Aim: To effectively implement a change in your own personal or professional life

Learning Outcomes Assessed:

• Demonstrate knowledge of the main theoretical perspectives on organisational change and their implications for managing change
• Apply key approaches, models and tools for analysing, planning, and implementing change so as to improve organisational and individual effectiveness
• Analyse the roles of managers and change agents in managing change
• Understand the importance of leading change and why transformation efforts often fail
• Analyse the nature of resistance to change and approaches to overcoming it
• Demonstrate the need to institutionalise successful change

Submission Requirements:

• A 1,500 word report (+/- 10% not including references

For this assessment, we would like you to determine one change you wish to make in your personal or professional life and implement the change as you progress through this course. This could mean anything from introducing a new system into your workplace, to establishing a new health plan for yourself. You can choose the nature of the change but it should be something you can realistically seek to achieve.

We would like you to define the change you wish to make and how you intend to make it, indicating a timeframe for the implementation of the change. You should then apply the concepts, frameworks and ideas from this course in an endeavour to make your change successfully. While some changes can be implemented quite swiftly others can take longer to execute, therefore you are not expected to have completed your programme of change within this eight week course.

This assessment aims to encourage you to engage with the approaches discussed in the learning material and enable you to respond and adapt your strategy as obstacles and opportunities arise. Change is constant, and it is as varied and unpredictable as the responses to it. To be able succeed in an ever-evolving business world, the capacity to effectively implement, and react to, change can be vital in sustaining and growing a company.

We would like you to write a report detailing your programme of change. You should outline why you selected this change, the planning process, and how the change was implemented. Identify any resistance and challenges as well as how they were overcome. Consider how implementing the change compares to how you envisioned the process, commenting on how successful you think your change has been.

Key Specifications and Requirements

You may refer to any of the materials and tools introduced on the course but must:

• State clearly the nature of the change you wish to bring about, why you wish to introduce it, and the timeframe involved.
• Use the Force Field Analysis framework to illustrate the driving and restraining forces acting upon you as you began the change process.
• Assess likely resistance to change and how you plan to approach it, or how you overcame it.
• Use the planned approach to change.
• Evaluate how successful the change has been by the submission date for the report, considering your initial plan, the processes involved and the outcomes so far.
• Set your work out as a report.
• Ensure that your report has an introduction and a conclusion. Be clear about the use of paragraphs.
• Write in the first-person (e.g. I wanted to undertake this type of change because...) as this is an account of your personal experience of implementing a change.
• Label any diagrams used (e.g. Figure 1), give it a title, and credit the source.
• Use Harvard referencing accurately.
• Remember, the report should be written in your own words. If you use a quote or directly insert words used by others then these must be placed in speech marks () and be followed by the author(s) family name, year and page number(s). If you are just using an idea then you should still acknowledge (reference)the source, but no page numbers are needed.
• Ultimately, remember, you are navigating the reader through ideas/thinking and evidence and you are coming to a position. As such, there must be considerable you in the work. The work cannot simply be a collection of others peoples commentary. You should be comparing, contrasting, evaluating and then ultimately proposing a conclusion.
• Write 1,500 words (+/- 10% not including references) and include a word count at the end of the assignment.

Marking Criteria

Your work will be assessed based on the following criteria:

• Your knowledge of change management concepts and frameworks
• Your ability to apply these in relation to the change you wish to introduce
• Your ability to use these in the production of appropriate solutions to the challenge of change
• Your ability to promote effective change practices
• Your ability to source and use a variety of types of material
• Your ability to communicate ideas effectively