Transition Management - Tips for Managers in Times of Change
- Topics:
- Change Management
- Tags:
- Fred Nickols,
- Management,
- Organization,
- Stability,
- Strategy
- Source:
- Fred Nickols
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Overview: “Planned change,” the kind most frequently discussed by organization development (OD) specialists, is commonly portrayed as occurring in three stages: Unfreezing, Intervening, and Refreezing. This view of the change process has organizations moving from a period of stability through one of instability to another of stability. A lot has been written about unfreezing and intervening but precious little has been written about refreezing, that is, about restoring stability. When organizations are unfrozen, either purposefully or by circumstances, they are characterized by uncertainty. In this atmosphere, roles and responsibilities are unclear, relationships that once seemed critical now seem questionable, and resources become more valuable than ever before. Philosophy, policy and practice are challenged and defended. Alliances and coalitions are quickly formed and just as quickly dissolved. In short, there is a great deal of confusion and it does damage to cooperation. As a consequence, the organization is less efficient and less effective than before. It has been the central thesis of this paper that neither people nor organizations cope with change per se; instead, they can and do cope with the effects of change. These effects are most pronounced and troublesome during the transition period from stable state to another.
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Format: PDF | Size: 160KB | Date: Jan 2003 | Pages: 6
