Change Management deals with the implementation of change within an organisation in a systematic and planned manner. The main objective of Change Management is to: reduce the probability of change implementation failure; reduce resistance to change; and obtain maximum benefit from the implementation.

To understand Change Management it is essential to understand the concept of change. “We must always change, renew, and rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden,” said Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe. And change applies not only to individuals but to organizations as well. Change is inevitable and is imperative for the success of a firm. An organisation needs to change constantly, adapting to changing external circumstances, otherwise they risk becoming obsolete.

However, the introduction of changes is not a laughing matter. It is human psychology to resist change. There can be several reasons for resistance to change in an organisation: the uncertainty involved; inefficient communication of the changes needed; lack of courage; lack of the necessary skills; lack of communication of the purpose of the change; lack of support and motivation on the part of the management. This is one of the areas where Change Management plays a significant role.

According to Wikipedia, Change Management is “a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future state.” Individual and organizational Change Management refers to the process of understanding and implementing changes at the level of singular staff members and groups of individuals respectively.

Individual Change Management and organizational Change Management are the two major aspects of the processes of Change Management. Experts have come up with several models for Change Management at both these levels. Lewin developed a 3-stage model for individual Change Management, called the Unfreeze-Change-Re-freeze model. In the first stage, Unfreezing, an attempt is made to ‘unfreeze’ or question existing beliefs, policies and procedures, and realizing the need for change. In the second stage, Change, the necessary changes are implemented. The third stage, Re-freezing, attempts to ‘re-freeze’ or create acceptance for the recently incorporated changes, to replace the old beliefs with new ones.

Hughes also uses a similar 3-stage approach in his model for individual Change Management. The 3 stages developed by him are Exit, Transit and Entry. According to Judson, the implementation of change includes 5 major steps: analysis of the existing situation and determining the changes to be made; providing information about the required changes; motivation and creating awareness and acceptance for the changes; actual implementation of the changes; evaluation of the changed situation, making modifications wherever necessary, and replacing the old system with the new one.

Similarly, the Change Management formula developed by Prosci, known as the ADKAR Model, also uses 5 steps. As per this model, the steps in Change Management are: Awareness of the necessity for change; creating Desire for the changes needed; sharing Knowledge on how the changes would be implemented; creating Ability for changes to be implemented; and Reinforcement for maintaining the changes in the long run.

Regarding organizational Change Management, the theory of Donald Schön is quite well known. He said organizations usually have the tendency of being closed to change, and do not accept change easily. However, if firms develop themselves as ‘learning organizations’ all staff would be constantly learning, changing and growing and thus change would be easier to implement.

In conclusion, Change Management benefits both businesses and individuals alike. The process takes time and effort but the results are beneficial for every one involved. Change Management is an on-going process and the effectiveness of the process can be increased when individual and organizational methods are used in conjunction with each other.

Sandra Goode wrote the Article ‘Change Management Enhances Business’ and recommends you visit http://www.afaprojects.com for more information on strategic change management training

1) Pummel. Terror. “Do what I say or you will die.” The bad old days. This time-honored method seeks control at any cost and can be used to force either change or non-change. The worker is a slave. The leader says, “My way or the highway”. It’s a very tense and stressful environment…and it’s created solely by the leader.

2) Push. Distress. “Do what you must do or the enterprise will die.” This is conventional motivation, the deliberate use of fear to galvanize positive action - the burning platform from which people must jump (change) or perish. Push uses force, like Pummel, but it is not brutal force. It encourages people to act by loading them up with negative information. In the hands of some, this is the big lie. The worker is a rat in a Skinner Box. The environment is just as tense and stressful as under Pummel, but the pressure is now not created by the boss, but by the information the boss is providing. Kind of like hitting people with bricks.

3) Pull. Eustress. “Do what you must do to achieve the future you dream of.” Imagination, inspiration. It is less control than a willingness to lead coupled with a willingness to follow. Pull is Push plus empowerment - workers motivate (scare) themselves. The manager is a human being with no power to coerce; the worker is a human being with free will. A kind of fear is involved. Urgency might be a better word for it. This is the hardest way to achieve change, but the way with the best long-term results. It combines both the tension of a perceived threat combined with an exit strategy…a way out of the stress. A step by step process towards a future positive state.

4) Pamper. Torpor. “Do what you feel like doing.” This is the realm of entitlement, the supposedly good new days. Pamper is Pull minus accountability. Zero fear, maximum empowerment, slack performance, scant measurement and evaluation. The worker is a child. The first two are related, characterized by fear, manipulation, and disrespect for the worker. The second two are also related, characterized by an acknowledgment of the worker’s humanity. The first and last categories are the extremes, but these extremes are common. Anyone who has been in many different organizations knows that a lot of them operate on these extremes of sadism and permissiveness.

The best hope organizations have for making successful change lies in utilizing a balanced combination of the middle, more temperate two - Push and Pull. Push to get people’s attention and start them thinking. It gets their attention, like the impact of a two by four to the forehead. Then it is combined with the Pull where people are rallied to follow the escape plan out of the pain. Pull to leverage people’s knowledge and creativity to put the change over.

A world class speaker, author, and educator, Dr. Robbins focuses on transformational leadership by providing leadership skill training, team building / team leadership training, management development training, and executive coaching. See more on http://www.harveyrobbins.com

The demand for companies to hold a conference call is on the rise. This increase in demand is largely due to the large number of employees who telecommute or work form home. Many companies also have staff at different locations and scheduling a regular meeting where everyone can be present is almost impossible. Holding a conferencing call is the perfect solution to this issue.

There are many different methods used for holding a conference call. Of course, you could just have all of the people involved dial the number of the person chairing the meeting, but this can prove extremely expensive – especially if attendees are in different areas of the country or even the world. The answer is to use a conferencing call service.

Conference call services are extremely simple to use. You do not need a special phone to participate, although one with a speaker facility is far more comfortable for the arm! The organizer of the meeting contacts one of the conferencing call service providers and schedules the date and time of the meeting. All participants are then sent an invitation with a unique number that they can use to dial in to the meeting. It really is as simple as that. The hosting company is responsible for all of the technical work involved in bridging all of the attendees into one conference call flawlessly.

The cost of this type of basic conferencing call has been reduced significantly and you may expect to pay $100 for a 5-person conference that lasts 30 minutes. If your company is going to hold a regular conference call, for weekly progress reports for example, then there are monthly flat rate services available. These can be as low as $30 per month. The added benefit of this service is that you are often allocated a toll-free number for your regular conferencing call – reducing the cost further.

The cheapest type of conferencing call is one that has been booked in advance. This gives the hosting company more time to set up the bridging service. However, the fluid nature of business today means that a conference call may be required at the last minute. There are a number of services that provide this immediate conferencing call service. The prices vary greatly, depending on the timing and number of attendees required.

Most conferencing call requests are simply to have a number of participants able to connect into a meeting. There is usually no need for any operator assistance as the attendees dial in to the conference call and the rest is left to them. This works very well for the majority of audio conferencing, but there are certain occasions where additional services are required. This type of operator assisted conferencing call requires much higher fees. If a company is holding an important conference call with potential clients, for example, it may be in their best interests to have this additional help to ensure that the call goes smoothly, leaving the participants free to negotiate rather than worry about the phone call itself.

John Furnem is a dot com veteran, specializing in human resources and work psychology he has written articles about stress management and business themes. John currently writes Conference Calls tips and advice articles.

I have worked for large company for several years and have been on more conference calls, tele-seminars, and tele-training calls than I can remember. Those experiences have led me to develop a list of “Conference Call Tips and Etiquette” that can help make conference calls more pleasant, run smoother, and help avoid embarrassment. I’m sure the list I’ve put together isn’t all inclusive but it does cover the major things I have experienced or learned about during the course of all those calls I’ve been on.

– Find a quiet place. Background noise will be heard on the call and it can be very distracting to other participants. If you are at home and have small children playing nearby or have a noisy dog, try to find the quietest part of your house. The other participants on the call will appreciate it. If it is not possible to be away from the noise, mute your phone whenever you are not talking. Pressing *6 will mute most phones.

– Avoid Using A Cell Phone. Try to avoid calling into a conference call from a cell phone whenever possible. Cell phones add tremendous background noise to a conference call. If a cell phone is your only choice, muting the cell phone is a necessity whenever you are not speaking. Also, make sure you are not driving when you are on you the call.

– Be on time for the call. Don’t get on the call late and expect someone to catch you up with what is going on while everyone else waits. It is rude and disrespectful to the other participants to not be on time. It gives them the impression that your time is more important than theirs.

– Don’t Use The Hold Button. Do not put the conference call on hold if your phone has hold music or those annoying beeps that sound every few seconds. To say it is a huge interruption and distraction for everyone else on the call is an understatement. I was once on a conference call for training on a new software product our company was introducing. Someone else put the call on hold for nearly 20 minutes and we ended up listening to her hold music for the entire time. If you have to leave a conference call for any period of time, hang up the phone and call back in when you are ready to rejoin.

– Be Cautious With Cordless Phones. If you are joining a conference call from a cordless phone make sure the phone does not have a lot of static background noise. Usually static background noise starts when you start to get out of range of the phone base or is you get near another device that interferes with phone such as some small electric appliances and answering machines.

– Avoid Shuffling Papers. One very annoying thing that some people do on a conference call is shuffle papers. It sounds very loud on the phone. Other small potentially noisy habits to avoid are : continually clearing your throat, tapping your pencil, drumming your fingers on the desk, etc.

– Be Aware Of Whether Or Not Your Phone Is On Mute. If you do put your phone on mute while on a conference call, and it is always a good idea to do so whenever you are not talking, remember to take it back off mute when you talk. Likewise remember to put it back on mute when you are finished. Nearly everyone who has been on conference calls regularly can recount at least one memory of someone forgetting to put their phone back on mute and then saying something that was definitely not intended for the ears of the other conference call participants, such as a negative remark about something relating to the call or another person on the call.

– Be Polite. Do not try to talk over another person on the call even if you feel you have a very important point to cover. It is in bad taste to do so and will result in everyone else on the call not being able to understand what you or the other person is saying. Be patient; wait until the other person has finished; and then talk.

Following the above tips can help make conference calls more successful, and more importantly, take up the least amount of time possible so you can get to 1,000 other tasks you have to accomplish like taking a time management course! But that’s another story.

D Ruplinger is a featured writer for http://www.conferencering.com. For more information about conference calls visit http://www.conferencering.com.

Conference calling is one of the best business solutions to conduct a meeting over the telephone, in which more than three persons can participate to share some points. Or in other words, it is a means of communicating with more than one person simultaneously, without actually being physically present at a designated place. Conference calling offers mainly three modes for communication, i.e., audio, video, and web based conference calls. It is obvious that these conference calls eliminate a major cost for the companies, and therefore, are very much advantageous for the organizations. Some of the advantages offered by these conference calls are:

Cost Effective Process: Though the fee for availing the service varies with service providers, yet conference call is a much economical option to conduct a virtual meeting and to convey the message to the people concerned. Because in conducting a meeting with the conventional processes, a lot of travel expenses and hotel accommodation expenses are involved; whereas in case of conference calling, nothing of that sort is required.

Time saving process: It is as easy as thinking of talking to some persons and you can make a conference call immediately. Usually it is very good option for conferences that are called on very short notices. It also does not involve any loss of work and the message can be conveyed at a faster pace.

Helps in relation building: It is sometimes difficult for a business to conduct meetings for every segment of employees at regular intervals, which may lead to some misconceptions among employees and they may feel neglected. However, conference calling can eliminate such situations and helps in building good employer-employee relationship.

Simple and easily accessible: The service provider links the persons to be involved in a conference call and the persons do not need to have any special equipment for the same, as it simply linked with the ordinary phone or mobile phone. The person conducting a conference call is facilitated with a speaker, so that all persons involved must be heard at that point. The other persons can talk with the main conductor from their places.

Facilitate Data transfer: Audio conference calling is limited only to transfer instructions or views verbally; but via video conferencing, it is possible to transfer presentations or data to all the persons. With this service there will be no mistakes in sending and receiving instructions, as if there is any, one can clear it immediately and correct it.

Distance is not a problem: With the help of conference calling, the limitations of distance can be eliminated, as it can be used for talking to persons anywhere around the globe. That is why it is most commonly used by small as well as big business houses for communication purposes.

From the above advantages that conference calling provide, we can easily gauge the importance that they hold for any business model and organization setup—they are indispensable!

Max Stephen is the author of this Conference Call article and the webmaster of http://www.call-conference-services.com