Every company goes through change. Sometimes there’s little change, and sometimes change comes quite often. If we had to point to one area of a company that seemingly is constantly changing, it would be the Information Systems Department. This comes as no surprise as technology is constantly changing, be it systems, networks, phones, etc. And to stay competitive, companies must change and adopt new technologies.
But change can be difficult. Often there is internal resistance and therefore we need to get buy-in and acceptance for the project to complete successfully. Because most change happens via the Information Technology (IT) department, they often find themselves as “change agents”, that is, IT has to run the project while implementing new systems. Because of this, we are now introducing you to a change management simulator where you will be leading a change management project.
The simulation attempts to capture both the complexity and dynamic unfolding of events associated with large-scale change. To be successful, you have to figure out how to move the organization through three fundamental, organization-level change phases: (1) mobilization, (2) movement, and (3) sustain. To do so, you must seek to influence nineteen key stakeholders, or change targets (mostly members of the top management team), through four individual-level change stages: (1) awareness, (2) interest, (3) trial, and (4) adoption Some of the change targets are receptive to change, while others are not. Finally, you must determine the proper usage and timing of the eighteen change levers available to you in the simulation. The impact of a lever depends on the urgency of the situation, the power and credibility of the change agent, the network position of the change target, and the phase of the organizational change process. With each round of play, you receive feedback about the impact of your lever choices on the change agent’s organizational-level change, individual-level change, and personal credibility. All of this is incredibly important when either being on a project team, or being a project manager.
- There are 4 scenarios to complete. You must complete scenario one before you can move on to scenario two, and so on.
- Please review all the documents within the simulator before proceeding with the simulation.
As you go through the 4 scenarios in the simulator, take notes, maybe even screen shots. When you have finished all 4 scenarios, create a 3-5 page change management reflection paper describing:
- How did you feel running the change management project?
- Compare your results from the 4 scenarios. Which scenarios were you successful? Why? Did you have any failed scenarios? Why?
- What worked and what did not work?
- Were there any common missteps?
- Did you take time to diagnose and strategize before you began to act?
- What was your experience with the simulator? Did you like it, dislike it?
- Do you feel more or less prepared to run a project of change now?
- Anything else?
The reflection paper should be in APA format using full paragraphs with appropriate section labels.