Session 4 - The Soft Systems and Facilitated Change Approaches Flashcards
Identify the main features of the soft approach to change
- organisations as social entities (recognizes that everyone comes into an org with different motivations, wants, needs, etc)
- goals need negotiation
- different perspectives
- power diffuse (shared across the org) and frequently unknown
- consensus view/ conflict view of organisation
- evolved later than hard approach (1960s), in response to difficulties in using hard approaches
- aims to appreciate and improve problems
- analyst part of the situation (change manager is part of the situation, can’t be unbiased)
What are Ackoff’s (1993) 3 suggestions for what can be done about problems?
RESOLVE THEM:
- selection a course of action that yields a ‘good enough’ outcome: one that satisfies
SOLVE THEM:
- select quantitative rather than qualitative approaches using approaches based on research and rational-logical methods of analysis
- hard system
DISSOLVE THEM:
- change the nature of the problem context (or system involved) so as to remove the problem
- soft system
Define organisational development
Organization development is an ongoing process of change aimed at resolving issues within an organization through the effective diagnosis and management of the organization’s culture
This development process uses behavioral and social science techniques and methodologies through a consultant facilitator and employs action-research as one of the main mechanism for instigating change in organizational groups
What are the basic assumptions of OD as a model for change?
It emphasises goals and processes with emphasis on processes
It deals with change over medium and long-term
It is about people and recognises their worth
It involves the organisation as a whole as well as its parts
It emphasises the concept of a change agent/facilitator
It uses action research as a means of intervention
It is participative, drawing on theory and practices of the behavioural sciences
It subscribes to a humanistic philosophy of openness
It is a process of facilitation at the individual, group and organisational level
It has top-management support and involvement
What are the 5 key areas describing OD?
1) A planned approach which takes in all parts of the organization
2) Managed from the top (not necessarily seen as top-down)
3) Focuses on dealing with the human reaction
4) Typically takes a long term approach
5) The work is rooted in a set of key humanistic values related to openness, honesty, involvement and the capacity to grow
What is Lewin’s three step process to changing behaviour?
Continuous cycle
1) UNFREEZING
- resistance to change lessened
- need for change created
- equilibrium disturbed
2) MOVING
- from old behaviour to the new
3) REFREEZING
- change made permanent
Draw the OD consulting cycle
Look at notes
Explain how the OD consulting cycle combines with Lewin’s three step process to change
UNFREEZING
1) gaining entry
2) contracting
3) undertaking diagnosis interviews with individuals and groups, sometimes using questionnaires, or observing groups
4) feeding back data collected and making sense of organizational issues
MOVING
- agreeing the interventions. Generally this means working with representation from the whole ‘system’
2) implementing interventions: workshops, action learning sets, experiential simulations
REFREEZING
1) evaluation and/or extension of the intervention
Draw Barbara Senior’s OD model for change
Look at notes
What is stage 1(a) of Barbara Senior’s OD model for change?
DIAGNOSE CURRENT SITUATION
using PESTLE
examine temporal and internal environments:
- individual motivation and commitment
- recruitment practices and career paths
- leadership styles
- employee training and development provision
- inter and intra group relations
- organizational culture and structure
data gathering techniques (all have limitations)
- questionnaires
- individual and focus group interviews
- observation
- examination of documents
- use data gathering techniques to find out ‘concerning’ section
concerning
- what people think, feel and do in terms of the tasks they perform, their ways of working, and their relationship with one another
What is stage 1(b) of Barbara Senior’s OD model for change?
VISION DEVELOPMENT
Snelson (1996), a vision must:
- drive the business forward
- inspire
- yield sustainable advantage
be creative
vision sometimes emerges from 1a
observe the body shop vision statement: it has a ‘head’ and a ‘heart’ side (Burnside, 1991)
What is stage 2 of Barbara Senior’s OD model for change?
COMMITMENT TO THE VISION
Pugh’s 4 principles for understanding and managing organizational change:
1) organisations are organisms
2) organisations are occupational and political systems as well as rational ones
3) all members of an organization operate simultaneously in the rational, occupational and political systems
4) change is most likely to be acceptable with people who are successful and have confidence in their ability and motivation to change
What is stage 3 of Barbara Senior’s OD model for change?
DEVELOP ACTION PLAN
The who, what and where of change
Responsibility charting: identifies ‘who’ is to act
The Pugh OD Matrix: identifies what has to be done, and where:
- Levels of analysis
- Changes to behaviour, structure or context
Other subsystems:
- Top management; systems ready for change; hurting systems; new teams/systems; staffs; temporary project teams (Beckhard and Harris 1987)
Must have:
- Relevance
- Specificity
- Integration
- Chronology
- Adaptability
What is stage 4 of Barbara Senior’s OD model for change?
IMPLEMENT THE CHANGE
Techniques (very people orientated):
- Survey feedback
- Organizational mirroring
- Inter-group confrontation
- Role negotiation
- Process consultation
- Team building
- Life and career planning
Why are short-term wins so important?
They renew and rejuvenate people’s commitment to the goal/vision of change
Three characteristics:
- It’s visible
- It’s unambiguous
- It’s clearly related to the change effort
Eg. Increased productivity; fewer complaints; number of calls handled; quarterly sales results etc etc.
What is stage 5 of Barbara Senior’s OD model for change?
Again, use the tools at your disposal:
- Survey or cultural audit
- Interviews with individuals and focus groups
- Examination of absenteeism and turnover rates
- Analysis of group performance
- Picturing the organization
Use to gradually establish ownership of the change process
What are the aspects associated with reinforcing and consolidating change?
- Design appraisal, career and reward systems which help reinforce desired behaviours
- Orientate staff training and development to the new vision and the new situation
- Hold people accountable for maintaining the vision and continuing to implement the change
What are the critiques of Barbara Senior’s OD model for change?
Senior and Swailes (2010)
- Doesn’t always face up to the harsh realities of change: emphasis on participation but sometimes businesses to have to make ‘unwelcome’ changes
- Limited when change is constrained
- May be difficult in public sector: regulations and bureaucratic nature
- Predominantly western culture
Outline the features of the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) model of change
Sometimes seen as part of, or separate to OD
- OD tends to focus on what’s wrong
- AI looks at the good things
- Planned change method, led from the top, yet aim is full participation of the whole organization system
- Everyone participating to focus on the ‘strengths’ that exist in the organization
- It is used with groups, often large groups, drawing on the process of dialogue
- Premise that: we ‘get more of whatever we inquire into and talk about’ (Vanstone, 2010: p6)
What are the 5 Ds of the AI model for change? Explain each of them
1) Definition phase: the approach, goals and project management structure are agreed
2) Discovery phase: participants inquire into times when the organization was at its very best
3) Dream phase: participants start to describe their picture of the future
4) Design phase: the dream is translated into reality, agreeing what needs to change: policies, structures, processes etc
5) Destiny phase: range of projects agreed to take the ideas forward
What are the critiques of the AI approach?
Myers, Hulk and Wiggins 2012
- Few published evaluations – little evidence that AI has actually created sustained change
- Rigid structure
- Repression of negativity (not always a good thing?) – can create false picture and hinder openness
- Focus on meeting/summit not on follow through (less focus on action)
