Managing Resistance to Change Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Managing Resistance to Change - Research Paper Example Using the systems thinking approach, an organization can be assessed for the way in which it functions as a single entity, all of its parts performing so that the performance of the whole achieves mutual goals. Identifying the way in which the system functions is vital in assessing the way in which change will be accomplished. The model of managerial approach that can best be used is through establishing a work culture that has enough flexibility to embrace change. The second step is in providing clear information and creating inclusion in the ways in which the change is created. These two aspects of management are the most important in defining the environment in which change can take place. Resistance is minimized when an organization becomes an organic entity with flexible, porous boundaries that are focused on the overall success of the goals of the company. Through information and inclusion, this environment will not only achieve the goals of transition and change, but keep on t rack for achieving overall goals for the company. Managing Resistance to Change Introduction Change is a phenomenon that requires swift adaptation, an uncomfortable situation for people to manage. Human behavior is approached with apprehension of an outcome and when change occurs, fear of the unknown can create resistance. As a manager, the professional leader must find a way to create smooth transitions when changes occur in a work environment. This can be difficult as the manager is not only trying to reassure his team members, but to alleviate his or her own concerns. Despite the perception that change will be an unwelcome addition to a routine, most changes are intended to increase productivity and provide benefit for a business. Therefore, it is vital that a manager find a way to successfully introduce and implement changes so that the benefit that is intended can be realized. In examining managing resistance to change, the systems thinking approach is the model that allows for the best possible outcome through the most organizational structures. All organizations have a basic number of ways in which they function. These elements of the organization exist in small and large entities, their purposes vital to the overall functioning of the system in order to provide an organic structure. Some organic structures are flexible, while others are rigid, and it is in the level of rigidity that management fails to create an organization that can more easily create transitions when needed. Without transitions, there is not growth, therefore in order to best manage resistance to change, an organic, flexible ideology will best serve reducing resistance to change. Literature Review The primary problem presented with an element of change within an organization is in dealing with the anxiety that team members feel when their space of comfort is disrupted. Work consists of creating known habits and behaviors that define the progression of the day. When change is implemen ted, anxiety is created as the individual must reconcile what is a known outcome with what is an unknown variable. Maltz (2008), discusses the balance that is created by the existence of transition having a natural correspondence with resistance. There is an element of ’data’ in regard to resistance which is critical in defining productivity, development, and the creation of a successful change within the organization (p. 3). The primary focus of the work that Maltz (2008) has