Change Management and Effective Leadership

Introduction

Change Management refers to a repeatable cycle that utilizes competence and a holistic set of tools to create change as well as the capability to increase the effectiveness of an organization. However, studies suggest that, during this change, employees are most affected by how they do their jobs (Hayes 2018, p.234). Additionally, if employees do not transition successfully in this transitions and either do not embrace change and learn the new working methods the change initiation may fail. On the other hand, if employees adopt and embrace changes as required in the initiation of changes, the organization will achieve success and deliver the expected productivity. However, research suggests that natural physiological and psychological reactions of humans often resist changes though when supported at the times of change, individuals become very adaptive and successful in implementing and coping up with the changes (Lines et al, 2015, p.1175-1179). If you need further insights or management dissertation help, exploring these dynamics can greatly enhance your understanding of organisational change processes. This study support Fullan (2004, p.6) who suggests that effective leaders make individuals feel that even the most challenging issues can be handled successfully. Studies also suggest that individual change management needs to know how people change as well as what they require to change (Giltinane 2013, p.65). Besides, it needs individuals to know what makes people transit via change successfully. Regardless of the resistance to change, changes are evident all around us. Several circumstances trigger changes in institutions such as academies, schools as well as children’s centres. Such changes are witnessed in leadership, curriculum development, etc. Surprisingly, other studies have come up to suggest that in the 21st century, change has changed and that, change is no longer what it was (Malek & Yazdanifard 2012, p.149-150). Therefore, adapting to change, leading a change and achieving improvement is very important in 21st-century management as well as educational leadership. This highlights the importance of effective leadership in managing changes. It is also notable that, to adjust these changes, institutions such as schools must be flexible with the ability to propose organizational strategies while facing the challenges of changes. This paper discusses why leaders who are effective make employees feel that even the most challenging issues can be tackled effectively.

Different Views of Change Management

Studies indicate that regardless of change management being referred to as the soft side of change, management of an individual's side of a change is commonly a very problematic and vital element of an organizational transformation (Galli 2018, p.125). Studies indicate that change management has no specific definition, therefore scholars have presented various views and definitions as “change” is described at both the individual and organizational levels (Hayes 2018, p.86).

According to the Association of Change Management Professionals (ACMP), change management reduces the risk that a new system is rejected by the enterprise. However, the change itself does not increase sales or reduce costs, instead, it promotes the teamwork needed for the enterprise to accept the change and be more efficient (Anderson & Anderson, 2002, p.113). The study also suggests that change management involves identifying individuals who require to change, and how the change will take place. It also involves creating strategies to ensure that affected people receive leadership, awareness, training as well as coaching required for the change to be successful. Therefore, as per Anderson & Anderson (2002, p.36), driving individual transition successfully should be the major focus in organizational change management.

Furthermore, a study by Christensen & Overdorf (2000, p.66-77), suggests that change management refers to a systematic activity that prepares a firm for the implementation and integration of ongoing changes in organizational activities. Therefore, this indicates that change management is all about creating plans and strategies to handle sudden changes and variable. This definition of change management as per the study involves individual change management theories that deal with employee’s side of change (Christensen & Overdorf 2000, p.66-77). The researchers, therefore, suggest that change management addresses a huge part of an organization’s operation which ranges from strategizing to controlling and to customer satisfaction. The study also suggests that successful change management improves both the governance structure which is concerned with the change and increases productivity by integrating the change to the existing organization system.

Other views of management change include the coordination of a structured transition period from situation one situation to another to achieve lasting change in an institution. Additionally, it has been defined as a systematic approach as well as the application of tools, resources, and knowledge, to handle change (Kotter 2012, p.89). This means that change management refers to adopting and defining corporate structures, strategies, technologies, and procedures to handle changes in external conditions as well as in the business environment.

Changes in a School

Recently, scholars have highlighted the significant role of teachers in education (Özen 2011, p.1121). The study also reveals that better teachers have a huge influence on learner’s performance. Other studies reveal that management in school is very crucial. A study by Bruns & Luque (2014) revealed that in Chile, better-evaluated educators who have better classroom management have better student results similar to Mexico City. Moreover, Hoşgörür (2016 p.10), viewed a school as an organization which has a combination of technology, individuals as well as structures and processes regulating personal relations with the profession and with each other. The study suggests that organizational processes and structure influence the behaviour and attitudes of the employees in an organization. This means that organizational processes and structures cannot be separated from each other in terms of organizational change.

Additionally, Hoşgörür (2016, p.12), suggests that, in a school, there are various changes, though the changes are planned, the premeditated and authentic effort put in place to contribute to the institution to reach newer goals more effectively. Though this does not mean that unplanned changes don't occur, unplanned changes are inevitable in any organization due to unexpected circumstances as per Escalante (2005, p.34). Moreover, the study suggests that any kind off change is a painful and difficult process for institutions. This means that change is better when supported by the subordinate staff. A change in school provides school administrators with new responsibilities and roles, therefore, it requires the management to already have effective leadership skills or gain necessary skills and knowledge concerning the handling of employees and the change.

Concerning what changes in school, the leading parameter to change is the school administration. This includes the school administrator as well as its deputies. The administrator impacts managerial competence. Other changes include the change in education systems, changes in curriculum, changes in school culture, change of effective schools’ processes and change of teachers in change and change in innovations (Hoşgörür 2016, p.6). Moreover, the change of attitudes towards change and strategic planning are also some changes witnessed in school.

Studies indicate that, in recent days, classroom setting has changed and adopted the learner's centred approach of learning which encourage interactive sessions. This means that the teacher guides the student to be innovative and to discover solutions themselves, other than telling a student to solve a challenge as in earlier curriculums (Wiliam 2010, p.107-122). Moreover, the earlier change from the earlier teacher-centred approach to the new participative approach promotes unique talents and abilities. However, it is notable that with a lack of training and incompetence in new systems and technologies, adopting changes may be very hard.

Moreover, while looking at the school processes and curriculum, there have been changes in schools to accommodate learning differences. For instance, an individual learning two decades ago in a normal school and strangling with health or mental complications such as dyslexia, the curriculum was very unfavourable to such an individual. Such student was stereotyped as less capable compared to other students and most probably not given the necessary instruction. Currently, the education system and curriculum has been standardized to accommodate these conditions and remove the stigma. Teachers are also more trained to accommodate handicapped students with various learning needs (Wiliam 2010, p.122). Moreover, more policies are being put in to ensure the success of every student based on the unique needs of each student as opposed to standardized test scores. However, these changes have taken place over a long time and even some teachers have never come to appreciate the learning differences in students (Wiliam 2010, p.117-118). This shows how accepting changes is hard for some employees.

Other changes that are witnessed in schools as mentioned is the change of school culture and change of attitudes. Unlike earlier students, currently, learners are no longer feeding on favourite snacks and sodas in the school cafeteria. Based on a study done by the School Nutrition Association and the provision of the Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 which requires school cafeteria to reduce calories and unhealthy fat, schools have come to appreciate the importance of healthy diets and students are today provided with more fruit, vegetables as well as whole grains for their lunch (Anderson & Anderson 2002). The old menu often contained fast foods, though today’s students are served with nutritious foods like turkey burger and a side salad. This is a change which has occurred in schools’ culture and has altered believes and attitudes towards student diet. However, the change is expensive and could not have been easily accepted especially by management.

All of these changes occur for certain reasons. The most obvious reason why these changes in school occur is the fact that change is inevitable in all organizations and our environment (Anderson & Anderson 2002, p.359). Moreover, with developments in the education systems all over the world, these changes in schools, occur to reform the existing education model (Beare et al, 2018, p.453). However, these reforms come with a certain resistance to changes that might impact the success of the reforms. Another fact which necessitates changes in school is advancement in technology. Today the industrial revolution era has to some extent passed and the world today embraces technology. Education, therefore, cannot be efficient without integrating technology into the education system right from the early years. This, therefore, necessitate changes in the school system. Another reason why there are changes in school is to teach education the purpose of education. Earlier students have been learning without appreciating the significance of education (Archer 2013, p.43). The most education system, especially in developing countries, still have the features what colonial educators inbuilt. Today’s education does not teach students how to be big and rich people, it teaches humanism. The changes in curriculum and education system are therefore meant to tech student’s in-depth knowledge concerning the morals of life and the significance of humanistic values. The system also teaches students that life is much beyond success and money, unlike the colonial education systems. Lastly as indicated policies such as the Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 have resulted to changes in schools.

Successful Change in a School

As revealed, scholars have suggested that a change is very painful and difficult process for organizations. However, with unity, change is better supported by the member of the organization. Studies indicate that reforming of learning institutions continues to be the foundation of the administrators in keeping and maintaining the larger picture of the entire education process (Yılmaz & Kılıçoğlu 2013, p.21). This is to mean that, education administrators are conversant with change in politics, social background, the economy, the legal system as well as cultural contexts. Studies also reveal that "real change" requires to be moved beyond the principal’s office and integrate the classrooms (Robertson et al, 2009, p.35-40).

Moreover, the study suggests that, in implementing some of the changes in school, integration of students is the best idea especially when students are taught how to learn as well as what to learn. Transformational change which involves the installation of a program or project affects the culture and the structure of an organization. Therefore, making a shift in the transformational change is always hard to process, though very necessary. This, therefore, brings the need for effective leadership to make people feel that even the most difficult problems can be tackled productively. Other times staff fails to support and sustain change regardless of common knowledge that a change is needed.

Change in schools, therefore, takes a lot to be successful. First for change to be successful it calls for proper planning. All projects and change start as an idea and grows from one level of the institution though more often, it starts with the institution's president. The plan is therefore approved by the school management and documented for initiation. Moreover, at the planning stage, a team may be formed which may include experts such as communicators, facilitators, collaborators, contributor as well as a challenger. These experts are therefore given the go-ahead to start a change and oversee its success.

Moreover, to ensure change success, effective communication is very crucial. In a school, parents, students, teachers, and the community members need to know what’s happening in their learning institutions and always need a chance to participate in some major decisions. This indicates that effective communication not only means announcements but also sharing timelines and involving the community in the decision-making process as well as asking for stakeholder feedback (Wiliam 2010, p.118).

Besides, for change to be successful, a committee and collaborations are required. Though the committee does not mean formal board rooms and meeting minutes, it very critical in implementing changes and making a decision in a school. On the other hand, collaboration is inevitable since it takes a village to raise a child, hence necessitating the importance of initiating the same community in implementing change in schools. This indicates that regardless of whether a school is implementing a new leadership or a new learning strategy the change requires collaboration between various people who are a stakeholder in the school. Failure of communication and collaboration of the stakeholders, the change is esteemed to fail.

Just like collaboration and communication, a change requires consensus. People in a community can't agree on the same approach to solving a problem. This, however, does not mean an individual should not listen to other people's opinions and positions. It is very critical to ensure that individual decision is voiced and well-informed and considers the feedback of every stakeholder (Wiliam 2010, p.120). The ability of a change leader to laying out his rationale and showing people that your decision is strategic and intentional will result in the successful implementation of the change and promotes leadership acceptance in the community including individuals who disagrees with you.

Leadership Qualities in Managing Change

Change is not always an easy thing. However, it’s notable that, successful change can be very critical in today’s world. Unfortunately, change-management studies have indicated that organizational change initiatives often go unsuccessful despite the resources used in the change management processes (Anderson & Anderson 2002). This, therefore, call for effective leaders and leadership which is very crucial for change. This, therefore, calls for an understanding of both successful and unsuccessful leadership in change efforts. There are therefore some traits that make a leader effective with the ability to make people feel that even the most challenging problems can be tackled productively.

The first traits are excellent communication skills. Studies indicate that unsuccessful leaders usually focus on “what” behind the change. On the other hand, successful leaders communicate why and are required in a change. This indicates that a fruitful leader of change should pose well-sharpened communicative skills (Yılmaz & Kılıçoğlu 2013, p.98). These skills enable a leader to establish a common understanding concerning a change, its impact and its purpose hence making change successful. It can, therefore, be concluded that effective communication gives effective leaders the ability to articulate a clear vision. Earlier research also revealed the importance of conveying the big picture and portraying the road map for the change journey (Ryan 2018, p.47). With effective communication skills, a leader can mobilize people/staff and inarticulate the change vision hence missing people to feel that even the most difficult problems can be tackled productively.

Moreover, an effective leader should be collaborative and committed. In every change, making people united to plan and execute change is very important. Leaders who are successful works across boundaries and as well encouraged employees to be committed while undermining all kinds of divisions (Yılmaz & Kılıçoğlu 2013, p22). Such leaders also involve all stakeholders who are affected by a change in the decision-making process which strengthens their commitment to change. Unsuccessful change leaders failed to engage employees early and often in the change process. On the other hand, an effective leader should be committed. This is to ensure that, his beliefs and behaviours are relevant to the change. Leaders who negotiated change must be resilient and persistent and willing to work beyond their comfort zone. Moreover, such leaders should be devoted and also devote more of their own time to make the change. It is also notable that, unsuccessful leaders do not adapt to changes and are impatient resulting in failures

Also, an effective leader should be adaptable. Effective change leaders should demonstrate adaptability (Salacuse 2013, p.38). Studied indicate that, as per the contingency theory of leadership, leadership is based on the existing match between task orientation of the leader and situational characteristics. Task-oriented leaders often have a directive leadership style. The orientation makes the leaders effective and ensures that their subordinates understand their duties. Moreover, these leaders should be flexible to initiate a change. An adaptable leader also makes his employees flexible hence making change very effective.

Another trait of an effective leader is that he should be a people listener. Most strategies to initiate change fails at the beginning since leaders spend all their time listening to each other than the most affected people (Landis et al, 2014 p.39). The reason why these projects fail is that most people especially employer do not know what to do from the start. Since employees are the one interacting with suppliers, customers as well as co-workers in daily processes, therefore, employees should be at the forefront of giving their idea. This means before the change, an effective leader should listen to the staff since they are the most active contributor to mapping a path forward to ensure the change favours everyone.

An effective leader should also be Emotional stable and confident (Hauserman & Stick 2013, p.81-83). To initiate change, leaders should be in a good mood. Breaking an employee’s beliefs and attitude due to low moods can create resistance to change. When staff reaches a certain degree of depression, they become locked in a vicious cycle and they reduce their performance. This indicates that the change fails to be successful (Hauserman & Stick 2013, p99). On the other hand, confidence is very critical. This indicates that leaders should hold the belief that, despite the unknown risks will be positive. They should, therefore, be positive and courageous enough to face challenges and fears.

Experiences in Change and Managing Change

After completing my high school education, I was hired by a local company to collect data on behalf of the organization. Being a group of six individuals, all collected data were recorded on papers and later handed over to the company for entry into databases. Since the whole team did not have information technology skills, we were never involved in data entry directly to the database. Unfortunately, the company chief executive officer (CEO) resigned and a new CEO was hired. The new CEO noticed our incompetence and he ordered me as the group leader to start handing our data in spreadsheets. This change was very abrupt hence forcing some of the group members to resign. The remaining portion of the team kept complaining of the character of the new leader. From my courageous nature and personality, I was able to approach the new CEO and explain to him our incompetence with information technology. However, to avoid being fired, I applied my creative thinking skills to explain to the CEO why we were the best team to collect data for the company. After the discussion, we settled on a solution that the company to train us on how to use information technology and how to use databases. Regardless of the challenges which came up with change, flexibility, courage, communication skills, and other vital skills were very vital for successful adaptation via the change. From this change, I noted that there are many than just being a leader in embracing change.

Conclusion

Change Management refers to a repeatable cycle process which utilizes competence and a holistic set of tools to create change as well as capability to increase the effectiveness of an organization. Moreover, change is a painful and difficult process for institutions. This means that change is better when supported by the subordinate staff. Regardless of various vies of change management by various scholars, change especially ins schools occurs among the school administration and other changes include a change in education systems, changes in curriculum, changes in school culture, change of effective schools’ processes and change of teachers in change and change in innovations. Moreover, these changes are necessitated by the change of technology, educational reform, and government policies among others. These changes require planning, communication, adaptability and support of various staff. However, leaders who embrace/initiate change must have good traits to enable them to do so. Some of these characters include having excellent communication skills, being flexible, being committed and being courageous. This supports the idea that effective leaders can make people feel that even the most difficult problems can be tackled productively.

Dig deeper into Authentic Leadership in Contemporary Organizations with our selection of articles.

References

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