Consensus & change management of abc software house

Moreover, I will discuss how they implemented their changeover management by looking at Kotter's and ADKAR models of change management. The report will also incorporate their IT software solution such as the technology used by the ABC Software House as well as their implementation techniques. Company background ABC software house is a local apps development firm, over 80% of the company staffs are software developers and they all worked at a very traditional style office, each of them was assigned to a fixed desk with a desktop computer connected to the wired LAN. As the company was growing in size and they planned to hire more developers, they did a significant office renovation last year replacing all the existing partitioned area into a big open space, at the same time replacing all desktop computers with laptops with Wi-Fi connections which has access to the LAN drive.

As a result, staff could work anywhere they prefer in order to take advantages of the open office for better communication and innovation. After agreeing on the mode of consensus management, the company has to formulate change management models to be used to effect the changeover. Change management is in most cases, is a sign of the growth of an organization. When these firms undertake major projects or are engaged in initiatives aimed at improving the quality of their services, change is always inevitable (Change Management Theories Explained). These changes mostly affect the roles of individual employees in the company, the general organizational structure of the firm, or the IT solutions and how the technology is used in the company. However, the primary change is implemented by the staff members (Shimabukuro).

The management defined the shared goal: The management of the company then explained the need for implementing their proposed change of structure in the company. To better explain, the management formulated a list of benefits that will accrue the firm after it has implemented the change. Documented the needs of the stakeholders: Each employee in the company was encouraged to raise any concerns they felt needed to be addressed prior to or during the implementation process. The employees raised a series of concerns through their respective departmental meetings. The management was then tasked with the responsibility of addressing the issues and ensuring a majority if not all the employees were satisfied. Moreover, the wired LAN was to be configured with a two-factor authentication protocol that would add extra security to the network.

There are several techniques available that companies can use to implement the 2FA encryption technique such as fingerprints and eye scanners in addition to the password that acts as the first security layer (Shimabukuro). ABC company, however, opted to use a numeric code. This technique involves sending a randomized text in form of digits to a user’s device which can only be used once. The main aim of this form of encryption is to ensure that no two or more users can use the same password or security code to login to the same network using different devices (Shimabukuro). Before the company created the guest Wi-Fi, it considered the following factors: Protection against malware and viruses: The guest Wi-Fi opens up the company to all kinds of devices ranging from old computers to modern handsets.

The different devices may not have security features and policies guarding against external malware. ABC company, therefore, implemented their own security policies by installing appropriate anti-malware software that could quickly detect and eliminate any form of malware threat. Content filtering: The company also ensured that it filters the type of content that can be accessed by the guests. This was meant to ensure that inappropriate and unethical web content was blocked from being accessed by the guests. The network server was meant to manage all the wireless connections within the company including the guest Wi-Fi. The management decided to purchase a modern network server that would effectively manage the networks and allow the developers to maximize on the available resources. After the two LANs have been connected using a VPN, the network would require appropriate protocols for the different network devices to communicate with each other and share information across the network.

For the network server to effectively administer the network, several standards and protocols need to be put in place. To implement every protocol correctly, the system will need to be installed with the appropriate software. Moreover, better and time-saving software can be supported aimed at enhancing employees' productivity. Portability is another advantage the firm now enjoys due to infrastructure switch. The open layout of the office promotes consultations among the employees as well as movements with their laptops. The wireless connections allow the employees to move with their laptops to different places within the company while still being connected to the Wi-Fi. Cost efficient: The open layout of the office allows sharing of devices such as network printers and wireless routers.

They were then able to assess the viability of each option and choose the best plan worth implementing. Consensus Management A consensus is a policy mainly adopted in organizations where staff members work together in groups and collectively agree to support decisions they arrive at that are in the best interest of the company. It is not an easy task to make all employees in a company to collectively move as a team (Consensus - Team Building's Silent Killer - Forbes). Therefore, consensus allows company management to gather the support of an entire company's team which will enable them to steer the company in a specific direction. ABC Company used consensus with the following objectives: Collaboration: The management used consensus with the primary aim of allowing all the staff members to collaborate.

It a professional form of arriving at solutions. The end goal is to make everyone comfortable with the decision even though their personal choice is not adopted. The consensus process advocates for early descent of the dissatisfied parties to minimize any misunderstandings. The process of consensus voting involves several stages from the inception of the plan to the actual agreement and implementation of the project (Consensus Management | Cluster-wise 2 | James Shepherd-Barron). During the inception stage, the proposal is made known to all the stakeholders of the company. The collaboration intends to modify the program. The below flowchart is a representation of the consensus process. Blocking is another theory of consensus that allows group participants to block group decisions in the event they are not satisfied with the decision (Czichos).

This method is not commonly used in management decision making since it may deter the implementation process. The main advantage of this method is that it allows dissatisfied parties to oppose the proposals (Czichos). The process is then taken back to the consensus stage where the final proposal has to be accepted by the stakeholders. The approved proposal is then brought back to all the departments for all the employees to view. The consensus process was also used in the interdepartmental meetings to determine which department would occupy what floor space in the office. Similarly, the departmental staff members were to offer suggestions on the best sitting arrangements based on each employee’s roles in the company. Additionally, the IT support department also used the consensus to determine the best network logical design to be used to configure the wireless configuration.

Not only does consensus bring everyone to the same page, but it also helps to reduce conflicts that may arise in the organization (Blokdijk). This is done mainly by involving the staff members and encouraging them to have a say in the daily operations of the company. This promotes an aspect of “buy-in” which makes employees feel part of the process and not just a means to an end (Graham, 2016). Consensus generally promotes multidisciplinary collaboration among the different departments of the organizations. The management discussed the various change management models available before picking on the most suitable Kotter’s change management theory: It’s probably the most common model of change management adopted by many organizations today. This model is popular due to its advantages such as it is easy to follow and implement.

Kotter's model has been broken down into eight logical steps that organizations can effectively implement. Moreover, this model encourages the staff members to prepare and positively accept the change rather than being forced to change (Murthy). However, the Kotter's model has many steps that may be time-consuming to implement. ADKAR model of change management allows organizations to focus on the goals of the company and how to best implement the change. The next step was to build a team that would implement the change. The management picked a group of IT staff members who were tasked with identifying the best strategies to achieve the IT solutions of the company. Moreover, the management tasked the business department staff to ensure that change would lead to an increase in the company's turnover.

After that, the management encouraged all the stakeholders to actively communicate and relay any information they feel it should be passed across. The different implementation teams were given specific time frames to implement their assigned tasks. Therefore, their willingness to transition from the usual operation is key to a successful changeover. It is, therefore, the task of the management to bring all the employees together and create a consensus (Diamond, and Liddle). It is therefore imperative for firms to carefully choose an effective change management plan that would translate to a smooth transition. This study of the consensus and change management processes of ABC Company revealed that challenges are inevitable during a significant transformation. It is, therefore, the ability of the management to pull all the available skills and create one big team with a common end goal.

Some of the challenges included: • The management was not willing to disclose the full detail of the consensus management as they felt their rival firms could use the information. • The staff members were busy almost all the time, and I would hardly get a sit-down with any of the employees. • I had challenges accessing their new IT infrastructure model I managed to gather some critical lessons from the entire consensus and change management processes such as: • Smart planning is the key to successful project implementation. Planning involves useful stakeholder analysis and communication processes. • To better understand the requirements of the project, there is a need for strong project closure. • I had challenges in securing a face to face conversion with the primary stakeholders of the company.