Step 5 - Other Considerations
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The diagram on the left illustrates six
elements which combine to affect the culture of an organisation [the Galbraith model].
Introducing a change to one of these six elements can have knock-on effects to other
elements. For example, a church which wanted to change its choir into a music group found
that the resistance to the idea had very little to do with the new styles of music, to
which the singers were looking forward, but more to do with the singers no longer being
required to wear choir robes, something which made them feel important! The church allowed
them to continue wearing the robes, and over time affirmed them in their musical gifts, to
the point where a year later the choir suggested that they should no longer robe! |
Let's look at the six elements in a little more detail :
TASKS - Tasks covers all the activities that people do
as part of their work - very often this is the initial focus for change. For example, one
UK hospital looking to simplify its activities examined how many people it actually took
to change a light bulb. They discovered it took six people to carry out the seventeen
tasks necessary to authorise, obtain and fit a new light bulb.
PEOPLE - Secondly, we consider the people involved.
Whose jobs will change? How will they feel about it? Will the change affect the membership
of the organisation - e.g. by bringing in new church members?
STRUCTURE - What organisational framework is in place
around the process? How are people organised? What are the policies of the organisation?
Changing the structure is often essential in any major change. A parish with a single
parish church engaged in planting a new church on a housing estate, found that nearly all
its structures needed to change as a result.
REWARDS - What are the actual reward criteria? This
covers not just pay, but what makes people happy, what keeps them a part of the
organisation? Very often, informal reward systems are more powerful than formal reward
systems. The example of choir robes on the previous page would fit into this section.
INFORMATION - What information is essential for the
smooth running of the organisation in the area of the change? Many churches function on
remarkably little information! Introducing a change can be an opportunity to review
whether sufficient information is being gathered, e.g. on new members, or frequency of
hymns sung, etc and if necessary to do something about it.
DECISION MAKING - How are decisions made ? What authority is delegated to
those working in the process? Really?
USING THE MODEL - Think about the change that you are
introducing, and try and identify the major components of it. For each of the components,
identify what will alter for each of the six elements in the Galbraith model. Then go
through them, and identify what action, and what additional communication, is required.
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