Change Management Plan

The change management process consists of a sequence of steps or activities that a change management team or project leader would follow in order to apply change management to a project or change implementation. Most change management processes contain the following three phases: Phase 1- preparing for change (preparation, assessment and strategy development), Phase 2- managing change (Detailed planning and change management implementation), and Phase 3- Reinforcing change (Data gathering, corrective action and recognition). Change management is a necessary component for any organizational performance improvement process to succeed, including programs like; Six Sigma, Business Process Reengineering, Total Quality Management, Organizational Development, Restructuring and continuous process improvement. Change management is about managing change to realize business results (Prosci, 2008).

The level of organizational development would identify patterns of change throughout the corporate infrastructure. New products or procedures may be relatively easy to develop and introduce, unless they are somehow in conflict with the organizations culture. When a major change program is implicitly at odds with the culture, it is often just absorbed and cancelled out. Before introducing change one should assess the readiness for change. Management should consider both personal circumstances and organizational context. If an individual is facing difficulties in his or her personal situation and works for a department that is held in low esteem, change will be seen as threatening and new ideas unwelcome (Dingfelder, 2007).

Resistance to change and lack of flexibility endanger progress of an organization, limiting its powers. This may lead to stagnation and even decline. An organization may be forced to change due to internal and external circumstances and the inherent flexibility of the organization could determine the future. Developing a learning culture and promoting innovation can help an organization sustain change. Maintaining a learning culture by identifying possible resistance, implementing behavioral action plans and evaluating implemented behavior is essential, for a smooth transition. Building a culture that is flexible and responsive to change requires behavioral sensitivity action and evaluation of behavioral strategies. This requires close monitoring and support from top management of the Crystel organization to ensure that these organizational development initiatives succeed.

Most people prefer predictability or stability in both their personal and professional lives. People typically avoid situations that upset order, threaten their self interest, increase stress or involve risks. When faced with changes to the status quo, people usually resist initially. The resistance continues, and in some cases increases, until they are able to recognize benefits of change and perceive the gains to be worth more than the risks of threats of their self interests. People tend to resist change due to fundamental human objection to having the will of others imposed on them (Wynn, 2008).

A variety of perspective, models and approaches can be used in strategically planning a change model. The way a change model is developed depends on the nature of the organizations leadership, culture of the organization, complexity of the organizations environment, size of the organization, expertise of planners etc (McNamara, 2008).