Assignment 5: Change Management Plan

Running head: ASSIGNMENT 4-RESISTANCE AND COMMUNICATION 1

ASSIGNMENT 4-RESISTANCE AND COMMUNICATION

Assignment 4-Resistance and Communication

Name: Gabrielle McNeely

Institutional Affiliation: Strayer University

Assignment 4-Resistance and Communication

Introduction

The current global market is different from the one that companies experienced in the last decade. The main reason for this has been due to the exponential growth regarding computer processing among companies and their business operations. The digitization of processes is influencing the current market. This is the information age and has a higher rate of evolution. Therefore, change has become a normal state of any given business, considering that they need to refocus on ensuring that they maintain their position amidst the changes. The discussion of the paper is on resistance to change, potential causes of resistance, plan to minimize resistance and the relationship between communication and change resistance. Communication strategies are the right approaches to employ in creating effective recommendations. 

Reasons for resistance to Change

There are many reasons associated with the resistance to change among organizations. The first reason may comprise of stakeholders such as employees feeling that their power is threated from a personal level. Managers may resist change that tends to decrease their power and distribute it across their subordinates. Secondly, the threat of power from an organizational level is also another major of resisting change. When the change process occurs, it may provide power to certain departments and sectors within an organization. Others may be rendered powerless. Some groups may, therefore, oppose such processes and change. 

The third reason revolves around the aspect of reduction impact it has on the loss of control of employees. It reduces the power managers have on controlling the employees. The situation creates the reasons for the managers resisting the change. The fourth reason comprises of economic factors. Change may be perceived as a force behind either increasing or decreasing the salaries of employees (Kuipers, et al., 2014). It may also take away the economic privileges that are enjoyed by employees. Therefore, a negative perception regarding the nature of the change in affecting their privileges may create a possibility of them resisting the change. 

The fifth reason is the impact of change on the prestige, reputation, and image of employees. A high level of dissatisfaction with the process of change in the above-stated factors creates resistance. The threat of comfort is another important reason to consider in the above case. Organizational change may be a major reason in causing personal discomfort in the professional environment. Therefore, employees may unite to resist the change because it fails to favor them either directly or indirectly. 

Causes of Resistance in the Organization and the Change Plan

The potential causes of resistance in my organization concerning the implementation of the plan would be diverse. However, three significant ones are discussed in this paper. The first one comprises of the lack of proper communication between the management and the employees in the organization. Since the organization works as a top-down structured framework of decision-making, it becomes significant to consider the different layers and levels of interactions between employees. When employees fail to understand the reasons for the implementation of change, it becomes easy for them to resist it (Ameen et al., 2018). They may see the change as an approach that exists to limit their positions in influencing development.

The second cause may comprise of employees fearing to lose their jobs. Failure to understand the change may be associated with the fact that the change would threaten their job security. The change can leave the employees with the thinking that they are being downsized. The third reason may be because the employees may fail to comprehend their new roles. Change comes with the changing of job positions and titles. This means that the organization may also experience shifting responsibilities and roles. Therefore, some employees may find it vague, trying to understand their positions. The above factor motivates the resistance of the change. 

When it comes to the three potential sources of resistance to the change plan would comprise of inertia, indecision, and fear of making mistakes. Concerning inertia, employees may have existing relationships that are strong such that they work as a status quo to maintain certain conditions in the professional environment. The group mentality that feels threatened may serve as a barrier to the implementation of the change plan. The new conditions created by the change plan may also require the intensive introduction of new strategies and approaches to achieve the change. Employees may fear to make mistakes when it comes to implementing the change process. Indecision exists when employees and the managers fail to choose between resisting the change or adapting to the features it brings on board. The situation may create a calamity and conflict of interest in the process of implementing the change. 

Communication Plan to minimize possible Resistance to Change Management Plan

The plan revolves around creating a plan that is transparent and more defined in terms of its structure, process of change, and the intended outcome. The employees need to understand the plan for them to accept it. The second approach involves creating a Memo inviting employees to a meeting to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the plan. Also, the approach involves communicating to employees the need and reasons to implement the change. The employees are provided with an opportunity to debate on any issue they find unnecessary in the change management plan (Lines, Sullivan et al., 2015). They vote in new issues that would be friendly to their working conditions and also talk about any negative issues about the change management plan. The change management plan is also shared across the employees for them to peruse through it and understand the significant components that are required to implement concerning the implementation of the change. 

Communication Strategies and the Relationship between Change and Communication

The relationship between change and communication originates from the flow of information and comprehension of the information among stakeholders. Communication involves providing stakeholders with an opportunity to know what the change entails about the change. They need to define the change to enable them to adapt to their objectives and implementation. What does the change entail? Who does it focus on? These are the main questions that depict the relationship between resistance to change and communication. Without a proper understanding of the change by employees means that they will resist the change. When it comes to communication strategies, knowledge sharing is crucial. 

Therefore, the first communication strategy comprises of educating the employees about the nature of the change and its importance. Employees have to be educated about the positivity of the change and how it is integrated with the organizational developments. The second communication strategy revolves around negotiating and agreeing on the ways to adopt the change and implement it in the needed areas (Thomas, Sargent, & Hardy, 2011). Negotiations mean creating a consensus outcome among stakeholders and developing an effective agreement. The third communication strategy includes the empowerment of the organizational members. This allows them to remain positive in the implementation of the change. Empowerment creates creativity and innovation among stakeholders on how well to adapt to the change. 

Communication Strategy and Plan for the Organization

Communication strategy is about creating awareness about the change. It means that an individual can note the significance of the change being introduced in the organization. It means that the organization will have to establish a communication team that will enable the maximization of the change potential to initiate growth (Král & Králová, 2016). The team will be instrumental in creating targets that are challenging, challenging, and achievable. It is the work of the communication team to communicate about the issues relating to the change to resolve conflicts amicably. Showing passion and being persuasive ensures that the employees remain empowered in the process of the change.

Communication strategy is important when the organization has already shared information relating to the change and that everyone understands their position and role in the change process. Concerning the communication plan for the initiative, the change has to be introduced in the form of a piloting project, whereby the employees have it as a trial version. This is to identify their reaction towards the change without it being implemented fully. Despite the above, it is communicated that it is a trial session for the change process. Afterward, employees provide their responses, and the change document is revised to come up with friendly features and responsibilities. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, change is something that needs to be introduced to enable an organization to remain ahead of the rest in the market. The members of an organization will always resist the introduction and implementation of change. This is because the change experience is not easy for the stakeholders, mostly the employees. There are different responses and reaction associated with the change that continues to take the market by storm. Organizational change has been seen to create some issues, such as resistance from some stakeholders in the professional environment. Despite the above, it is the role of managers to ensure that they communicate about the importance, need, and outcome of change implementation in the professional environment. Organizations have to welcome change to avoid any extinction due to the growth of the market. 

References

Ameen, A., AlMulla, A., Maram, M., Al-Shibami, A., & Ghosh, A. (2018). The impact of knowledge sharing on managing organizational change within Abu Dhabi national oil organizations. International Journal Of Management And Human Science, 2(3), 27-36.

Král, P., & Králová, V. (2016). Approaches to changing the organizational structure: The effect of drivers and communication. Journal of Business Research, 69(11), 5169-5174.

Kuipers, B., Higgs, M., Kickert, W., Tummers, L., Grandia, J., & Van der Voet, J. (2014). The management of change in public organizations: A literature review. Public administration, 92(1), 1-20.

Lines, B., Sullivan, K., Smithwick, J., & Mischung, J. (2015). Overcoming resistance to change in engineering and construction: Change management factors for owner organizations. International Journal of Project Management, 33(5), 1170-1179.

Thomas, R., Sargent, L., & Hardy, C. (2011). Managing organizational change: Negotiating meaning and power-resistance relations. Organization Science, 22(1), 22-41.