Introduction
Change is inevitable for transformation and profitability for any organization. I once served in Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), a research-based organization at a time that used survey CTO data collection. At the time, even telephone interviews required an interviewer to call using a separate phone and key in responses in the data collection tool.
There came a need for the utility of Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI), a program that merged the organization’s calling and recording needs simultaneously. The leadership management of organizations must deploy change strategies that tend to minimize failure rates by adopting models that have been tested over time. One such model is Kotter’s 8-step process for a leadership change. As highlighted in this discussion, the organization I worked for utilized Kotter’s 8-Step Process for Leading Change.
Create a Sense of Urgency
While resistance to change is inevitable, a sense of urgency can often spark the initial motivation to initiate a change implementation process. According to Kotter’s change model, managers need to create awareness of how urgent the change is for the organization (Galli, 2018). CATI was urgent because it would help enumerators complete their surveys quickly with limited data errors (Kopper & Sautmann, 2020).
IPA explained to all the stakeholders in the organization why it was essential to engage CATI for telephone interviews over three months. They conducted an internal survey to measure the level of acceptance among stakeholders, which was arguably high to mean that IPA’s creation of a sense of urgency was implemented effectively.
Build a Guiding Coalition
The “Leadership plus Management” change principle emphasizes the necessity for many leaders’ thoughts, suggestions, and backing for organizational changes. IPA engaged the logistics team to provide information on the costs of the change while the data team provided insights on the technicality of the implementation process. The research managers for the different projects were asked to give an overview of the general impact of CATI on the completion of telephone interview projects. The human resources department was tasked with verifying the impact of training employees amidst continuing project activities. IPA effectively implemented Kotter’s second-step change model through team building.
Form a Strategic Vision and Initiatives
Understanding a change initiative might be difficult at the lower levels of the hierarchy. Kotter’s model demands that managers create a change management plan that defines all project deliverables and milestones in great detail (Galli, 2018). This step was effectively implemented because the regional directors of IPA and the country leads were solicited to help create a strategic plan that would help attain the desired change. A plan they created informed all the changes initiated for using CATI.
Enlist a Volunteer Army
A change’s logistics are frequently given greater attention by organizations than the change’s effective communication. For change to be successful, people must accept and support it; without good change management communication, the change endeavor is prone to failure, according to Kotter’s change model. IPA enlisting a support army was effective because it ensured that they repeatedly spoke about their vision and addressed the employees’ concerns with transparency (Galli, 2018). The vision of the change in deploying CATI was adhered to, from training to performance reviews, and the leaders for the change led by example in adherence to this step.
Enable Action by Removing Barriers
The chances of success of implementing the change are sometimes challenged by pushback. Change is sometimes very hard, especially with the elite (Radwan, 2020). Since the IPA staff generally accepted the change, the only limiting barrier was whether employees’ training would help them understand the use of CATI and flawlessly implement it. IPA, therefore, hired the best trainers of CATI whose track records had been tested over time by companies they had served. Since IPA does hire very qualified staff, the only impeding barrier did not seem like one at all delivering this step of Kotter’s model effectively.
Generate Short-Term Wins
Since change is a cumbersome process, employees must be motivated through the change process. As such, management should ensure that they recognize employees’ short-term wins and achievements. IPA rewarded the first three projects that completed their data collection processes using CATI to recognize their efforts to implement the change publicly. This strategy was effective since there was a price attached to utilizing the change process; all stakeholders of different projects were geared towards making implementations.
Sustain Acceleration
The distance between execution and full adoption is considerable. If the people pushing the transformation grow satisfied based on short-term achievement or become discouraged due to impediments, a change attempt might quickly fail. To achieve long-term success, IPA change leaders created SMART goals beforehand and continually analyzed their progress.
Institute Change
Initiatives for change necessitate a shift in behavior, and for a change to stick, it must become firmly ingrained in the procedures and culture of the business. Kotter’s 8-step transformation model’s final phase concerns toning change muscles (Galli, 2018). IPA, therefore, ensures that they provide weekly to monthly refresher training on using CATI for telephone interviews (Kopper & Sautmann, 2020). A data team is mandated to provide immediate assistance to projects that may be in need. In this way, IPA guarantees the longevity of this change for its wholesome benefit.
Conclusion
Kotter’s 8-step model of leadership and change is one of the tested theories that have proven effective. IPA, an organization, deployed this model while incorporating CATI in their telephone interviews. IPA did ensure that all the eight steps of Kotter’s model were executed effectively to foster the longevity of the change. Notably, IPA’s incorporation of CATI in advancing telephone interviews is one of the best examples of the implementation of Kotter’s 8-step process for leading change.
References
Galli, B. J. (2018). Change management models: A comparative analysis and concerns. IEEE Engineering Management Review, 46(3), 124–132. Web.
Kopper, S., & Sautmann, A. (2020). Best practices for conducting phone surveys. Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). Web.
Radwan, A. (2020). Lead transformational change, and minimize resistance with an 8‐step model. Dean and Provost, 21(7), 1–5. Web.