Question One: Why a Taskforce
Change plans are made but the actual change in an organization can only be motivated, not undertaken. Most managers know what changes need to be done in times of a crisis but still fail, because they are unable to effect those changes (Brickley, Smith & Zimmerman, 2016). Among the primary principles of motivating change is ensuring that those who are most affected by the change are involved in the process that initiates the change. If possible, they can also be made to believe that the change is their idea which will make it easy for them to support it (Heathfield, 2016). If the change plan is deemed to have come from the human resource department, the same will be deemed as a management-initiated change program and face massive opposition. An inclusive taskforce will enable the employees to feel involved in the change process thus initiating motivation to change, even before the actual process of change begins in earnest.
Question Two: Expectation of Opposition
The president has a problem whose solution is cutting back the benefits of employees and has asked a task force made up of employee representatives to come up with recommendations. Naturally, all employees expect an improvement in their employment terms. Some members of that committee will even come to the meeting with the mentality that their terms are not good enough and need improvement. Therefore, the president must expect extreme opposition to her idea to reduce fringe benefits. One of the ways to motivate change is to present the worst case scenario and allow those who are to be affected by the change to offer the expected solution as a compromise. The president can introduce the idea that the university cannot operate without massive layoffs. The employee representatives will be happy to take the reduction of fringe benefits as a compromise.
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Question Three: Choice of Chair
Change as an instrument for solving a crisis has a very high preponderance for losing control and precipitating a worse crisis. As indicated above, the president must make the employees believe that the ideas and plan for change came from them. However, the idea of change and its plan can and should never come from the employees otherwise the intended changes will never happen (Heathfield, 2016). The administrator understands what needs to be done and will ensure that the task force arrives at that intended end. When the administrator chooses sub-committee heads, the same consideration must be put in place by ensuring that individuals who agree with the change plan and understand its necessity are selected as chair-persons. The task-force and sub-committees must remain a means to a predetermined end.
Question Four: Acceptance of Taskforce Report
Based on the analysis above, the president can almost make a written undertaking that she will accept the report and recommendation of the task force . This is because she has already put measures in place to determine what this report is and what its recommendations will be. The task force is not a fishing expedition but rather a means to an end. Any other approach will jeopardize any possibility of change taking place (Rosemann & Brocke, 2015).
Question Five: The Key Assistant Perspective
One of the most important elements of any critical project is monitoring and evaluation (Hornstein, 2015). This is based on the fact that even the best laid down plan can fail after it has been put in motion. The best point to arrest the failure and get the plan back in place is as early as practically possible. The president has a good plan but it can also fail. The change being undertaken is critical and cannot allow for failure. The appointment of a trusted ally as a secretary can be considered as the monitoring and evaluation measure. The president intends to keep a close eye on the project and intervene actively or passively if something goes wrong.
References
Brickley, J. A., Smith, C. W., & Zimmerman, J. L. (2016). Managerial economics and organizational architecture . New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Heathfield, S. M. (2016, September 7). Employee involvement: Critical to the success of organizational change . Retrieved November 24, 2017, from https://www.thebalance.com/change-management-lessons-about-employee-involvement-1917806
Hornstein, H. A. (2015). The integration of project management and organizational change management is now a necessity. International Journal of Project Management , 33 (2), 291-298
Rosemann, M., & vom Brocke, J. (2015). The six core elements of business process management. In Handbook on business process management 1 (pp. 105-122). Berlin: Springer
