Change For The Better

Change and devlopment programmes mean loss and gain. The forces for change see it as gain. The forces for maintaining the status quo and resistant to change will see it as loss. There will be tension between the groups. The change agent must be sure of all the relevant information regarding both groups and how the business functions. If the information is available to the change agent a change intervention can be designed. Change agents must have support systems. They must maintain psychological distance from others to gain the proper perspective required to lead a change programme. The system will consist of a network of people on whom the change agent can rely and who can act as a sounding board for ideas and problems.

Diagnostic models are conceptual frameworks used to understand problems and plan change interventions. They are everywhere. Systems theory provides us with the general systems model. Any collection of concepts and relationships that represent a system can potentially become a diagnostic model.

Interventions might emphasize group dynamics and attempts to improve working relationships between people. Interpersonal conflict occurs frequently in cyclical episodes. There may be latent issues with no manifest problems. A 'trigger' might bring it out into the open. There are strategies for controlling the conflict and for changing the underlying issues.

Another important diagnostic approach emphasises the deeply held, tacit and shared assumptions of members that guide their behaviour and have an impact on effectiveness. Culture reflects shared assumptions about routines, rituals, stories and language. There may be sub-cultures and counter-cultures. Cultures are difficult to change.

Feedback about progress should be provided. Attitudinal outcomes are important for measuring intervention results but in recent years behavioural measures and outcomes are increasingly called for by both managers and researchers. They are generic and should mean something to most managers. Participation-membership is one important category and includes tardiness, absenteeism, strikes and stoppages. A second category is on the job performance and includes productivity, quality, grievances, downtime and repair, accidents, supply overuse and inventory shrinkage. Good measures will be operationalised and are important because they provide the guidelines about observed characteristics and how they should be used. They should be valid and reliable. Changed behaviours should be encouraged and reinforced ensuring improvements become part of normal functioning.