According to Kurt Lewin, any planned change effort should be viewed as a three phase process: unfreezing, changing and refreezing. This is shown diagrammatically as follows:
The Unfreezing Phase:
Unfreezing is the stage of preparing a situation for change, t involves disconfirming existing attitudes and behaviours to create a fell need for something new. Unfreezing is facilitated by environmental pressures, declining performance, recognition of a problem and an awareness of opportunity or a better way, among other things.
Conflict is an important unfreezing force in an organization. The stress it involves often helps people break old habits and recognize alternative ways of thinking about or doing things.
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The Changing Phase:
The changing phase involves the actual modification in organizational targets for change, including purpose, strategy, people, task, structure and/or technology.
Lewin feels that many change agents enter the changing phase prematurely, are too quick to change things and therefore end up creating resistance to change in a situation that is not adequately unfrozen.
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When managers implement changes before felt needs for change exist in the minds of the people involved, there is an increased likelihood that the change attempts will fail.
The Refreezing Phase:
The final stage in the planned-change process is refreezing. Designed to maintain the momentum of a change, refreezing efforts include positively reinforcing desired outcomes and providing extra emotional and resource support when difficulties are encountered.
Evaluation and feedback are key elements in this final step. They provide data on costs and benefits of a change and offer opportunities to make constructive modifications in the change over time. Improper refreezing results in changes that is easily abandoned or incompletely implemented.