Change Management — Important Questions

Awareness

Step 1: ADKAR is an acronym where each letter stands for a specific building block of change. Step 2: The first 'A' stands for Awareness — employees must be made aware of what change is happening and why it is necessary. Step 3: Without awareness, employees lose motivation and direction. Step 4: The second 'A' in ADKAR stands for Ability (the fourth step), not the first. Step 5: Adaptability and Acceptance are not part of the ADKAR model at all.

Reinforcement

Step 1: In the ADKAR model, the last step is Reinforcement. Step 2: Reinforcement is necessary to sustain the change permanently and prevent employees from slipping back into old habits. Step 3: Methods of reinforcement include rewards, recognition, corrective actions, celebrations, and feedback. Step 4: 'Resistance' is actually something the ADKAR model tries to overcome, not a step in the model. Step 5: Revision and Recognition are not part of the ADKAR acronym.

Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze Model

Step 1: Kurt Lewin developed his change model in the 1940s and it is called the Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze model. Step 2: He used the analogy of an ice block — to change a cube of ice into a cone, you must first melt it (unfreeze), reshape it (change), then refreeze it into the new shape. Step 3: The ADKAR model was developed by Jeff Hiatt, not Kurt Lewin. Step 4: Plan-Do-Check-Act is a quality improvement model, not related to Lewin. Step 5: Awareness-Desire-Knowledge are steps in ADKAR, not Lewin's model.

Existing ways of doing things are broken down so people are ready to accept new alternatives

Step 1: The Unfreezing stage is the first stage in Lewin's model. Step 2: During this stage, the existing beliefs, processes, and behaviours are shown to be no longer appropriate for the current situation. Step 3: Members of the organisation are made to realise that the old ways need to change — this prepares them psychologically to accept new methods. Step 4: Making changes permanent is the Refreezing stage, not Unfreezing. Step 5: Unfreezing is about creating readiness for change, not just training or closing down.