personality framework addresses this broad spec-trum.At one end of the spectrum, for example, it describes a personwho likes a planned and organized approach to life (a judging per-son).He or she likes things settled.At the other end of the spectrumis the perceiving person who prefers open options and a flexibleand spontaneous approach to life.2 You probably have people repre-senting both types in your organization, and as a manager, you needto learn to deal with the full range of personalities.In particular: 069-082 HBE-MCT C5 3rd 10/15/02 9:56 AM Page 7272 Managing Change and Transition" Think about the people who will participate in your changeinitiative [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]