In his article "Leading change - Why transformation efforts fail?" John Kottler identifies eight most wide-spread errors that prevent change managers from conducting effective change. Considering the efforts, described by the author, one becomes capable of identifying steps that are viewed as the necessary ones for the implementation of a successful change. The model, developed by Kottler, can be applied to any top-down change process (i.e., a project that was developed by the top management of the organization). The steps, addressed in the article, are increasing urgency of the change; building the guiding team for a change; creating the vision; communicating the change in a buy-in manner; empowering action; creating short-term wins; do not letting the change fail, as well as making changes stick.
Each of the above-mentioned steps is characterized with a range of actions that need to be completed to ensure success of the whole initiative. For instance, increasing urgency step is concerned with conducting such actions as examining the market and competition-related situation, identifying and communicating existing or potential crisis, as well as providing evidence from outside the organization, testifying to the fact that the change is necessary. This evidence can include opinions of experts, scientists and the results of qualitative and quantitative research. A range of practical advice concerns communication the change that is vital for change being promoted and supported by employees. Important tips for communicating change at the level of the company include strengthening alignment of engagement through stories; using all possible means to communicate the new vision and related strategies; keeping communication simple and understandable; using one's example for teaching coalition.
The example of tips, provided by the author in his article in relation to creating urgency of the change and communicating the change to the staff, testifies to two important strengths of the model. First of all, the model is easy to understand for both professionals and nonprofessional because it does not contain the variety of terms and managerial concepts. Secondly, the model is practical. The tips, being provided by the author, can be implemented in an everyday work of a manager. Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that the pieces of advice are not formulated too specific. In other words, the advice can be utilized by an organization leader or a project manager that operates in any field of business. It is also worth mentioning that the model provides a manager with a clear vision of steps that need to be used for a change being implemented. Not being too specific, the model still provides managers with an opportunity to get in-depth vision of any step, using other information sources. One more important strength of the model to be mentioned includes the model's ideal fitness with a traditional hierarchical structure of the company.
Despite the fact that the model is characterized with a wide range of strengths, it also has some weaknesses. Firstly, the linearity of the model can appear to be oversimplification because in practical terms change management process cannot have clearly distinguishable steps. Secondly, the model does not provide any advice for cases, when the change process has already started and cannot be continued due to difficulties that have appeared at its particular step. Among further disadvantages of the model, one can mention direct top-down approach. It means that the model leaves no space for cooperation between management and employees, and its usage is limited to the management of change in companies with a hierarchical organizational structure. Furthermore, individual needs of employees are not taken into account.
Step three seems most difficult in implementation. Making up a clear-cut picture of a future change can appear problematic. There need to be specialists who are able to count thoroughly every single part of the envisioned picture. There can be numerous routines, psychological approaches, explanations of the methodology used, but no vision. To add more, it is necessary to communicate the obtained picture/vision to the employees. Otherwise, not seeing in what direction to proceed, they will not be able to use their skills and knowledge to the benefit of the assumed progress and change.
The application of the model under study can be illustrated by the example of a mass change, conducted by Twitter company with regard to managing its ballooned organizational chart. Urgency was created by affirming employees that the company will be unable to function effectively, being broken into a wide variety of departments with various leaders, whose roles often tend to become confused. In this situation, it was not necessary to use artificial means of creating urgency due to the fact that the roles confusion was felt by employees themselves. Experiences of staff and managers from different departments were used to illustrate the need for change. Particular difficulties were experienced by design and engineering departments (Isaac 1). After the need for change was acknowledged at different levels of the organization, the guiding team was formed. Leaders of multiple departments were included so that all issues, preventing the company's effective functioning at the level of departments could be tackled. As the change under study was called forth by significant issues that have already been evident, the vision of the change was quite simple. Actually, it was based on coping with challenges that prevented the company from effective work, such as barriers to communication and collaboration between different departments of the company, as well as coping with dysfunctionality of particular departments.
Communication of the change was to great extent supported by stories, told by leaders of different departments to illustrate the urgent need of change. As the change was conducted step-by-step, intermediary wins were used by the top management of the company not only to tackle the progress of change, but keep employees engaged into the process of change and interested in it. The strategy of continuous articulation of progress' link to new corporate behaviours that were used. However, as a change under study was designed in response to evident issues, characterizing the operation of the company, there was no explicit need of the application of the means, mentioned above.
It may be concluded that Kottler's model provides a good guidance for managers of change in companies, whose organizational structure can be characterized as a hierarchical one. However, the model's weaknesses and limitations of its usage (e.g., non-applicability to flat organizational structures) need to be considered with regard to practical application of the model. The example of change, having been conducted in Twitter company, illustrates practical applicability of Kottler's model and its usefulness for top-down changes in companies with a hierarchical organizational structure.
Works cited
Baca, C. "Project manager's spotlight on change management". London: John Wiley&Sons, 2010. Paper
Isaac, M. "Twitter untangles its overgrown organizational chart". All things, 20 Mar. 2013. Web.
Kottler, J. Leading change - Why transformation efforts fail? HBR. 1995-1996: 59-67.Print
