Organisational behaviour

Change management: Kotter’s eight-step model

John Kotter’s eight-step model for change management

Many CEOs find it challenging to implement change in their organizations, and the larger the organization, the more difficult it becomes. There are various recipe books for conducting a change program, the most well-known of which is John Kotter's eight-step approach.

When to use it

● To make a change in your organization, such as a new formal structure, an updated IT system, or a new approach to customer service.
● To figure out why a previous attempt at change failed and come up with a solution.

Origins

Change management has been a challenge for as long as companies have been. Our present perspective of change management emerged only after researchers began to comprehend the behavioural components of organizations and the thought that people would oppose a change they didn't believe in. Kurt Lewin, a professor at MIT in the 1940s, demonstrated how crucial it was to break employees out of their old ways of thinking before trying a substantial change.

In the postwar years, systematic approaches to change management began to emerge, generally pioneered by consulting firms like McKinsey and The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Several attempts to formalize and codify the procedure were attempted in the 1980s and 1990s. The Harvard professor John Kotter's eight-step model is probably the most well-known. Claes Janssen's 'four chambers of change' approach and Rosabeth Moss Kanter's 'change wheel' are among the others.

What it is

Change management is challenging in part because it appears to be simple. However, inertia is a tremendous force, and we are all naturally wary of attempts to change the status quo in our workplaces. Executives in charge of the organization's strategy will often perceive risks and possibilities far more clearly than those in smaller roles, therefore articulating why change is necessary is an important aspect of their work. As a result, John Kotter's eight-step model is all about 'people,' or how to encourage employees to adopt a planned change by changing their work routines and attitudes. The eight steps of Kotter's model should be followed in the following order:
1 Create urgency
2 Form a powerful coalition
3 Create a vision for change
4 Communicate the vision
5 Remove obstacles
6 Create short-term wins
7 Build on the change
8 Anchor the changes in corporate culture

How to use it

Kotter goes into great detail about how to put each step of the model into action. Obviously, a lot relies on the circumstances, and a leader should constantly be ready to adjust the change plan based on the response he or she receives. A quick description of how to complete each step follows.

Step 1: create urgency

This is about persuading company personnel that there are issues or opportunities that need to be addressed. In 2012, Stephen Elop, the CEO of Nokia, attempted to build urgency for change by referring to Nokia's 'burning platform,' and how they needed to be prepared to consider drastic changes to their business model.
Start an open and honest conversation with employees about what's going on in the marketplace to create urgency. Customer-facing employees are often your best partners in this regard because they receive daily firsthand feedback about the market. If a large number of people begin to discuss the need for change, the urgency will grow and feed on itself.

Step 2: form a powerful coalition

While you, as the leader, must lead a large change initiative, you cannot do so alone. As a result, enlisting the help of key opinion leaders within the firm is critical. Effective opinion leaders can be found throughout the organization, and they don't always follow the traditional company structure. These individuals must publicly commit to the change and then champion it inside their respective departments.

Step 3: create a vision for change

Often people have very diverse visions of what the future might look like. As leader, you need to build and express a clear vision so others can grasp what it means to them – how it taps into their own interests, and how they might be able to con- tribute. You don't have to do it alone; incorporating important employees early on helps with implementation later on since they feel more invested in the change and have a greater stake in its success.

Step 4: communicate the vision

It's challenging to get your message out to everyone in a large business since there are typically many layers between you (as a leader) and those on the front lines. Effective leaders spend a lot of time giving speeches, speaking to people through various media, and enlisting the support of their direct reports to spread the word.

Step 5: remove obstacles

Even a well-articulated and stated idea may not be enough to sway everyone. Some people will always oppose, and some structures will always stand in the way. As a result, you must actively work to remove roadblocks and empower the people who will carry out the vision.

Step 6: create short-term wins

People have short attention spans, so you'll need to show some actual evidence that things are improving quickly – usually within a few months. Of course, there is some 'game playing' going on here, as the swift wins were frequently in the works before the modification program began. However, this rarely diminishes the value they give in terms of building momentum.

Step 7: build on the change

Many transformation programs fail, according to Kotter, because triumph is declared too soon. Quick successes are crucial, but you must continue to search for ways to improve so that the organization does not fall back into old habits.

Step 8: anchor the changes in corporate culture

Finally, any change must become ingrained in the way people work on a daily basis. This entails conveying stories about the change process and what made it effective, recognizing key members of the original change coalition, and incorporating the change ideals and values into the recruiting and training of new employees.

Top practical tip

Change management is all about people, and it's all about creating little changes in their behavior. As a result, according to Kotter, your responsibility as a leader is to engage them on an emotional level. They must be able to'see' and 'feel' the change (for example, in visually appealing settings where difficulties are resolved) (such as by gaining some sort of emotional response that motivates them to act). This contributes to the reinforcement of desired behaviour.

Top pitfalls

The Kotter approach is ideal for top-down change, where top executives are eager to change and have a clear understanding of where the company needs to go. Unfortunately, some organizations do not embrace these assumptions, in which case Kotter's approach does not operate. Such companies require either a change in leadership or a bottom-up change approach.