NCOA Unit Manager – 7 Change Management

Adaptability is the ability to adjust to changed, unexpected, or ambiguous situations by actively seeking information and by demonstrating openness and support of different and innovative change ideas.

Cognitive flexibility, Emotional flexibility, and Dispositional flexibility.

The ability to use different thinking strategies and mental frameworks.

The ability to vary your approach to dealing with your own emotions and those of others.

The ability to remain optimistic and at the same time realistic.

You must have at least 2 of the 3 elements of adaptability.

1) They scan the environment 2) They develop an understanding, and 3) They create strategies.

Scanning the environment refers to the ability to identify changes as they occur and to see the changes coming.

“Making sense” out of a situation. This process may include opposing thinking, or contemplating a totally new direction that turns obstacles into opportunities and ideas into innovative practices.

Creating strategies involves developing several possible plans for responding to change. NCOs who possess adaptability develop several strategies because they recognize the impracticality of predicting exactly how any given situation will play out.

Understand and manage emotions, connect and address the emotions of others, emotional engagement, and balance emotions and actions.

Leaders who do not possess emotional flexibility are dismissive of others’ concerns and emotions, and shut down such discussions. Leaders who possess emotional flexibility deal effectively with emotions and concerns in order to move the change agenda forward.

Yes, but should discourage wallowing in those emotions. A more effective message is one that recognizes the emotion while at the same time offers optimism grounded in realism and openness.

Optimism, support, and self identification of tendencies.

A place of optimism grounded in realism and openness. They acknowledge bad situations while imaging a better future, at the same time.

Be curious, Accept the difference, Observe, Have a plan, Be resilient, and Keep learning.

Grieving, complaining, and resistance.

Support systems, feedback, decisiveness, Avoid bulldozing change, motivation, triage, listen, collaborate, change your approach, and face reality.

Effectively manage others’ resistance to change by explaining, answering questions, and patiently listening to concerns.

Be genuine, accept change as positive, adapt your plans, cast a wide net, rehearse, immerse yourself in the new environment, be a mentor or coach, pay attention to life beyond work, and seek feedback.

Change Management is a proactively coordinated and structured period of transition from situation A to situation B using a systematic approach that addresses planning for the change; implementing, monitoring, and controlling the change effort; and effecting the change by minimizing resistance through the involvement of key players and stakeholders…resulting in lasting change within an organization

Change Sponsor, Change Agent, and Change Target.

Change Sponsors are the people responsible for initiating change within an organization.

Change Agents are responsible for implementation of change in an organization

Change Targets are those individuals or groups who actually undergo the change.

Comfort, denial, confusion, and renewal.

Comfort (Stage 1) where things are routine.
Denial (Stage 2). When you’re forced to confront external change, you go through a state of resistance where you’d just as soon not deal with the new, but stay with the old.
Confusion (Stage 3). Where one accepts the change and begins to grapple for ways to proceed from the known to the unknown.
Renewal (Stage 4), where you accept the change. You may not like the change, but you’ve accepted it.

Knowledge changes, attitudinal changes, individual behavioral changes, and group or organizational behavioral changes.

Change that is not of your own choosing is more difficult to deal with. Your reaction to imposed change is typically resistance. You choose to see only the disadvantages while ignoring the advantages.

Directive Change Cycle and the Participative Change Cycle.

Directive Change is change that’s implemented by an authority figure (i.e., commander, superintendent, or supervisor). Examples include Uniform changes, dress and appearance standards, career field reorganizations, tri-care for healthcare, APRs to EPRs, and the Use of seat belts.

Participative Change is change that’s implemented when new knowledge is made available to the group. It comes from the bottom up and actively seeks input from the change target.

New uniform styles, re-accomplishing operating instructions, adjusting shop/office policies, improving communication lines, any process improvement effort, and reorganization.

Unfreezing, changing, and refreezing.

The unfreezing phase is intended to motivate your subordinates and help get them ready for change. It is made up of creating a felt need for the change, and dealing with resistance to the change.

The changing phase is the movement from the old way of doing things to the new way of doing business. NCO’s monitor the change as it occurs, pay close attention to those most affected by it, and adjust as necessary to keep the change moving forward.

The refreezing phase is the locking in of the new procedures until they’re a permanent part of daily operations. It is not permanent because change happens frequently in the military, so a state of “slushiness” is sometimes in place in order to make future unfreezing easier.

Evidence stream that the change has happened, Institutionalization by making the change part of the organization’s norm, New challenges by giving Airmen challenges related to the change, Rationalization by helping people understand why the change happened, and Socializing by making the change part of the culture of the unit.

The 5 levels or reactions to change.

Innovators, Early adopters, Early majority, Late majority, and Laggards.

They tend to represent mainstream thinking as one of the largest groups, and they tend to get involved only AFTER something has become big or successful.