Becoming an Effective Change Agent

OVGTSL 2021

Janetta Waterhouse, University at Albany, SUNY

Becoming an Effective Change Agent

• Management and leadership

• Start with you

• Understand individual and organizational change

• Influence

• Communication and conflict

Managers Do Things Right

Management Competencies (from Yukl)

• Supervising

• Planning and organizing

• Decision making

• Monitoring indicators

• Controlling

• Representing

• Coordinating

• Consulting

• Administering

Leaders Do the Right Things

• Getting work done through other people; motivating others to accomplish work directed toward a goal

• According to Kotter: “…more change demands more leadership, which places managers in more complex webs of interaction”

Leadership Competencies(from Muller and Turner)

• Emotional competencies

• Motivation

• Conscientiousness

• Sensitivity

• Influence

• Self-awareness

• Emotional

• Managerial competencies

• Managing resources

• Engaging communication

• Developing

• Empowering

• Achieving

• Intellectual competencies

• Strategic perspective

• Vision and imagination

• Critical analysis and judgement

Leadership Lenses

• Self

• Dyad

• Team

• Social Network

• Elements of change

• Organizational culture

• Change initiative

• Situation

Your Legacy

Emotional Intelligence

• Term defined in 1960’s by Beldoch, made popular in 1990’s by Daniel Goleman

• Defined: the capability of individuals to recognize their own emotions and those of others, discern between different feelings and label them appropriately, use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior, and manage and/or adjust emotions to adapt to environments or achieve one's goal(s) (Wikipedia)

Components of Emotional Intelligence

Self Management

• Self awareness

• Self regulation

• Motivation

Relationship Management

• Empathy

• Social skill

Components of Emotional Intelligence(Goleman; Bradberry and Greaves)

• Self awareness – the ability to recognize and understand your moods, emotions, and drives, as well as their effect on others

• Self regulation – the ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods; the propensity to suspend judgment – to think before acting

• Motivation – a passion to work for reasons that go beyond money or status; a propensity to pursue goals with energy and persistence

• Empathy – the ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people; skill in treating people according to their emotional reactions

• Social skills – a proficiency in managing relationships and building networks; an ability to find common ground and build rapport

Shaw’s 9 Components of Emotional Competence

• Ability to deal constructively with reality

• Ability to adapt to change

• Relative freedom from excessive anxiety or tension

• Ability to find satisfaction in both giving and receiving

• Ability to form and maintain close relationships

• Wisdom to differentiate between the impossible and the possible

• Skill to redirect hostile energy into constructive outlets

• Ability to love yourself and others

• Willingness to self-evaluate

Why Change is UncomfortableMind and Body

Social Intelligence

• The capacity to know oneself and to know others Wikipedia

• Important for effective teams: Good teams succeed because of how they treat each other

• Smarter, Faster, Better by Charles Duhigg

• Social intelligence test: http://socialintelligence.labinthewild.org/mite/

Leverage Team Strengths

• Gallup CliftonStrengths

• 34 strength themes categorized into four domains

• Strategic thinking

• Executing

• Influencing

• Relationship building

• http://coachingwebinars.org/products/gallup-strengths-finder-webinar

Team Strengths GridEXECUTING INFLUENCING RELATIONSHIP BUILDING STRATEGIC THINKING

People with dominant Executing themes make things happen. They take action and work tirelessly to implement solutions.

People with dominant Influencing themes take charge, speak up and make sure the team is heard. They are always selling the team’s ideas to different audiences.

People with dominant Relationship Building themes build strong relationships that hold a team together. They have the ability to make a team much greater than the sum of its parts.

People with dominant Strategic Thinking themes keep a team focused on what could be. They constantly absorb and analyze information, help the team make better decisions and create a vision for the future.

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Social System

• Structures, systems, norms

• Opinion leaders, change agents

• Communication networks

• “The most innovative member of a social system is very often perceived as a deviant from the social system and is accorded a status of low credibility by the average members of the social system.” (Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations)

Risk Tolerance

• A common reason people resist change is that the expertise they have built is being set aside

• They will learn new skills

• But they are also likely to make mistakes

• If your organization has a culture of perfection, let people know it’s OK to take risks

Change Management

Change Management

• A collective term for all approaches to prepare, support, and help individuals, teams, and organizations in making organizational change. Wikipedia

• An approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations to a desired future state

• “Globalization and constant innovation of technology result in a constantly evolving business environment”• From Architecting Enterprise: Managing Innovation, Technology, and Global Competitiveness by Rajagopal

Kotter’s Eight Step Process

• Create a sense of urgency

• Build a powerful guiding coalition

• Form a strategic vision and initiatives

• Enlist a volunteer army

• Enable action by removing barriers

• Generate short-term wins

• Sustain acceleration

• Institute change

From https://www.kotterinc.com/8-steps-process-

for-leading-change/

See also Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail by John Kotter. Harvard Business Review, January 2007

Kubler-Ross Change Curve

• A model that focuses on the emotional responses of the people affected by change

• People will move through the process in various ways at various times

https://visibleprocrastinations.wordpress.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Change_management

Lewin’s Change Model

• Three stages of change

• Unfreeze – prepare the organization to accept necessary change; this is usually the most difficult and stressful part of the process

• Change – begin to resolve uncertainty and look for new ways to do things; Time and communication are the two keys to the changes occurring successfully

• Refreeze – afterward, when people have embraced the new ways of working, internalize changes; celebrate success of the change• https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_94.htm

Dimensions of Change

• Drivers

• Internal, external

• Types

• Organizational, technological, cultural

• Levels

• Incremental, transformational

Levels of Change

First Order Change

• Also known as incremental, continuous, or adaptive change

• Defined by adjustments in systems or processes to maintain and develop an organization or unit

Second Order Change

• Also known as transformational change

• Defined by radical change that fundamentally and permanently alters the nature of the organization, unit, or person

http://sites.psu.edu/myaple/2015/06/26/transformational-change-wf-ed-884-lesson-7/http://thesocialworkexam.com/tag/human-growth-and-development

Implementation Differences

Incremental Change

• The destination is known

• Steps to get there are known and can be determined in advance

• Improves or adapts rather than creates new

Transformational Change

• Exact destination is unknown

• Change strategy employed but change process emerges over time

• Alters leadership and culture in significant way

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/201817627022555543/http://ztbigtrip.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-week-in-norway.html

Transformational Changes Affecting Technical Services

• Technological – the technology brings about transformational changes, but the stress isn’t about different technology, it’s about loss of expertise, possible changes to the organization, changes to the culture

• Organizational – potential changes to the organization are likely unknown when a large project begins, and the implications may weigh on individuals throughout the project

• Cultural – slowest to change, leadership must be intentional and remain committed to the change

Theory of Diffusion of Innovations

• One of several models to describe the spread of new ideas and technology and their rates of adoption from Roger’s Diffusion of Innovations

• “Diffusion is the process in which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system. It is a special type of communication, in that the messages are concerned with new ideas.”

Graphical Representation of Diffusion

• Variations on the rate of adoption

Aspects of Diffusion of Innovations

• Social system – diffusion is a social change

• Time – it can take up to 20 years to reach full adoption

• Communication – members create and share information to reach a mutual understanding

• Types of knowledge about an innovation

• Awareness-knowledge

• How-to knowledge

• Principles-knowledge

Adopter Categories

• Innovators

• Early adopters

• Early majority

• Late majority

• Laggards

• Image from Wikipedia

Rate of Adoption

Variables that effect rate of adoption

Influence

Influence

• Concerns are all of the things a person is interested

• The circle of influence represents the concerns that we can actually do something about

• Issues that concern people may be outside what we can influence

• Know when an issue is outside your circle of influence & be prepared to communicate the difference

• From Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People

Influencer

• “what qualifies people to be called ‘leaders’ is their capacity to influence others to change their behavior in order to achieve important results”

• Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change by Grenny, Patterson, Maxfield, McMillan, and Switzler

Influencer Keys to Success

• Be exceptionally clear about the results to achieve and measure zealously

• Focus on 2-3 “vital actions”

• Engage all 6 sources of influence

• Personal, social and structural: motivation and ability

Diffusion Influence

• A Change Agent influences decisions about change

• Create a need by making people aware

• An Opinion Leader influences others’ attitudes or behaviors in a desired way

• “A change agents’ success …is positively related to the extent that her or she [or they] work through opinion leaders”

Communication

PM Communication Channels

• Push – send information to people (email distribution lists)

• Pull – provide a place for people to find information (wiki, staff intranet, online guide)

• Interactive – in-person meetings, a chance for people to hear and interact

Diffusion Communication

• Source – the individual or organization that originates a message

• Channel – the means by which a message gets from source to receiver

• Interpersonal versus mass media and local versus cosmopolite

• Some sources and channels are more and less important at different times

• Early knowledge often comes from mass media, cosmopolite channels

• Change averse adopters need more influence from interpersonal networks and peers

Variables of Complex Change

Resistance and Attraction

• In Managing Organizational Change, Palmer, Dunford and Buchanan describe communicating change in terms of Resistance to Change and Attraction Strategies

• Similar to translating the variables of complex change, people may communicate issues that are tangential to the real reason for his/her resistance to change

• Instead of directly addressing the issue raised, try to identify the real reason for resistance to change and consider some alternatives to attract the person, unit or organization to accepting the change

Communicating Change

Resistance to Change

• There are many reasons people may not be interested in change

• Some may be based on past experience

• Some may seem unlikely or irrational

• The key is to listen and translate

Attraction Strategies

• There are many suggestions you can use to encourage participation in change efforts

• Empathy and communication go a long way

• Remember that people won’t often know how to identify the real problem

Communicating Change Examples(Palmer, Dunford, and Buchanon)

• Convince top management that communication is important

• Recognize that no one method will be effective

• Target communication to the audience and message, vary approaches

• Ensure consistent messaging, over time and between audiences

• Keep messages clear and simple

• Train managers in communication skills

• Ensure the people can give feedback without discomfort

• Build communication into the planning & review to improve

Resistance to Change Examples(from Palmer, Dunford, and Buchanan)

• Innate dislike of change

• Low tolerance of uncertainty

• “This is not in my interests”

• Attachment to organization culture and identity

• Perceived breach of psychological contract

• Lack of conviction that change is necessary

• Lack of clarity as to what is expected

Resistance to Change Examples(from Palmer, Dunford, and Buchanan)

• Belief that the proposed changes are inappropriate

• Perception that the timing is wrong

• Too much change

• Cumulative effects of other life changes

• Perceived ethical conflict

• Legacy of past changes

• Disagreement with how change is managed

Attraction Strategies Examples(from Palmer, Dunford, and Buchanan)

• Allow room for participation in the planning of the change

• Leave choices within the overall decision to change

• Provide a clear picture of the change, a “vision” with details about the new state

• Share information about change plans to the fullest extent possible

• Divide a big change into manageable and familiar steps; let people take a small step first

• Minimize surprises; give people advance warning about new requirements

• Allow for digestion of change requests- a chance to become accustomed to the idea of change before making a commitment

Attraction Strategies Examples(from Palmer, Dunford, and Buchanan)

• Repeatedly demonstrate your own commitment to the change

• Make standards and requirements clear – tell exactly what is expected of people in the change

• Offer positive reinforcement for competence; let people know they can do it

• Look for and reward pioneers, innovators and early success to serve as models

• Help people find or feel compensated for the extra time and energy change requires

• Avoid creating obvious “losers” from the change; if there are some, be honest with them early on

• Allow expressions of nostalgia and grief for the past, then create excitement about the future

Conflict Resolution

Rethink Conflict

• Conflict in a natural part of life

• It can be managed in a healthy way

• It should not be the case that the most emotional person gets his or her way

Common Perception of Conflict

•Conflict

Avoidance Confrontation

Ideal Process of Managing Conflict

•Conflict

Negotiation

Putting it Together

Diffusion Change Agents

• Targeting – customizing communication for an intended audience

• Tailoring – a targeting strategy directing a message to an individual

• Change agents provide a communication link

• Change agent role sequence includes diagnosing problems, translate an intent to change into action, and stabilizing adoption

Diffusion Adoption Strategies

• Utilize the social network – lead users, innovation champions, opinion leaders, change agents

• Develop a multi-faceted communication plan – message, source, channel

• Best to tailor message, source, and channel to adopter category

• Innovators – how-to message from mass media channel

• Laggard – persuasion from interpersonal networks and peers

• Individual versus organizational adoption

• An organizational adoption decision does not necessitate individual adoption

Be a Change Leader

• Work on your emotional intelligence

• Understand individual and organizational change

• Understand that change is going to be uncomfortable

• Identify change resistance or variables in others

• Have positive change narratives

• Recognize even the smallest change

• Communicate appropriately for the individual or issue

Questions?