"That Was Great!": More High Impact Exercises For Teaching Or Consulting On Organizational Change
A two-hour interactive Academy of Management Annual meeting PDW workshop in Montreal, Friday, August 6, 10:30AM - 12:30PM
Le Centre Sheraton, Drummond East
Do you teach, research, or have an interest in organizational change?
For the sixth consecutive year, we offer a PDW to provide a forum for educators, researchers and consultants to showcase high impact methods for teaching organizational change in its many contexts (undergraduate, EMBA, MBA, corporate training, consulting). The workshop covers high impact classic and contemporary exercises that receive very positive responses in change programs. Two key features underpin this workshop:
- The workshop has a "hands-on" approach where participants get to experience, in part, the actual exercise or activity being undertaken.
- The teaching philosophy underpinning the workshop is a "multiple perspectives" approach which assumes that a variety of approaches, assumptions and methodologies may be employed to explore the many areas associated with organizational change.
Presenters will introduce their exercise, provide the audience with a short, hands-on sampling of it and the method for debriefing it, and will provide more detailed take away notes.
1. Ian Palmer (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) and Richard Dunford (U. Sydney) will present the exercise entitled Symbols. This exercise highlights a range of issues that link communication processes, formal structure and the attribution of meaning. The exercise typically reveals a number of elements which include the conscious or unconscious decision by the top management team as to what information should be communicated to other parts of the organization, the creation of meaning/purpose in a context where the meaning/purpose is not officially conveyed, information overload, the evolution of group dynamic, and the effect of communication processes on emotional responses.
2. Tony Buono (Bentley University) and Ken Kerber (Kerber and Associates) will present an exercise entitled Creating Change in Self-Organizing Systems. The simulation provides an opportunity for the participants to take ownership of an organizational change and to analyze ways to build greater change capacity. The exercise is based on an open-ended assignment with only a vague/general sense of the desired direction/anticipated outcome. Discussion focuses on the change context and how change capacity for such self-organizing change can be developed at the micro- (understanding and acceptance of different approaches to change; enhancing willingness and ability to change); meso- (creating a change facilitative infrastructure, ensuring appropriate resources); and macro-levels (building a facilitative culture, ongoing strategizing) levels of an organization). Experience with the exercise in an MBA program will be shared.
3. Gary Wagenheim (Simon Fraser U.) will present an interactive team exercise entitled Juggling Change. This exercise highlights the difficulties inherent in balancing routine organizational tasks and processes while introducing change. The session facilitator will use the exercise to help participants learn the importance of developing appropriate support skills for leading members through the change process while balancing the need for quality and efficiency in organizational tasks. This is a highly interactive exercise that quickly engages, frustrates and excites participants as they experience the difficulties in juggling change.
4. Bob Marshak (American University) will present a simple activity called the Change Writing Exercise. It's goal is to experientially demonstrate the range of psychological and emotional reactions people have when change is first introduced and what might be done by change leaders to address those considerations during implementation activities. The exercise engages people in a written production activity and then introduces a change to that activity. The exercise requires almost no materials, has been applied successfully in different organizational and cultural settings, and is useful as a quick introduction to the "human side" of change.
5. Gavin Schwarz (University of New South Wales) will lead all presenters in a discussion of outcomes for organizational change teaching and consulting.
No pre-registration is neccesary to attend the session.
For information on the session contact organizers Gavin Schwarz (g.schwarz@unsw.edu.au), Ian Palmer (Ian.Palmer@rmit.edu.au), or Richard Dunford (R.Dunford@econ.usyd.edu.au).