Managing Creativity through Action - Case Study Example

Building of Memory: Managing Creativity through Action Contents Answer 3 Answer 14 Answer 3 5 Answer 4 6 References 8 Answer 1 Infusing good morale during a crisis situation is a tough task for managers. This implies making employees and workers happy, enthusiastic, result oriented, motivated and trustworthy in an environment dominated by stress, anxiety, conflict, inefficiency and under productivity. The major issues faced by the team members working in the working in the project were a complicated construction project, complex designs which needed to be change often and the additional costs and time associated with that. Apart from that, the project manager Shimon also has to face conflicts between team members such as designer and contractor. While conducting any change process, it is important to evaluate the project members and the influence of plan on them as well as the entire project. In order to increase level of motivation among members working in this project, Shimon Kornfield could have implemented change management techniques as discussed below; a. Planning the change Planning of communication is a critical stage where different needs and demands of the stakeholders are determined. This stage helps in understanding as well as formulating a concrete communication approach for the different stakeholders in a project. In the present case, the different teams working form important stakeholders and the first step should be formulation of an effective communication plan satisfying the interest of all stakeholders. Pre-panning the change activities is a step which can resolve half of the upcoming issues. Planning is the process through which the entire project is divided into smaller stages and every stage is designated with objective and time frame. Even during the planning process, Shimon Kornfield faced challenges while handling the senior team members and faced issues such in aspects such as time, basic design, management and authority. An alternative method of managing this step can be through structuring the job and the responsibilities associated with them. Also, the resistances from the senior managers should have been explored during the initial stages only in order to resolve their misconceptions and differences (Oreg, 2003). b. Engaging people involved in the change In order to achieve high level of commitment and engagement from teams handling the project, Shimon Kornfield should have involved the team members during important decision making processes. Also, involving tem members in various training and skill building exercise during change can be beneficial. A technique through which team members can be encouraged is by conducting adoption or response alignment workshops across the organization. Effective practice of organizational alignment will allow team members to contribute their concepts and ideas about the changes and how these could be made better. Team members can also be engaged through proper communication activities. For instance, in the case, all team members were divided because of differences in ideas and design for the project. However, the underlying objective was same for all divided team, that is, to create a unique and extraordinary sculpture and design (Luecke, 2003). c. Constant review and monitoring technique Continuous assessment and monitoring of the change management stages will ensure proper working and will also help in implementing corrective actions. By celebrating the successful implementation of the change management process across various departments and business units, the overall morale of team members and other employees can also be enhanced. Answer 1 Shimon Kornfeld faced numerous issues during the implementation of the project. However, majority of those challenges were in terms of improper communication among different team members. Below are few of the steps Shimon Kornfeld could have taken so as to ensure proper and continuous flow of relevant information among all team members. a. Regular communication Regular communication activities for team members will include notification through emails, formal and informal meetings training sessions, newsletters, memos and announcements by team leaders. The best way to achieve successful change is by breaking it into smaller intervals and utilizing the gap for training and assessment of progress. This is be conducted by regular feedback from separate departments and functions involved in the process. b. Clarification of performance targets and strategy implementation Clarification of the key performance indicators helps the team members to better understand their exact roles and responsibilities. This would have helped the team members in evaluating any change in their roles or tasks during changes in the project. Ensuring clarity in objectives also minimizes uncertainty, reduces personal stress and anxiety and maximizes clarity which further enhances the communication efficiency within the organization. c. Specific communication schedules Determining specific schedule for communication of important informational meetings or news and ensuring that all team members have read the message will reduce any communication gap, especially for important and urgent messages and information. This step will make sure that no team member is left out during the change process. d. Determining the level of resistance It is important to understand the level of resistance faced by the project members during the communication process. As discussed above, though the fundamental objective and vision of entire team members was to build a creative and innovative architecture, they were divided on aspects such as design and cost. Hence, proper communications channels will be established such as cross-functional meetings which will held the team members in understanding each other and reduce level of resistance (Todnem, 2005). Answer 3 Timing of communication is a critical factor for the overall success of any project. Even if the project is on schedule and is managed by skilled and experienced professionals, any delay in communication regarding changes or amendments can diminish the quality of the entire project. As a result, constant communication in scheduled timings is important for a smooth project management (Wiggins, 2009). Three examples have been taken from the given case study explaining the critical importance of communication time during project management. The first example is staffing of the contractor’s management team by the project manager. During the middle stage of the project management, the project manager felt the need to unite the team members on the basis of their skills, knowledge as well as their role in the project. Therefore, it was important to fit the right personnel in each team. As soon as the director general and project manager decided to hire contactor on qualitative basis rather than cost, the project managed started to hire members for the management team of the contractor. The second incident was proposing the mock-up for the proposed project solution by the director. It was proposing the mock-up solution in front of the project team. While at the initial stages the mock-up bothered the architects, after deliberating it for a week, it was accepted by all team members. Almost every group gained from the above change process. The contractor was successful in persuading the entire team at an early stage of the project management process. This states the importance of timing which helped in successful completion of the project. The third incident was the subsequent changes in the design of the museum architect. During the initial stages of the project management, the project management team was suspected and differences were present within the design team and the contractor’s team. However, through mutual trust and cooperation increased as the director general was able to present himself and his ideas as solution rather than problems. Excellent management, identification of the design problems, creating feasible solutions as well as efficient communication among team members helped in bringing one strategic direction among all team members. Another important communication affect was the increased respect within different team members. For instance, at the initial stages, most of the ideas and strategic solution were rejected or questions by other team members. However, with the increase in trust and involvement during the stages, team members were found to be praising each other for their efforts. Answer 4 Sudden transfer or replacement of employees during the middle of a project can produce mixed effects within the team members. The team members who have been close to the replaced employees could take the news in a negative manner or even protect against the decision. At the same time, members of the team who did not share a good rapport with the replaced employee might even support the decision process (Eriksson, 2004). Therefore, it is important to manage the team members during such as situation by proper communication, motivation and enhancing trust and confidence among themselves as well as the organization. 1. Sudden replacement might increase tension or anxiety among the other team members. Hence, the manager handling the team should conduct informal chat sessions involving other team members (Lee & Corbett, 2006). This will help in among fear of any further termination or transferring. 2. The project manager should clarify the reason behind replacement of the team members during the middle of the project. This will not only clear all doubts regarding the replacement, but will also persuade rest of the team members to be more focused towards their job responsibilities. 3. As the sudden replacement occurred due to the emergency family crisis among the two members of the project team, Shimon Kornfeld can provide compensation for these two employees such as free hospital or life insurance benefits. By providing the employees with these facilities, the project manager will be able to increase confidence among the remaining team members. References Eriksson, C.B. (2004). The effects of change programs on employees’ emotions. Personnel Review, 33(1), 110 – 126. Lee, J.J. & Corbett, M. (2006). The impact of downsizing on employees affective commitment. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 21(3), 176 – 199. Luecke, R. (2003). Managing Change and Transition. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Oreg, S. (2003). Resistance to change: Developing an individual differences measure. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(4), 587-604. Todnem, R. (2005). Organizational Change Management: A Critical Review. Journal of Change Management, 5(4), 369 – 380. Wiggins, L. (2009). Managing the ups and downs of change communication. Strategic Communication Management, 13(1), 20-23. Read More