Hello Class! For this discussion forum, please respond to both of the following questions:
Question B
This week we delved into the concept of change. We know that change requires effort. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. But what are the key elements that lead to success? What are the most common things that cause us to go wrong? In this discussion forum, you will explore some of the most common mistakes that cause change efforts to fail.
Initial Post Instructions
Read “Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail” then contemplate a professional situation you have experienced where an effort for organizational change failed. Briefly summarize the change effort then identify at least two of the eight reasons for failure you feel contributed to the failure in your example. What could have been done differently to make the change effort more successful? How would better communication have improved the outcome? Be sure your example pertains to organizational (not personal) change.
Follow Up Posts
After your initial post, read over the items posted by your peers and your instructor. Select at least two different posts, write at least 150 words per reply and address the following items in your responses:
i. Is there a common theme in your peer’s responses?
ii. Do you see any of the 8 elements identified more than others? Any missing?
Samy Exael
My name is Samy, I reside in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with my wife and two children. My son is turning 10 and my daughter is turning 6 in September. I am a very busy person, but I find time for my family and my friends. I have an AAS in Electronics and I obtained my BS in Criminal Justice. I am currently working for an insurance company and I love what I do. I am fluent and 3 languages and I can read and understand a fourth. I am about 5 terms away from completing my MBA and I am very thrilled about that.
We all at some point in our academic and/ or professional lives have been exposed to leadership training and how to bring change into an organization. I prefer to come into this class with a fresh set of eyes and ready to learn new things. Judge on the reading for the week I will not be disappointed.
My organization about 3 years ago attempted to change the process on how claims are handled and we failed miserably at it. Insurance and particularly claim process for insurance can be very complex. My organization attempted to have the claim process be a bit more customer focus instead of process focus. We believed that If our insureds were the primary focus of our process; satisfaction will go up and in return new client will come in and we would generate more profit. A few things had gone wrong while we were doing the transformation. I pinpoint two major issues that we faced during the planning, execution and the ultimate failure of the attempt to change. Error number 2 in our reading this week: Not Creating a Powerful Enough Guiding Coalition – People that were part of the planning and executing the plan were all in it but I do not believe that higher leadership was very invested in the change “ Major change in an organization is unlikely if the head of the organization is not an active supporter” ( Kotter, 1995) the commitment was not there from leadership and that cause the attempt to change failed. In the process of change, we want everybody to be committed from top to bottom; it was not the case for our organization. The second reason I believe that our effort to transform the organization failed Is because we did not prepare ourselves to celebrate short term win. We focused on the big picture and never consider the small steady steps that we were making along the way. There is a cost to pay when we attempt to bring changes to an organization. We saw only what was going wrong and ignore all the small or short-term wins.
The attempt to make the organization more client-centered was a good idea but because leadership support was lacking, and we only focused on the big picture and did not see our progress along the way cost us a great deal of time and money. For this particular business change, I think support from leadership and celebrating short term wins would have made a difference.
Sylvester Lloyd
Question A: My name is Sylvester Lloyd; I am from Columbia, SC now lives in Augusta, GA, the home of the Georgia Peaches. I am a proud retired veteran after serving over 30 Active years in the U.S. Army. I have traveled and served in many foreign countries, and states. My last assignment before retiring was the 352nd Civil Affairs Command at FT Meade, Maryland; I was the G4 Logistics Non Commissioned Officer. Logistics was and still is my career and always will be. Business Administration is my major for my Masters and there are many courses that falls under this degree, and pushing forward to accomplish my mission.
I enjoy life, and all of the blessings that comes with it, to include, traveling, a variety of sports; Basketball, college and pros, Football, college and pros, “go Dallas Cowboys”, and yes we are going to do great in the 2019 season, and in continuance, Tennis, Golf, Fishing, Hunting, Running, Exercising, and Camping. I love music; Jazz, Blues, and Gospel.
My current knowledge level of this course topic is at a minimum because there is always something different to learn, so you must be prepare yourself attentively. Before this course is over I am expecting to learn even more because there’s still much to learn when dealing with business and behavior. “Let’s do it.”
Question B
To bring about change, the key elements that lead to success should be communication, motivate, integrate, and monitor.
Communication: It s important to have a flow of information throughout any organization about changes to ensure all is on the same page to avoid conflicts and as well as receiving feedback on ideas and changes are possibly needed.
Motivate: It’s important to share all information about upcoming changes and reasons for such moves as well as how changes will be a benefit.
Integrate: It’s important to ensure everyone is involved in the process of changes with complete information because input and feedback could be an asset to the business.
Monitor: It’s important to have a tracking mechanism in place to ensure the implementations are flowing accordingly and avoiding miscommunication.
Common mistakes that can effect changes are the lack of monitoring, wrong communication, not sticking to schedule.
Lack of monitoring: Attention to detail is important because of expected results in changes and if not, there will be setbacks.
Wrong communication: It’s important to ensure proper communication are being disseminated and if not there will be misinformation at all levels and people are not aware with limited communication which causes total confusion.
Not sticking to schedule: It’s important to stick to schedule and timelines because it can affect morale in a negative way and everyone must know the role of responsibility for compliance.