Putting Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model Into Action

Who Is John Kotter?

Dr. John Kotter is an American management consultant and author. His work has been influential across the leadership and management field and he is credited for being one of the most important thought leadership thinkers of our time. Kotter’s theory is widely used on the majority of change management training courses that are run.

Kotter’s 8-Step Model

1. Create Urgency

The first step in Kotter’s 8-Step process for leading change is to create a sense of urgency within your organisation. Kotter presents that in order to create change, there’s a requirement to build a sense of urgency around the “need for the change” itself amongst employees.

One way of driving urgency is by communicating the clear vision of the future and highlighting any potential threats that could hinder that future. This will naturally encourage all employees to take action and to tackle any issues standing in the way.

On the flip side, another way to encourage urgency is to highlight the consequences of not making the changes within your organisation. For example, by not doing XYZ, the organisation will not be able to keep up with competitors. This reverse psychology approach is a sure fire way to light an urgent flame under anyone’s butt – because who wants to come second or to miss out on success?

Essentially, the main objective of this step is to inspire and mobilise employees into rapid formation. To get them battle ready and prepared to take action on the change initiatives now rather than later.

Creating Urgency – Quick Tips:

• Communicate the vision
• Discuss the reasons for the change
• Discuss what happens if we don’t change

2. Build A Guiding Coalition

The next step in Kotter’s change model involves pulling together a group of stakeholders who hold sufficient power and influence around your organisation to guide and lead the change.

The main role of the coalition is to support the change. To push its direction forward. They become the lieutenant’s of change implementation, removing any obstacles, and eliminating any resistance across the organisation.

Kotter suggests that ideally the coalition should be a diverse mix of employees and that the members should be represented by different levels and areas. Additionally, and this goes without saying, all members should be able to get along with each other. That’s because it will only improve the most important part of the Guiding Coalition – everyone being on the same page and committed to change!

The importance of this step allows you to produce an alliance of employees that can come together and become a force committed to supporting your vision as a leader and helping to drive change forward.

Build A Guiding Coalition – Quick Tips:

• Pull together a diverse group of stakeholders
• Make sure they are committed to change
• Encourage them to drive change forward

3. Form A Strategic Vision

Having a strategic vision can help to provide clarification on the difference between the present and the future – where do you want your organisation to end up? This step in Kotter’s model is crucial to the process of change management as it sets the foundations for the entire plan.

The strategic vision should be a compelling picture of what needs to be achieved and what the desired outcome of the organisation will look like in the future after change is implemented. It should be ambitious but achievable, and be motivating and inspiring for everyone in the organisation to understand and follow.

It’s key to note that this step is not just about simply putting together a strategic vision, but also involving everyone in the organisation in the construction of it. By involving employees in the process of creating a vision, you will naturally endorse a commitment to it and get buy-in from the get go. Afterall, the vision will become the guiding principle for everyone within the organisation and help to align the actions of all employees towards achieving the desired outcome. So get them involved!

Form A Strategic Vision – Quick Tips:

• Involve everyone in the organisation
• Make the vision ambitious but achievable
• Review it regularly for relevance

4. Enlist A Volunteer Army

Enlisting a volunteer army is essential to driving change within your organisation. This is because power really does come in numbers!

The 4th step in Kotter’s model highlights how large-scale change can only occur when massive numbers of people rally behind a common opportunity. An army of unified employees who all share the same pursuit of reaching a goal collectively. Sounds powerful right?

Advantages Of Following Kotter’s Model

It’s important to recognise if Kotter’s model is right for you and your organisation, so let’s take a look at some of the advantages of using it:

1. Clear to follow: The model gives a clear roadmap for navigating and implementing change by simplifying the process and breaking it down into bite-sized chunks.
2. Ensures stability: It provides a clear structure for implementation and enforces the possibility of embedding change long term.
3. Encourages ownership and collaboration: By involving others around the organisation the model encourages employees to commit to change and naturally generates room for more collaboration.
4. Creates effective communication: The shared voice of working towards change collectively creates one voice within the organisation. Making communications more effective internally and externally.
5. Focus driven: The model is results oriented, focusing on small wins leading to the end goal. Overall, this guarantees that change is successful and the desired outcome can be achieved long term.

Disadvantages Of Following Kotter’s Model

And with any model, it also comes with its limitations. Some of the disadvantages of using Kotter’s change model are:

1. Time consuming: Following the model can be time-consuming as it’s not a quick fix! If time is not something that can be given freely within your organisation, then it might be a counterproductive approach to follow.
2. Limited flexibility: The model does not leave much room for creativity. Whilst you can swap and switch the order of the steps around, the fundamentals of each may be too rigid.
3. Resource dependant: Multiple stakeholders are needed to see through the model effectively. This will mean taking them away from other work priorities, something that might not be feasible.
4. Requires buy-in: To make the model a success, you will need stakeholders and areas of the organisation to agree to follow the steps within the model and to want to implement change as a whole. This could prove difficult!
5. Does not address underlying issues: The model focuses on implementing change but does not provide a resolution for issues that are causing the need for change.

Some Final Thoughts on the Kotter Change Model

Kotter’s 8 step change model is a valuable and powerful framework for leading change in organisations.By following each step, you can create a sense of urgency, involve key stakeholders, ensure sustainability, and really drive change within your organisation.

Whilst change is not a one-size-fits-all process and there are some drawbacks to Kotter’s model, as a leader, you should be prepared to adapt. Change is a continual process, so make adjustments as and where needed to achieve your desired vision and make navigating the complex process of change management a success.