Who Sees What As a Problem Anyway? Managing and Sustaining Change

1. Who Sees What As a Problem Anyway? Managing and Sustaining Change Kathy Whaley, NECTAC August 2007 Presentation forthe Seventh National Early Childhood Inclusion Institute Chapel Hill, NC

2. Why Would We Want to Change Things? • Generate Progress – “ You can have change without progress, but you can’t have progress without change.” • Experimentation – Changing how work gets done may cause useful learning • Variety – Reduce boredom, repetition and tedious aspects of work • Competitive Edge– Ability to adapt to changing conditions • Innovation–Using creativity and energy • Capitalize on New Information

3. It May Be Inevitable

4. Why Do We Resist Change? All organizational change involves cost • Human energy changes in response to a need to cope with adaptation • Disruptions in organizational processes, communication patterns and functioning • Time for transitioning • Increased need for training, supervision and management • Generation of new problems

5. Why Do We Resist Change? Degree of perceived and real loss • Powerlessness and autonomy, loss of control • Not understanding the reason for changes • Lack of meaningfulness • Need for stability and predictability • Disruption of frame of reference, past experiences may not apply • Requirements for learning • Disruption of communication patterns • Role confusion and ambiguity (Jones & Bearley, 1987)

6. So What Should We Do? • Is it the idea being presented OR how the idea is presented? (Resistance VS Feedback) • Anticipate and Plan for the People • Frame change and innovations as a problem-solving process • Analyze their reactions • What is the Extent and Degree of the Change? (Incremental, Re-Orientation or Re-creation) • Understand the problem if it is a problem • Anticipate Consequences • Use models and tools

7. Considerations for Sustaining Change Begin with Planning – WE: • Use intuitive/implicit approaches rather than explicit/planned approaches using conceptual frameworks and tools to plan and organize the specific innovation or broader change. • Focus on how a new practice or service will operate one day without attending to the detailed process of getting there. • Need to determine the specific innovation(s) or practices that need to be addressed to make it more manageable and to highlight how different aspects of the change may need to be handled differently. (Smale, 1996)

8. Unpacking People’s Reactions “So Called” Resistance May Be Negative Feedback to Change Agents and Managers • Their definition of the problem • Their chosen solution • The way they present and manage change

9. What does the Innovation Mean to People? Adapt your Processes and Communication 2005 Changeworks Solutions

10. What does the Innovation Mean to People? Adapt your Processes and Communication 2005 Changeworks Solutions

11. Innovation Trinity Smale (1998)

12. Mapping- Understanding Key Players and Identifying the Significant People • Research show there are significant categories of key players that influence the processes of development, diffusion of innovation and rate of adoption (Rogers, 1983, 1995) • Research on categories and their characteristics are summarized by Smale, 1996, pp.56-62. Examples: Gatekeepers who control the allocation and distribution of resources Product champions are crucial early adopters of new methods and are willing to spread the message to others Opponentsthat are hostile or resistant

13. Mapping the People • Who has to do something differently? • How are significant people responding? • Who is initiating change? • Who is “it” being done to? • Who experiences “what” losses and gains? • Who are the change agents and what is their level of support?

14. Conditions of Change and Implementation Issues help pinpoint the necessary conditions that may be wanting, indicating the need for further exploration of that characteristic of the system CBAM and the Innovation-Decision Process help in understanding the concerns of individuals during different times of a change process in order to know what kinds of information people will need and the best way to provide the information The Attributes of Innovations helps in understanding the most important characteristic of an innovation that influence whether individuals will adopt it and how an innovation’s perceived characteristics might be altered to make it more favorable to adopters. Using Models for Analyzing the Innovation, Understanding the Effects and Determining Strategies Edelman (2005) Understanding Change: Diagnostic and Planning Tools

15. Analyze the Nature of the Proposed Innovation • How to determine how to manage the change? • How to set realistic time frames? goals? • Will adoption and diffusion be easy and quick or hard and slow? • What will be the impact on relationships between people? • Will it involve incremental or radical change? • Where is the innovation at in its stage of development?

16. Understanding the Context • How to minimize and avoid potential conflict? • What about the culture of the organization? • What about the relationship between the organization and the environment with which it interacts? • What about the relationship between significant people within and outside of the organization? • What about other change efforts and initiatives?

17. Considerations for Sustaining Change Begin with Planning – Frame innovation as a problem solving process • Who sees what as a problem? • Be clear about what needs to change. • Address what should stay the same. • Use the knowledge and experience of end users and stakeholders in the analysis and planning. • Will your innovation or proposed change in practice solve the problem? • Have you built in feedback loops to assess the effectiveness • Have you anticipated unintended consequences, new problems and response costs? (Smale, 1996)

18. Elements of a Successful Change Strategy • Sharing information on potential consequences • Allow participation in planning for change • Provide a non evaluative period • Introduce change in logical steps • Allow for time and sequencing • Keep lines of communication open Adapted from Career Track Workshop (1990) – How to Build and Lead Your Team

19. Wrapping up a Lot of Information • Resistance to change is often about loss and not understanding the reasons for change. • Resistance may be a useful feedback and problem-solving opportunity • Break down global notions into discrete innovations. • Look at what does not need to change at the same time you are planning a change. • What stays the same – what needs to change.

20. Wrapping up a Lot of Information • Changing practices will highlight weaknesses in an organization. There may be confusion and decision-making processes and the lines of authority may be unclear. • Support and manage human emotions; find and honor strengths. • Take time and pay attention to the reactions of personnel. • Try to anticipate new problems and possible consequences. • Does the innovation solve the problem? • Evaluate and maintain flexibility.

21. References Edleman, L. (2005). Understanding change: Diagnostic and planning tools. Unpublished materials developed at the JFK Partners at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Osta, K. (2005). Surviving and thriving during change. Presentation at the National ICC Meeting in Washington, DC. Ashville, NC: Vital Clarity Rogers, E.M. (1995). Diffusion of Innovation: Fourth Edition, New York: The Free Press. Rogers, E.M. (1983). Diffusion of Innovation. New York: The Free Press. Smale, G.G. (1998). Managing change through innovation. London: The Stationary Office ISBN 0 11 70244 3 Smale, G.G. (1996). Mapping change and innovation. London: The Stationary Office ISBN 011 702004 4 (You may locate the Smale books by searching google.com, amazon.co.uk.com or Amazon.com)