BSNS5204 Office Management – Kotter Change Model

Requirements

For this assessment, you will assume the role of an office manager to analyse administrative functions at Kākāriki Auaha to support its operational goals. Your task is to write a comprehensive report to the management outlining how administrative functions can align and enhance the company’s operational goals.

Review the provided case study with its extension; it outlines specific information relevant to this assessment.

Assessment Tasks

Kākāriki Auaha is experiencing rapid growth and international expansion. This expansion brings both opportunities and challenges, requiring the company to adapt its administrative functions and operations to support the revised operational goals. As Miriama Ferris, Office Manager, your task is to implement these changes ensuring smooth adoption and integration.

Task 1

Adapting the office manager role in the context of the case study and its extension:

1a. Discuss the duties and responsibilities of an office manager in addressing the challenges following international partnership to support the revised operational goals (increase the company’s ability to operate effectively in multiple locations around the world, cultivate a global workforce culture and strengthen data-driven decision making).

Task 2

Apply Kotter’s eight-step change model to create a detailed action plan for implementing the required changes to administrative functions to support the revised operational goals outlined in the case study and its extension.

Your action plan should address the following for each step of Kotter’s eight-step change model:

1. Create a sense of urgency:

1a. Discuss two specific examples of how the current administrative functions hinder the company in achieving the revised operational goals.

1b. Highlight the potential negative consequences of not addressing the required changes to meet the revised operational goals.

1c. Justify the need for change within the current administrative functions to ensure that the new operational goals are achieved.

2. Form a guiding coalition:

2a. Identify key members of your office team who will be instrumental in implementing the changes and explain why.

2b. Explain how you will build consensus and commitment among the coalition/team members to actively promote the change initiatives.

3. Create a vision for change:

3a. Develop a clear vision for the office team regarding its administrative functions in the context of global operations.

(Ensure the vision aligns with the revised operational goals and the company’s commitment to customer satisfaction, sustainable business practices and a global workforce culture).

4. Communicate the vision:

4a. Discuss three different communication channels (such as meetings, email, or video updates) and strategies to effectively convey the vision for change to all employees across different geographical locations.

5. Remove obstacles:

5a. Identify any barriers that may prevent implementation of the changes. These barriers can be internal or external.

5b. Discuss two strategies to empower your team to remove obstacles or barriers.

6. Generate short term wins:

6a. Identify two quick wins or visible improvements that can be achieved early in  the  implementation process.

6b. Discuss two strategies you would use to celebrate these wins to maintain momentum and use the success of short-term wins to build confidence and encourage further engagement in the change process.

7. Build on the change:

7a. Discuss how you would communicate key changes and reward employees who actively contribute to the success of the change initiative.

8. Anchor the change in the culture:

8a. Discuss two steps to embed the learnings and successes of the change process into the company’s culture to foster a continuous improvement mindset.

Task 3

Kākāriki Auaha has its core values deeply rooted in Māori uara. When implementing Kotter’s eight-step change model, explain how an office manager can embody the Māori values of whānaungatanga, kaitiakitanga and rangatiratanga to ensure that the international partnership results in smooth and successful enhancements to the administrative functions.

Experts Answer on Above Question on Change Managment

Office manager responsibilities

The office manager is required to perform a number of functions including standardising administration, coordinating Global operations, supporting the global workforce, strengthening data management, managing compliance and risk, supporting sustainable operations and maintaining customer service.

Kotter’s eight step change model

The first step includes the need for creating a sense of urgency by identifying the problems. The two administrative problems are inconsistent processes between locations, and fragmented data. The consequences of not making changes are delays in performing international operations, decisions based on inconsistent or incomplete information, disconnection between employees and rise in the operational cost. It is therefore important to recognise the need for change, as Kakariki Auaha can better co-ordinate international operations, support a global workforce, and provide reliable information for managerial decision making through effective change management processes.

The second step is to form a guiding coalition which needs key team members including office manager for administrative changes coordination, HR representative to support communication, finance representative for accurate financial reporting and control, IT representative for data security and collaboration tools, and team representatives to identify problems in different locations. It is also important to build commitment, and that can be possible for the manager Miriama by involving members in designing the new procedures so that employees are aware of all the changes and positively participate in the change process.

The third step is to create a vision for change and with respect to Kakariki Auaha, the vision is to create a connected, consistent and sustainable administrative function that will allow the organisation to effectively operate its international location, support global workforce and maintain high standards of customer satisfaction.

The fourth step is the communication of vision which can be done through different communication channels including global team meetings, email update and video update through intranet. The fifth step includes removal of obstacles as the potential barriers could be employee resistance, limited skills, communication difficulties, and insufficient resources. The two strategies to consider are target training and support and simplify and standardise the process.

The sixth step is to generate short term wins and in the given case scenario, it is having a centralised documents system, and a standardised reporting dashboard. The wins need to be celebrated by recognising employees and teams for their contribution, and sharing measurable improvements. The 7th step includes building on the change through communication and rewards whereby Miriama should provide regular progress updates demonstrating the processes that are changed. Employees need to be recognised through public acknowledgement, development opportunities and performance rewards. The final step is to anchor the change in the culture by making the new practices standard procedures, and establish continuous improvement.

Maori Uara

Whanaungatanga – relationships and connectedness

Miriama can demonstrate Whanaungatanga by involving employees from different locations in the change management process and this will make them feel connected to the wider Kakariki Auaha team.

Kaitiakitanga – guardianship and responsibility

Kaitiakitanga can provide guidance with respect to the administration process by reducing unnecessary printing, minimising resource waste and considering long term environmental and organisational effects of administrative decisions.

Rangatiratanga – leadership and self determination

Rangatiratanga can be demonstrated through accountable leadership, clear decision making and empowering employees to take ownership of improvement. By clearly defining the responsibility of each team member along with providing authority to identify problems, recommend solutions and lead improvements, it can be possible to facilitate change processes effectively.

Want Detailed Answers with References?

The above analysis of the ways in which Kahariki Auaha can adapt administrative functions for global operations using Kotter’s eight step change model and Maori uara revealed important findings on how the change process can be implemented effectively. With our professional change management experts in New Zealand, you can expect to get quality assignment writing service for your assignment. To make yourself confident, you can also review the solved assignment answers from Open Polytechnic.