Managing change
Managing change: Assignment 1: Individual Reflective Report.
The Report should be submitted electronically via Moodle
Task
It is suggested that effective personal management of change is the root to effective organizational change.
This assignment focuses on personal change and requires you to consider how your own personal readiness and responsiveness may impact on your ability to support
effective organizational change.
Your discussion should:
? Examine the nature of change in the current environment
? Explore the factors influencing an individuals’ capacity for change in terms of skills, attributes, qualities, behaviours etc. and the implications for
personal readiness for change
? Identify your personal responsiveness to change utilising a range of Inventories, questionnaires etc. and assess the implications for your ability to support
or lead organizational change
This should be in the form of a reflective report of 2500 words (+/- 10%).
This Report should have the following components:
? Executive summary – a précis or summary of the whole report
? Contents Page – with main sections and page numbers
? Introduction – objectives and structure of report
? Methodology – how you collected the data, type of literature accessed, what inventories used etc.
? Findings/Discussion – divided into subsections, integrates theory and practice
? Conclusions
? Appendices – a summary of key results from inventories, questionnaires etc.
Content and Processes
When working out the requirements of an assignment it is useful to use the following approach
This is the most important aspect of the whole process. If you do not address the assignment question then you cannot deliver a good assignment and your hard work,
effort and time will have been wasted. Failing to address the question means that you lose marks.
If you are not clear then check with the unit tutor what is required.
Activity:
• Read the Assignment Brief in the MC unit handbook/ Page 1 of this booklet
• Identify the content words and the process words
• What is the content of this assignment?
Content
• What processes need to be applied to the content?
Processes
• What format/structure is required?
Format
Organising and Planning Material to meet Word count
Executive Summary About 350 words ( does not contribute to overall word count)
Introduction Approx 150 words
Methodology Approx 250 words
Findings/Discussion Approx 1700 words
Conclusions Approx 400 words
• When and how is it to be delivered?
Submission
ALWAYS read the ASSESSMENT CRITERIA & FEEDBACK SHEET for further clues about the assignment requirements
In Summary
This assignment focuses on the work/content covered in the following Workshops:
? Agenda for Change
? Triggers for Change
? Personal Response to Change
? Planning for Personal Change
The discussion needs to start by outlining the nature of change, why it is such a big issue and how our thinking about change has changed over time. This provides a
context. You should be referring to VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity & Ambiguity).
There needs to be some consideration of the triggers for personal change – remember you are looking at what influences or triggers change in individuals – so do not
get sucked into discussing organizational change. Consider both internal & external triggers; look at the events in your own lives, which change over time, and look at
the broader environment – this is not an assignment about organizational change.
Then you need to look at what characteristics are found in individuals that influence their response to change – so you need to consider how values, life events and
personality traits create patterns of behaviour that can be positive or negative in relation to change. All this must be underpinned by academic citations.
Next, you must assess your own profile in terms of how well you respond to change – this means that you must gather some personal data by completing inventories,
questionnaires etc and use these to analyse yourself. www.mindtools.com is a very useful website for quick and free questionnaires – but also use the ones provided
in the various workbooks.
You should be able to come to some conclusions about your responsiveness to change – and you can then assess your potential for leading change successfully in the
current climate which is VUCA
Resources
Much of the academic literature focuses on organizational change, however if you examine self- help books/ articles on personal development or life coaching you will
find a great deal of material that is useful. You will also find that Articles on Psychology of sport are useful
Books
Adams, J.D. (1976)Transition: understanding & managing personal change, Martin Robertson
Amos, J.A (1999) Self-management & personal effectiveness: how to achieve your personal goals in life and at work, 2nd Edn, How To Books
Whetton, D.A. & Cameron, K.S. (2005) Developing management skills, 6th Edn, Pearson Education Inc
Winstanley, D. (2005) Personal effectiveness: a guide to action, CIPD
Farrell, P.A.(2003) How to be your own therapist: a step-by-step guide to building a competent, confident life, McGraw Hill
Orsborn, C.M. (2000) Inner excellence at work: the path to meaning, spirit and success, AMACON
Policy Press (2009) Managing transitions: support for individuals at key points of change
Published Bristol : Policy Press 2009
Remember to look at the reading list provided in the unit handbook too.
For further Guidance on Report Writing, consult information provided in the general MSc Moodle site or in the APP unit. You will also find a Harvard Referencing
Guide book in this section.
Feedback Policy
Feedback will be in the form of:
• Formative feedback in workshops/tutorials/ on drafts of assignments ( once only)
• Annotation on scripts
• Individual developmental feedback sheets
• Group feedback on Moodle