Description
Reply to Change Agents Discussion 2
Q – Please read the discussion below and prepare a Reply to this discussion post with comments that further and advance the discussion topic.
Please provide the references you used.
Ensure zero plagiarism.
Word limit: 150 words
Discussion
Change Agents
To make it in today’s highly competitive business world, they must effectively act as a change agent. A change agent, as the term suggests, is a person who facilitates change within an organization or organization unit or provides change support. In my current position, I think of myself as a change agent because of the attributes I contribute to my organization and my involvement in change processes. My personality suits this kind of work, and knowing what is expected of me, I wish to be among those who will steer the course of change in the right direction.
Characteristics and Traits of Change Agents
Effective agents of change exhibit several traits important to their capability of bringing about change. Some of these identifiers include commitment to improvement, strong communication and interpersonal skills, determination, flexibility, and resilience. I have kept manifesting these traits throughout my engagement by cooperatively leading different teams toward positive organizational outcomes. In continuation, for instance, I have a strong professional commitment to advancing the processes within my organization for increased efficiency (Deszca et al., 2019). I also communicate effectively to voice the changes required for the organization, hence ensuring that I engage different stakeholders to ensure that they understand the need for the change that is being implemented. Also, I remain flexible, essential in managing emergent micro processes, especially in organizations with bureaucracies and individuals who resist change.
Influencing Change Strategies
While serving as a change agent, one of my accomplishments was the successful development and rollout of intra-organizational communication and workflow technology. This sort of change process was technical and cultural and required significant changes in the company’s organizational culture. Here, my role was to encourage the team and lead them through the adoption of the new system, answering the concerns that the workers raised (Nielsen et al., 2021). To change their attitudes, I emphasized the effectiveness of the new platform for collaboration and enhancing productivity in the future while mentioning that it may be pretty challenging at first. Furthermore, staff members habituated to the old system expressed considerable opposition in the early stages of the rollout. I overcame this challenge by putting it in a positive light and highlighting how the new system will lessen its workload and reduce inefficiencies (Nielsen et al., 2021). By doing these things, I helped the team build trust and minimize resistance. Ultimately, the endeavor’s accomplishment proved the impact a change agent may have on a project’s course.
Challenges Faced by Change Agents
Being a change agent is not always smooth sailing. Perhaps the most significant challenge I have faced is when it is hard to help workers overcome resistance to change, either because of comfort with the status quo or suspicion of possible adverse changes. To some of my colleagues, my enthusiasm for change was over-optimism, which sometimes did not augur well. The problem with change agents is that they could often appear as polarizing personalities in organizations (Deszca et al., 2019). One of the issues is that those involved are not aware of all the changes from the management side. Sometimes, it is possible to be engaged in certain undertakings whereby management has not been very open on the adverse implications of change. This poses a problem, considering that employees must be fully aware of other possibilities so as not to feel betrayed. To counter this, I think there should be honesty and, especially, free relations between both partners. If the change process’s potential influence is negative, such as reduced turnover, then at least the process should be explained to gain the employees’ confidence.
Types of Change Agents
Agents of change can be typified by their approach, style, and means of driving the change into four categories: Emotional Champions, Intuitive Adapters, Developmental Strategists, and Continuous Improvers. I most relate to Continuous improvement because my approach is one of incremental changes to continuously improve the processes and systems within the organization to enable gradual, incremental changes without jolting the team due to radical changes (Nielsen et al., 2021). The specific areas of the business I scrutinize are those where an implemented, pointedly specific change will help achieve sustainable business growth.
References
Deszca, G., Ingols, C., & Cawsey, T. F. (2019). Organizational change: An action-oriented toolkit. Sage Publications.
Nielsen, K., Dawson, J., Hasson, H., & Schwarz, U. V. T. (2021). What about me? The impact of employee change agents’ person-role fit on their job satisfaction during organizational change. Work & Stress, 35(1), 57-73.
Q – Please read the discussion below and prepare a Reply to this discussion post with
comments that further and advance the discussion topic.
Please provide the references you used.
Ensure zero plagiarism.
Word limit: 150 words
Discussion
Change Agents
To make it in today’s highly competitive business world, they must effectively act as a change agent.
A change agent, as the term suggests, is a person who facilitates change within an organization or
organization unit or provides change support. In my current position, I think of myself as a change
agent because of the attributes I contribute to my organization and my involvement in change
processes. My personality suits this kind of work, and knowing what is expected of me, I wish to be
among those who will steer the course of change in the right direction.
Characteristics and Traits of Change Agents
Effective agents of change exhibit several traits important to their capability of bringing about
change. Some of these identifiers include commitment to improvement, strong communication and
interpersonal skills, determination, flexibility, and resilience. I have kept manifesting these traits
throughout my engagement by cooperatively leading different teams toward positive organizational
outcomes. In continuation, for instance, I have a strong professional commitment to advancing the
processes within my organization for increased efficiency (Deszca et al., 2019). I also communicate
effectively to voice the changes required for the organization, hence ensuring that I engage different
stakeholders to ensure that they understand the need for the change that is being implemented.
Also, I remain flexible, essential in managing emergent micro processes, especially in organizations
with bureaucracies and individuals who resist change.
Influencing Change Strategies
While serving as a change agent, one of my accomplishments was the successful development and
rollout of intra-organizational communication and workflow technology. This sort of change process
was technical and cultural and required significant changes in the company’s organizational culture.
Here, my role was to encourage the team and lead them through the adoption of the new system,
answering the concerns that the workers raised (Nielsen et al., 2021). To change their attitudes, I
emphasized the effectiveness of the new platform for collaboration and enhancing productivity in
the future while mentioning that it may be pretty challenging at first. Furthermore, staff members
habituated to the old system expressed considerable opposition in the early stages of the rollout. I
overcame this challenge by putting it in a positive light and highlighting how the new system will
lessen its workload and reduce inefficiencies (Nielsen et al., 2021). By doing these things, I helped
the team build trust and minimize resistance. Ultimately, the endeavor’s accomplishment proved the
impact a change agent may have on a project’s course.
Challenges Faced by Change Agents
Being a change agent is not always smooth sailing. Perhaps the most significant challenge I have
faced is when it is hard to help workers overcome resistance to change, either because of comfort
with the status quo or suspicion of possible adverse changes. To some of my colleagues, my
enthusiasm for change was over-optimism, which sometimes did not augur well. The problem with
change agents is that they could often appear as polarizing personalities in organizations (Deszca et
al., 2019). One of the issues is that those involved are not aware of all the changes from the
management side. Sometimes, it is possible to be engaged in certain undertakings whereby
management has not been very open on the adverse implications of change. This poses a problem,
considering that employees must be fully aware of other possibilities so as not to feel betrayed. To
counter this, I think there should be honesty and, especially, free relations between both partners. If
the change process’s potential influence is negative, such as reduced turnover, then at least the
process should be explained to gain the employees’ confidence.
Types of Change Agents
Agents of change can be typified by their approach, style, and means of driving the change into four
categories: Emotional Champions, Intuitive Adapters, Developmental Strategists, and Continuous
Improvers. I most relate to Continuous improvement because my approach is one of incremental
changes to continuously improve the processes and systems within the organization to enable
gradual, incremental changes without jolting the team due to radical changes (Nielsen et al., 2021).
The specific areas of the business I scrutinize are those where an implemented, pointedly specific
change will help achieve sustainable business growth.
References
Deszca, G., Ingols, C., & Cawsey, T. F. (2019). Organizational change: An action-oriented toolkit. Sage
Publications.
Nielsen, K., Dawson, J., Hasson, H., & Schwarz, U. V. T. (2021). What about me? The impact of
employee change agents’ person-role fit on their job satisfaction during organizational change. Work
& Stress, 35(1), 57-73.
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