Organizational change

hhhhh

spector_ioc3_03.pdf

Home >Business & Finance homework help >Management homework help >Organizational change

3-1

Implementing Organizational Change: Theory into Practice

Bert Spector

Chapter 3

Mutual Engagement and Shared Diagnosis

Learning Objectives

 Describe the role of diagnosis in assessing behaviors and values and in creating dissatisfaction with the status quo.

 Discuss the use of a systemic framework for guiding diagnosis.

 Explore ways to overcome the “climate of silence” that blocks mutual engagement.

 Provide the key ingredients of a diagnostic intervention.

 Define the role played by after-action reviews in created quick learning and improvement.

Building a Vocabulary

 Learning is the process by which individuals receive data from the external environment, analyze that data, and adjust their thinking and behaviors accordingly.

“Don’t expect formulas and solutions that have worked in the past and are imposed on the current situation to work

for your organization.”

 Diagnosis: process of learning about the dynamics of the organization in order to take action intended to improve performance

 Diagnostic framework: a roadmap to analyzing alignment that makes explicit both the key elements of an organization that need to be aligned and the interconnections and interdependencies among those elements

3-4

Building a Vocabulary

“The most effective change implementation starts with a diagnosis that is shared by many employees at

multiple organizational levels.”

“Use a common organizational framework to shape mutual engagement and shared diagnosis”

Building a Vocabulary  Dialogue: involves a structured, collective

discussion among two or more parties without a predetermined outcome

 Organizational silence: the lack of truthful dialogue in organizations

3-5

“Don’t mistake passive acceptance with agreement. ” “Leaders can ask themselves—has their organization bred a

‘climate of silence’ that discourages subordinates from speaking up and discourages bosses from seeking feedback? ”

“A large power distance between parties in a dialogue inhibits openness and risk taking while distorting communications.”

Power Equalization Steps

3-6

Steps Leads to Delayering Removing hierarchical barriers that create and distort communication

Decentralizing Pushing down decision making to close the gap between decision makers and doers

Egalitarianism Removing “artifacts” of status differentials

Third-party Facilitation

Structuring effective “rules-of-engagement” around feedback and dialogue

Representation Inserting voice from multiple levels, both vertical

(managers, shop floor employees, etc.) and horizontal (union and management, various functions, etc.) into dialogue

Teamwork Building shared purpose and mutual responsibility to ensure equal participation and influence by all

members in dialogue

Building a Vocabulary

 Psychological safety: a belief on the part of employees that the organizational climate is conducive for taking personal risks, especially around dialogue.

“Instead of committing to solutions, leaders can commit to a process of mutual engagement and learning, thus

inviting employees at all levels to cross barriers of silence and participate in a dialogue.”

3-8

Building a Vocabulary  Consultant: an individual possessing a broad

range of diagnostic and developmental skills who contracts with the organization’s leaders to facilitate an intervention.

“Leaders can call on a consultant to introduce and teach skills required of mutual engagement and diagnosis.”

“Consultants may arrive from outside the organization: professional consultants or academics with a specialization in organizational

change and development. They may also come from within the firm: specially trained employees, often within the company’s human resource or organization development staff. Whether internal or

external, the task of the consultant is the same: to facilitate diagnosis and dialogue and to do so in a way that allows employees to develop

those skills themselves.”

Principles for Organizational Diagnosis

Systemic Focus Targets the entire organization and guided by a

framework that focuses on interactions Consultant Facilitated

Specially trained individual(s) bring external perspective and required skills

Client-Oriented Employees participate in all stages as full partners

in order to build commitment and competency

Data-Based Participants agree on the validity and strategic

importance of data collected about performance

Honest Conversation

Employees engage the requirements of shared dialogue: mutuality, reciprocity, advocacy, and

inquiry Psychological

Safety Active steps taken to overcome climate of

organizational silence

Data Collection Methods Questionnaires: self-administered paper-and-pencil data collection forms, often stressing areas of behavioral interaction such as communications, goals, and coordination

Advantages:

 Reach large numbers of employees  Fast  Anonymous  Used for benchmarking

Disadvantages

 Based on preconceived ideas  Can oversimplify complex issues  Does not expose root causes  Does not create commitment or motivation

“Be careful about the overuse of employee questionnaires in collecting data about organizational effectiveness. They can be useful for measurement purpose but do not create mutual engagement.”

Data Collection Methods Diagnostic interviews: a form of data collection in which a trained diagnostician meets with an employee, or small groups of employees, to solicit information pertaining to the performance of the organization

Advantages:

 Collect rich data  Begins process of dialogue  Teaches communication skills

Disadvantages:

 Requires investment in training interviewers  Data hard to summarize or quantify  Lacks anonymity

“Use diagnostic interviews and behavioral observation to collect rich and valid data about how employees behave and how

the organization functions.”

Data Collection Methods Behavioral observation: a form of data collection in which a trained diagnostician can watch actual behaviors of employees

Advantages:

 Work-based behavior as data  Data rich and deep on interactions  Reveals underlying emotions

Disadvantages:

 Observation will impact behaviors  Time consuming  Requires highly skilled observers

Building a Vocabulary

 Discovery: the process of analyzing and making sense of data that has been collected as part of an organizational diagnosis

“Mutual engagement in the discovery stage will help both to assure the validity of the conclusions and build

commitment to corrective actions.”

Building a Vocabulary Closing the Loop

Feedback: the process of receiving information focused on the effectiveness of one’s actions and performance.

“Mutual engagement can be enhanced when top management feeds back to employees what it has learned from the

diagnostic process and uses that feedback as an opportunity to generate more learning.”

Building a Vocabulary

 After-action review: an organized, disciplined approach to shared diagnosis and mutual dialogue in the immediate aftermath of a specific action or event.

“After-action reviews provided an opportunity for a sharply focused and timely mutual engagement that can

lead to quick corrections.”

mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.