Making Sense of Change at an Individual Level
| Process of change |
Planning |
Imple |
menting | Institutionalising |
| Interpretive trigger |
announcement that event is pending | event occurs | modified events over time | |
| Personalisation of trigger |
'what will the event mean to me?' | 'what will the event mean to my work?' | 'what is the impact of the event overall?' | |
| Interpretive stage |
Anticipation*i |
Confirmation*ii |
Cumulation*iii | Aftermath*iv |
| Construed reality |
rumours, scattered information and observation | conventional explanations: references to past and/or similar events | double exposure: symbols | consequences: strengths and weaknesses; winners and losers |
| Interpretive task |
assembly | standardisation | reconstruction | evaluation |
| Predominant frame of reference |
in progress | conventional | amended | evaluated |
(main source: Cyrus Rebello, 2011)
Notes
i) anticipation (rumours, hunches, suspicions, etc dominate as people wait for the announcement; people are struggling to make sense of what may happen from the scattered bits of information available; need to develop understanding by making sense of the information available)
ii) confirmation (announcement made about the change and people struggling to make sense of it, ie wandering what it means for the organisation and to them personally; use past events to predict what might happen this time, ie trying to understand the new in terms of the old.)
iii) cumulation (change being implemented with new behaviours replacing the old behaviours as a new reality emerges; people can be perplexed and confused by the new reality; looking for symbolic meaning, ie staff look for clues from which to derive new meaning.)
iv) aftermath (new status quo embedded; start to evaluate the consequences of the change:
"...- What did it mean after all?
- Who were the losers and winners?
- Did it deliver?
- Are we better off now?..."
Cyrus Rebello, 2011
"...individuals turn their gaze to the past and offer an evaluation of the change program in an attempt to create closure to their experiences and construct a story about the change process that will enable then to live with its consequences..."
Cyrus Rebello, 2011
Furthermore, the story individuals develop around the change will represent the basis for their reaction when they encounter a similar future change experience.
Summary
"...The shift from anticipation to confirmation begins when a definitive announcement of the change program or event is made. Such an announcement helps unfreeze the status quo and prepares organisational members for the imminent change. The shift from cumulation to confirmation occurs when the change is actually experienced.....the shift from cumulation to aftermath is made when some smaller event signals the permanence of the change, that life from now on will be different..."
Cyrus Rebello, 2011