Implementing Change

Implementing change in a department of organization can be difficult. Management must have a plan before implementing the change. The manager’s role and responsibility in implementing change within a department is very important. The manager’s role is to assess the change that needs to take place, come up with a plan to implement a change, implement the change, and evaluate the change in a timely order. To have a successful implementation of a new process, the manager must be involved in each step. The manager must keep the staff involved and let the staff know why the change is taking place and how it will affect the work process. The manager faces many challenges such as meeting the organizations goals and working with staff members who might resist the change. This paper will focus on the manager’s role and responsibility in implementing change, the way a manager should successfully handle staff resistance to change and define each step of the change process such as assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation.

When there is a change in the work process within the department, the manager’s role and responsibility is to make sure the implementation of the changes takes place smoothly with the help of the staff. According to Sullivan & Decker (2009), the manager must be able to communicate openly and honestly with the staff, support the staff if they are resisting the change, emphasize the positive outcomes from initiating change, find solutions to problems that are obstacles to change and accept the constancy of change. The manager must be able to identify the change, collect and analyze data, develop a plan, help the staff prepare for the change, prepare to handle resistance, provide feedback, and evaluate effectiveness of the change. The manager should involve the staff in the implementation of the new work process. According to Knoer (2011), communication is one of the most important tools that a leader must utilize to successfully implement. If