All change involves a negotiation of resources and plans for overcoming potential barriers to that change.
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Think of a significant change you have made in your personal or professional life, such as your decision to enroll in this graduate program. Did you consider what resources would be needed in order to succeed with this planned change? If so, how did you evaluate the fiscal and time commitments you would need to make? How did you assess your readiness to take on the challenges that might lie ahead?
What activities or milestones functioned as dependencies in your plan? What other obligations, plans, or aspirations did you deprioritize or delay to make available the necessary resources? Did you discover—after you were already invested in this change—that you needed more or different resources to continue on? What stakeholders in your life did you consult with regarding your plans? Did you anticipate that their support, or lack thereof, would affect your success?
As you propose and evaluate changes with an organizational or systems-level impact, it is especially important to consider what resources may be required and what trade-offs may be needed to bring the change to fruition and achieve sustainability. In this Discussion, as preparation for Section 4 of your Strategic Plan, you consider the potential barriers to change and the resources that would be required to implement your proposed change.
To prepare:
Review the Learning Resources that focus on the process of identifying resources for a strategic plan and addressing barriers to implementing a strategic plan change. Conduct additional research as necessary to deepen your thinking about resource identification for strategic planning.
Reflect on the results of the SWOT analysis you conducted for your Strategic Plan (submitted in your Module 2 Assignment) and consider what resources may be needed to address the weaknesses and threats and build upon opportunities and strengths you identified. Evaluate the specific financial, personnel, and time resources that you would need to carry out your proposed change.
Think about how you would leverage the resources you currently have and those you plan to acquire or develop to create the best possible results. For instance, consider the following:
What trade-offs would you need to make to ensure that you have sufficient financial resources? How would you raise capital?
Who would you need to hire or promote, what training should be provided, and/or what workload adjustments would you need to make to have the right personnel in place?
What is a reasonable timeline for adoption and implementation given the parameters of this change and other organizational or group priorities?
Consider insights related to change theory, common barriers to change, and strategies for addressing these barriers that relate to the implementation of your proposed change.
Identify specific barriers you are likely to encounter with your proposed change, including resistance to change. Evaluate strategies that may be used to minimize or address these barriers.
Think about the value of stakeholder involvement in planned change, as well as the specifics of stakeholder participation in your Strategic Plan to champion the change. Who should be involved in strategic planning and at what point? How could they serve as change champions?
Required readings
Thomas, P. L.,