Change Management Plan

Change Management Plan

This paper is going to work on developing an effective change management plan for CrysTel. First, it will look at the major implications of the proposed changes. Second, there will be an explanation of the most effective change model and why it was selected. Then the paper lists some things that the leaders of CrysTel can do to help manage any resistance to the changes. After that an effective leadership style for the management is presented including the reason that this style should be used. Next, there is a discussion about specific actions that the leadership can take to use the leadership style and to help ensure that the changes are long-lasting. That will be followed by a looking at specific things that can be used to monitor the progress of the changes. Finally, the paper will consider future challenges that CrysTel could face.

Major Implications

The changes that CrysTel are looking to implement will have many different implications on various areas throughout the company. The area that will be directly affected is employee morale and stability. The senior management at CrysTel is looking to increase job satisfaction because they know that it will help the company overall to become more effective and to be able to accept future changes.

The biggest affect that CrysTel is looking for is to build an environment within the company that will allow for future changes to be made easier and for those changes to be lasting when they are made. The company realizes that they will have to be regularly making changes due to the constantly emerging technological advances within the telecommunications industry. At this time, the senior management recognizes that there could be a great deal of resistance to these changes. Therefore, they have decided to first make these changes to management and structure styles.

Another thing that will be strongly affected by making these changes is productivity. As people become more satisfied and feel more comfortable with their job their productivity begins to increase. They begin to feel more connected and invested in the company as a whole, which causes them to work harder. At the same time some of the communication changes will make it easier for the people to get their job done. This will cause them to be able to do more and to get things done quicker.

Many of these changes will involve the way that the management and employees interact and communicate. That means that the changes will cause a difference in the way that the senior management will need to lead their departments. The management can set a good example by making sure that these changes are put in place early.

Everyone might expect that there will be some resistance from the current employees at first. This resistance is part of the problem that CrysTel management is looking to fix, so it would conclude that this resistance may cause some problems at this stage of change as well. This paper will discuss this in greater detail in the next section.

Change Model

The most effective approach that CrysTel can use to help manage these changes is to focus on Organizational Development. This method really focuses on making deeply integrated, long-term changes to the culture of the company (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2004). That is exactly the sort of thing that CrysTel is looking to do. They want to change the way that the company communicates and works together. This is changing the company culture to a different method of acting and thinking. This means that they are wanting to change many of the core values of the employees and the company as a whole. Organizational Development is often focused on values like this (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2004). The company has called in a consultant, who has done a couple of studies, and found what the employees feel is wrong within the company. They are now looking for ways to fix these specific problems. Organizational Development is used to "'diagnose' its ills, 'prescribe' and implement an intervention, and 'monitor' progress" (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2004). This seems to be a big part of the reason the company is trying to make changes. For all of these reasons, Organizational Development is most likely to be the most effective approach to implementing these new changes.

Managing Resistance

There are few things that CrysTel can do to fight any resistance to these changes. The first thing is for the management to set the example. Many of these changes will affect how the management manages the departments, so the leaders need to make their changes first. This will show the other employees that the management is supporting these changes. It shows a strong commitment to change from the upper levels. This will often help the other employees to make the changes that they need to when they see that the senior management is willing to change and actively working to change.

Another thing that the senior management at CrysTel can do is to be sure to communicate the changes effectively to the employees. This involves explaining exactly what kind of things need to be changed. It will also be making sure they understand how things are going to need to be changed. Part of this is giving a realistic time table for the changes to be fully implemented by the employees. Finally, but just as important, the employees need to know why these changes are being made. By communicating all of these things effectively the management will help to ensure that people are open to changing and that there will be little resistance.

Effective Leadership

To help make these changes go smoothly and to help ensure that the changes are long-lasting, it is important for CrysTel to focus on using the transformational leadership style. This style focuses creating a shared vision of the way the company can be in the future after the changes are made (McShane & Von Glingow, 2005). This leadership style will have many benefits. It will help the employees to feel more connected and invested in the changes that are taking place. This will cause the employees to take these changes on themselves. It will also allow the employees to work together and encourage each other to make the necessary changes. It will help the employees to focus on the positive aspects of the changes instead of the possible inconveniences and problems that may arise at first when the changes have not yet been fully integrated. The employees will see the future benefits for themselves, their department, and the company as a whole.

Specific Leadership Practices

There are several things that the people in leadership positions need to do to make