JWI555 Discussions Latest 2022 July

JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture

Week 1 Discussion

Organizational Change Needed

In today's environment, organizations will need to change to remain competitive. Considering your organization, identify a change you would like to implement, and respond to the following:

Briefly describe the change that is needed.

Why is this change important?

Explain your rationale for choosing it.

What are the greatest failure risks that will need to be considered to help ensure the success of this initiative, based on what Kotter says about why organizations fail?

JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture

Week 2 Discussion

Building Urgency

Discuss a situation you have been in at work where people were complacent about a change. Use the questions below to guide you:

Where did the complacency originate from and how was it dealt with?

Which groups displayed the greatest urgency and which displayed the greatest complacency?

What could have been done to create a greater sense of urgency?

JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture

Week 3 Discussion

Guiding Coalitions

In this discussion, we explore the benefits and challenges of a Guiding Coalition in supporting organizational change. Answer the questions below as you think through this topic:

What role do early adopters play in creating a guiding coalition?

Why is it a good idea to focus your leadership attention on these people?

Discuss your experience with a guiding coalition:

How did it form?

What did it accomplish?

What were the major challenges in keeping the coalition intact and strong?

JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture

Week 4 Discussion

Change Vision

Creating a compelling vision statement is a vital ingredient to managing change. In this discussion, you will develop the vision statement for your change initiative. Use the questions below to guide you.

What is your vision statement for the change initiative you have chosen for your Assignment 2?

Why did you choose this vision?

How can you use the EVM tool to help you refine your vision statement?

How much alignment to this vision do you feel is already in place, even if it is not well articulated yet?

What steps are needed to communicate the vision and align stakeholders around the change initiative?

JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture

Week 5 Discussion

What's in it for Me?

Now that you created a vision for your company, it's time to communicate it. Using the guidance from Kotter in Chapter 6, identify two different stakeholders from different departments and develop a draft communication that explains how your proposed changes will impact them and what's in it for them. Items to consider in your communication:

Explain the rationale for change.

Address the "What's in it for me?" question.

Clearly communicate the danger of not making a change.

Ensure that your message is based is on facts, or a strong case that you support well.

Consider your style for dealing with change, as revealed in the CSI Assessment that you took in Week 4. Looking back at your message, how do you think your CSI style affected your communication to the stakeholders?

JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture

Week 6 Discussion

Empowering Your Employees

Empowering employees sounds like an easy step, but there are often challenges that leaders must overcome. Considering your change initiative for Assignment 2, answer the following questions:

Why is it important to empower employees and what role does it play in your change initiative?

What steps can you take as a leader to empower your employees through the change process?

What are some obstacles you will have to overcome to realize this empowerment?

What role does learning play in your change initiative?

When empowering employees, what are the roles of personal vision, skill mastery, and intrinsic motivation?

JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture

Week 7 Discussion

Celebrating Victories Along the Way

In this discussion, comment on change initiatives you have been involved in at work, as well as change initiatives you have undertaken in your own professional life. Use the questions below to guide you:

How important were short-terms wins - or “milestones” - along the way?

Describe a situation where short-terms wins were celebrated and the impact this had on the success of the larger project

Describe a situation where mid-point victories were not adequately leveraged to support the larger project

JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture

Week 8 Discussion

Sustaining the Change

A change initiative, no matter how well designed and launched, is of little value if team members revert to the old ways once the initial enthusiasm wears off or they feel management isn't monitoring compliance.

Share an example from your own experience where you have seen a change initiative start off with great promise and then fail to achieve long-term adoption. If you don't have a personal example, post a link to an article from the Wall Street Journal or other reputable source about an organization that was unable to sustain a significant change initiative.

What caused things to slip back to the old ways? Was it primarily driven by insufficient infrastructures for the new processes? A flawed design? Lack of training or accountability? Something else?

What could the change leaders have done differently to consolidate the initial wins and identify additional supports where needed to sustain the change? Think about both "carrots" - rewards for continuing to implement the change and "sticks" - deterrents that make using the old ways unpleasant. Include references to this week's materials to support your response.

JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture

Week 9 Discussion

Changing the Culture

In Chapter 10 of Leading Change, John Kotter explains that he now believes that cultural changes must take place after a major change initiative, to support the changes that have been made.

Do you agree or disagree with Kotter's view as described above?

Share an example from your own professional life where you have seen cultural norms support or impede progress

What actions must leaders take to foster a culture that sustains changes that have been made?

JWI555 Organizational Change and Culture

Week 10 Discussion

Change Leadership Challenge

Which of the change leadership skills or behaviors have you found to be the most challenging to date? Why?

Where do you see your most immediate area for growth?