There’s no doubt that organizational changes can lead to challenges, frustrations and decreased productivity. At the same time, each change an organization faces provides an opportunity for growing its people, structures, and systems. When organizations guide their people through the process of change with understanding, clear communication and a willingness to handle the unexpected, the results can be extremely positive.

1. Sponsored by:
Capitalizing on Organizational
Change: How to manage the
benefits, dynamics and transitions
Claudette Rowley
September 11, 2013
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Advising nonprofits in:
• Strategy
• Planning
• Organizational Development
www.synthesispartnership.com
(617) 969-1881
info@synthesispartnership.com
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Claudette Rowley
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5. H O W T O M A N A G E T H E B E N E F I T S , D Y N A M I C S
A N D T R A N S I T I O N S
S E P T E M B E R 1 1 , 2 0 1 3
P R E S E N T E D B Y C L A U D E T T E R O W L E Y
Capitalizing on
Organizational Change

6. Take Aways
Learn the difference between change and transition
Understand the five stages of organizational change
Discover tools, strategies and tips for capitalizing on
organizational change

7. Your Change Style
Examine how you typically transition through change:
1. How do you react to the change?
2. What have been your past experiences with
change?
3. In what ways do you respond well to change?
4. How would you like to improve your response to
change?

8. Change and Transition
Change is the event. *
Transition is the psychological process of adapting to the
change.
 Ending
 Neutral Zone
 Beginning
*Based on the work of William Bridges, author of Transitions and other books.

9. Stages of Transition
Transition is:
“a natural renewal sequence of letting go, embracing and
exploring the time between realities, and then setting off
on the chosen path to the future”. –William Bridges
The end – “the letting go”
The neutral zone – “exploring time between realities”
The new beginning – “setting off on the chosen path to
the future”

10. Transitions Assessment
William Bridges’ website:
http://www.wmbridges.com

11. Questions to Ponder
 How does the change benefit the organization?
 What are the benefits for me?
 What am I losing?
 What are the opportunities for me and for others (even if
I wouldn’t have chosen this change)?
 What can I learn from this change?
 What is available for all of us?

12. The J-Curve: Five Stages of Change
Stage 1: The Plateau
Stage 2: The Cliff
Stage 3: The Valley
Stage 4: The Ascent
Stage 5: The Mountaintop
From the work of Jerald M. Jellison, Managing the Dynamics of Change

13. The J-Curve Diagram

14. Three Camps
People fall into one of three camps:
“Let’s change”
“Wait and see”
“Resisters”

15. Stage 1: The Plateau
 At the beginning of change, employees are on a
performance plateau – they know what they’re
doing.
 Range of reactions to change: excitement, resistance,
doubt, fear.
 Execution of change comes down to people doing
things differently. Need to understand people who
are negative or resistant to change.

16. Stage 2: The Cliff
Begins when people start trying to do things in new
ways.
Performance drops – failures outpace successes.
For some, resistance can increase as mistakes
increase.
Thoughts and emotions can turn more negative;
“buyer’s remorse” may surface.

17. Stage 3: The Valley
 Things starts bottoming out – mistakes aren’t as
frequent or large.
 More is happening right than wrong.
 Negativity decreases; successes start to accumulate.
 Employees still feel uncertain and as though they’re
trying to master new skills and responsibilities.

18. Stage 4: The Ascent
Performance is improving impressively.
Success becoming reinforcing and motivating.
Skills are sharpened, new procedures are
established, coordination is better.
Employees are in stage 4 when they view problems
as solvable and look for constructive ways to deal
with issues.

19. The Mountaintop
During stages 2, 3 & 4, performance was below pre-
change level.
Now it’s climbed to matching the old ways of doing
things.
Some will find innovative ways to apply new
approaches, invent solutions, and creativity will fuel
productivity.
Celebrate people who have made biggest
contributions.

20. Change Happens at Different Rates
Different parts of an organization will move through
the process of adapting to and accepting change at
different rates and at different times.
Leadership may already be moving through
stages 4 & 5 when change is announced.

21. Questions to Ponder
 Where are you on the J-Curve? If you have direct
reports, where are they?
 Are different departments at different stages?
 What resistance do you experience? What
behaviors do you see? What has helped? What has
hurt?

22. Three-Legged Stool of Change
 Communicate the implementation
 Reward and acknowledge
 Create accountability
From the work of Jerald M. Jellison, Managing the Dynamics of Change

23. Communicate the implementation
1. What are the actual changes people are being asked
to make?
2. What are the doable steps?
3. Stay away from abstract and general words.
4. Focus on specific behaviors or outcomes:
 What do you want people to do (and not do)?
 In what specific situations?
 How would you know if they were doing it?
 What would a good performer do?
From the work of Jerald M. Jellison, Managing the Dynamics of Change

24. When to Use/Not Use This Communication Tool?
When people are learning new behaviors and are
struggling.
Don’t use with people are already motivated; they may
feel micro-managed.
Avoid micro-management by asking open-ended
questions: How, what and why questions.

25. Rewards and Acknowledgment
Employees want and need rewards when
performance is dropping in stages 2 & 3.
They are learning, making mistakes, and not
performing as well, and need help finding the
benefit/positives in what they’re doing.

26. What stops us from praising?
Might show favorites.
Think people already know.
They should be performing well.
Could appear soft or unprofessional.

27. Specify the Praise
 Not just “Great job”, but “Great job. The extra effort
you put into that report really made the difference.”
 Watch for opportunities to praise anything – even
effort or trying.
 People do not like to perform below standards or
make mistakes.

28. Personalize Your Praise
Jellison suggests these questions to personalize your
praise:
 How have the person’s actions helped you?
 Why is their contribution helpful at this time?
 Exactly how did they do it?
 How did it help the organization?

29. When People are Emotionally Blocked
Strategies to help them:
- Acknowledgment: Use their language.
- Make it safe to learn and make mistakes – how you
react to mistakes makes a difference.
- Overcome objections: What can I do to …
• Make it easy for you to try this?
• Reduce the work involved in initiating this change?
• Remove obstacles that make it hard for you to try this new approach?
• Make it less frightening to experiment with this new situation?
• Support you in beginning this transition?
From the work of Jerald M. Jellison, Managing the Dynamics of Change

30. Create Accountability
Accountability answers the question: What have we
agreed to do?
 Behavior
 Specific action steps
 Mindset
During transition, accountability needs to be
grounded in “where are we in the change
process?”

31. Concrete Accountability
1. Mutually set expectations for performance
2. Specify the outcomes of positive and negative
performance
3. Link accountability to larger organizational goals
4. Plan for problems and obstacles
5. Decide how to communicate progress: who, what
and when
6. Build in specific opportunities for feedback, praise
and acknowledgement