Change Management: Understanding the Role of Change Agents and Strategies, Slides of Education Planning And Management

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Planned Change

Paula Ponder MSN, RN, CEN

Objectives

• Discuss reasons for change
• Define change agent
• Discuss change agent strategies
• Review the natural and expected response to change

Change

• Change is inevitable
• Organizational change can be driven by many forces
• Change is seldom easy
• Leadership skills
  • To make sure that the change we are going thru isn’t sabatoged
• Re-energizing and empowering a workforce.
  • Who better to ask how to change things for the better than the people actually working, doing the job
• Historically change has been viewed as coming from the top down, but new research shows that this kind of change doesn’t work well.

Change

• Planned change – intended, purposeful attempt or proactive plan by an individual (change agent) or group to create something new - Well thought out, deliberate, initiated and coordinated, require well developed leadership. Require visions and expert planning skills. Vision is your future goal, the painting of what you want it to be. An organization will never be better than the vision that guides it, different than a mission.
• Unplanned change or change by drift – occurs without any control or effort

Change

• Change agent – a person skilled in the theory and implementation of planned change, synonymous with the phrase “change facilitator,” usually an outsider (because they’re not biased and the organization won’t have as much resentment for the outsider)
• Champion – to support, coordinate, and market the change at all levels of the organization. May or may not be outsiders, taken aside and taught all the stuff about the change in advance, and sent back out to us to explain it and gather support. Like cheerleaders

Lewin’s Force Field Analysis

• Kurt Lewin (1951) identified three phases that the change agent must initiate before a planned change can occur
• A successful change involves three elements:
  • Unfreezing
  • Movement
  • Refreezing

Data from Lewin (1947, 1951). Still the basis for how we change things now

Lewin’s Model

• Refreezing – the change agent assists in stabilizing the system change so that is becomes integrated into the status quo. Change agent is out there being supportive, helping people adapt, making sure you have the tools you need to sustain the change, making sure you have the reasons and that you know why, making sure everything is stable. Usually takes about 3 – 6 months. We should never attempt a change unless that change agent can stay there the entire time.

• Change agents must be patient and open to new opportunities during refreezing, as complex change takes time and several different attempts may be needed before desired outcomes are achieved.

Change Agents

Seven Phases of the Change Process

• Diagnosis of the problem
• Assessment of motivation and capacity to change
• Assessment of the change agent’s motivation and resources
• Selection of progressive change objectives

Data from Lippitt (1973).

Seven Phases of the Change Process

• Choosing an appropriate role for the change agent
• Maintaining the change once it started
• Termination of the helping relationship with the change agent

Data from Lippitt (1973).

• Complexity science argues that the world is complex, as are the individuals who operate within it. - Simple is following a recipe, and complicated is sending a rocket into space, but complex is raising a child. If you think about raising a child, there is no specific formula and you have to adapt to each child differently, it’s a moving growing thing, and you learn on the job. You follow general guidelines but sometimes these are changed with experience.
• Thus, control and order are emergent rather than predetermined, and mechanistic formulas do not provide the flexibility needed to predict what actions will result in what outcomes.

Complexity Science

Complexity Science Systems

• Linear
  • Result of change is predictable. Ex. Light work is carrying a small bag uphill. It will be harder if we carry a moderate bag up the hill, and it will be even harder carrying an even heavier bag up the hill.
• Non-Linear
  • If we change one factor, it’s not readily predictable, but still replicable (not every time, but sometimes). It may be harder to carry the heavier bag, but it may not be. Sometimes a small change in A results in no change in B, or a huge change in B, it just depends.
• Random
  • Exactly what it says… Even if the same starting circumstances are replicated, the results are different every subsequent time.

• Chaos theory is really about finding the underlying order in apparently random data.
• Chaos theory also suggests that even small changes in conditions can drastically alter a system’s long- term behavior, commonly known as the butterfly effect.
• In a code, everything appears to be very chaotic, but is there not things that are happening that should happen? We’re giving drugs, doing CPR, etc. There is underlying order in the chaos.
• Can drastically change the behavior or the long term effects on a system.

Chaos Theory

Rules That Should Be Followed in

Implementing Change:

• Change should only be implemented for good reason.
• Change should always be gradual.
• All change should be planned, and not sporadic or sudden.
• All individuals who may be affected by the change should be involved in planning for the change.

Lewin (1951)