Positive+Strategies+For+Implementing+Change

= Positive Strategies for Implementing Change =

//Change//:- to alter or make different; to put one thing for another; to shift; to quit one state for another. (Webster Dictionary 1991)

Change occurs every day to all of us. It can have no affect on our day to day lives or can have a major affect. Change is introduced for many reasons, some obvious and some less so. The impact of any change depends a great deal on how it is implemented.

Implementing any form of change requires the full engagement of those affected. Engagement is more than having respect for those responsible for the change; it is more than having a parrot like view of the strategy. Engagement is being able to understand the concept and the big picture. It is being able to see the change occur from the beginning through to the end and then beyond.

Successful and positive change requires a step by step approach. One approach that many businesses and schools adopt is John P Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model.

__Step 1. Create Urgency__ Identify and discuss crises, potential crises or major opportunities

__Step 2. Form a Powerful Coalition__ Assemble people who will lead through the change effort and work together as a team.

__Step 3. Create a vision for change__ Develop strategies for achieving vision

__Step 4. Communicate the vision__ Use every vehicle possible to communicate the new vision, and teach new behaviours by the example of the powerful coalition.

__Step 5. Remove Obstacles__ Encourage risk taking and non traditional ideas, activities, actions. Modify systems or structures that undermine the vision.

__Step 6. Create Short –term wins__ <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; marginbottom: 0pt; marginleft: 0cm; marginright: 0cm; margintop: 0cm;">Plan for visible improvements, recognise and reward those involved in those improvements.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; marginbottom: 0pt; marginleft: 0cm; marginright: 0cm; margintop: 0cm;">__Step 7. Build on the change__ <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; marginbottom: 0pt; marginleft: 0cm; marginright: 0cm; margintop: 0cm;">Use increased credibility to change systems or structures that don’t fit the vision. Hire, promote those that can implement the vision.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; marginbottom: 0pt; marginleft: 0cm; marginright: 0cm; margintop: 0cm;">__Step 8. Anchor the change in corporate culture__ <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; marginbottom: 0pt; marginleft: 0cm; marginright: 0cm; margintop: 0cm;">Develop the means to ensure leadership development and success. Articulate the connections between the new behaviours and the success. John P Kotter on What Leaders Really Do. John P. Kotter Harvard Business Review Book 1999 <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; marginbottom: 0pt; marginleft: 0cm; marginright: 0cm; margintop: 0cm;">Successful change is more than a set of activities or tools – it is a way of working and thinking. It is being mindful of those that the change will affect. For change to be truly lasting and effective the human input needs to be great and varied.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; marginbottom: 0pt; marginleft: 0cm; marginright: 0cm; margintop: 0cm;">//Useful Resources//

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; marginbottom: 0pt; marginleft: 0cm; marginright: 0cm; margintop: 0cm;">Kotters 8 step change model

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; marginbottom: 0pt; marginleft: 0cm; marginright: 0cm; margintop: 0cm;">Implementing a change model

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; marginbottom: 0pt; marginleft: 0cm; marginright: 0cm; margintop: 0cm;">Choosing strategies for change - Kotters business review