In 1996, John Kotter wrote Leading Change, which looked at what people did to transform their organizations. Kotter introduced an 8-step change model for helping managers deal with transformational change. This is summarized in Kotter’s 8-step change model. Whether you’re considering a small change to one or two processes, or a system wide change to an organization, it’s common to feel uneasy and intimidated by the scale of the challenge. You know that the change needs to happen, but you don’t really know how to go about doing delivering it. Where do you start? Whom do you involve? How do you see it through to the end? There are many theories about how to “do” change.

This assignment will provide an opportunity for students to reflect on a change they have experienced in their workplace. Applying Kotter’s 8-step model, they will make suggestions about how the change could have been more successfully managed.

Assignment instructions:
Briefly describe a change that was not well planned and/or well executed in your workplace. Using Kotter’s 8 step model, describe one-two actions you would take at each of the 8 stages to increase the likelihood of acceptance and success.