According to Anderson (2015), change is a requisite factor for organizational development, and is required for organizations to remain effective, productive and satisfying to team members. Change may be required at the organizational level, or at the employee level. As a result, successful organizations must become competent at organizational change. To this end, much time and effort has been spent creating models of change, either from gathering empirical data or by more subjective personal experiences and observations. The aim of this paper is to examine two such models with regards to the role of the leader, overcoming resistance to change, and the communication process. The strengths and weaknesses of each model will be identified and the
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Lewin’s Three Phase Model.
ChanginMinds.org (2014) describes Lewin’s Three Box model as a systems theory approach, and a vital piece of work that forms the basis of many current change theories. It comprises, as its name suggests, of three phases; unfreezing, moving and refreezing. The suggestion is made that people lean toward an environment in which they feel they have safety and a sense of control. When they feel this security they tend to find a definition of themselves through that environment. This unfortunately also creates situations where any change or deviation from their norm is uncomfortable. As a result, they are frozen and tend toward inactivity. Lewin’s model identifies that the first step of change is to unfreeze. In order to accomplish this the individual or organization must free themselves from current practice and be prepared to adopt new outlooks and behaviors. Anderson (2015) explains that, according to Lewin’s model, there are two forces at work in any …show more content…
In this step, it is necessary to move the focus of the team to the new goal (Kritsonis, 2005). Leadership actions that can aid the movement phase include; persuading subordinates to view the problem from a fresh perspective, recruit a united team to the search for new information, and communicate the views of the group to leaders that also support the change. Van Hoey (2014) warns that the leader of change will need to be prepared to deal with resilience and regret during these first two stages, as individuals may feel discomfort and mourn the absence of the original behaviors and
Lewin’s Three Phase Model.
ChanginMinds.org (2014) describes Lewin’s Three Box model as a systems theory approach, and a vital piece of work that forms the basis of many current change theories. It comprises, as its name suggests, of three phases; unfreezing, moving and refreezing. The suggestion is made that people lean toward an environment in which they feel they have safety and a sense of control. When they feel this security they tend to find a definition of themselves through that environment. This unfortunately also creates situations where any change or deviation from their norm is uncomfortable. As a result, they are frozen and tend toward inactivity. Lewin’s model identifies that the first step of change is to unfreeze. In order to accomplish this the individual or organization must free themselves from current practice and be prepared to adopt new outlooks and behaviors. Anderson (2015) explains that, according to Lewin’s model, there are two forces at work in any …show more content…
In this step, it is necessary to move the focus of the team to the new goal (Kritsonis, 2005). Leadership actions that can aid the movement phase include; persuading subordinates to view the problem from a fresh perspective, recruit a united team to the search for new information, and communicate the views of the group to leaders that also support the change. Van Hoey (2014) warns that the leader of change will need to be prepared to deal with resilience and regret during these first two stages, as individuals may feel discomfort and mourn the absence of the original behaviors and