Changemanagement

Introduction to the Change Management processes - last part

The 8-step model by John P. Kotter

Even though John P. Kotter's work appeared as early as 1996, his advice on change management has only gained in importance to this day. For the theses of the US pioneer are not only timeless, the tense international economic situation is literally crying out for these fundamental statements about effective economic management to be brought back into the public consciousness. On the basis of his research and numerous practical experiences, he also provides a roadmap for the success of change projects in the form of his eight-step program.

John. P. Kotter proved in a study that more than half of the reorganizations in enterprises examined by him still fail in the initial phase. In order to prevent the failure of change and frequent mistakes, the following steps must be taken:  

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Step 1 Create a sense of urgency.

Create awareness of the urgency of change among managers and employees.

STEP 2 Build the leadership team.

Unite the people who point the way in a coalition and ensure mutual trust.

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STEP 3 Develop a vision of change and strategies and their implementation.

An overarching vision for the company serves as a positive traction.

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STEP 4 Communicate the vision of the desired changes on a broad basis.

To convince the employees.

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STEP 5 Create authorization on as broad a basis as possible.

To motivate employees to act according to the vision.

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STEP 6 Ensure short-term goals and success.

They must be visible and unambiguous.

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STEP 7 Ensure that goals and successes are achieved and that further changes are made.

Far-reaching changes take a lot of time.

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- STEP 8 Anchor the changes achieved in the corporate culture.

Only when this has been achieved can one speak of a successful change management process.

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Conclusion

Companies demand a lot from profound transformation processes. Important prerequisites for each individual step are control by first-class managers, a sense of urgency, open exchange of information and continuous communication at all levels.

Sources

Richard K. Streich, University of Applied Sciences of Economics

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