A Need For Change Within A Project
Ronny L. Wade
Walden University

Abstract
In this paper, I will show the type of change approach I took to make a major change within the organization technologically and culturally. As stated by (Schein, E, 2006), “Change and stability are two sides of the same coin”. I believe that communication within and among an organization is driven with the successes and failures of employee management and the employees that will increase the effectiveness of the growth of change within the organization. To perform change more effectively a clear and precise plan of action must be present, to due to the success or failure of the proposed change.

A Need For Change Within A Project
“THE PRIMARY TASK OF MANAGEMENT is to get people to work together in a systematic way, like an orchestra conductors, managers direct the talents and actions of various payers to produce a desired result” (Christensen, C. M., Marx, M., & Stevenson, H. H., 2006, p. 73).
The Situation
In this ever changing world of technology, I once conveyed to my company a vision that would bring change in the way we process our product with the development teams and the client. In the vision I expressed that we needed to have a more organized approach to developing our code for the client’s and that we needed a centralized hub where all code is checked in and checked out for the developers. Our company utilized SVN at that time, which did not give the security as GIT would provide.
Each developer team sensed that it needed to be in action but some were reluctant for the visional change from the normal course of actions we were taking. DuBrin (2013, p.77), states that a “transformational leader is one who brings about positive, major changes in an organization”. This proposed change would enable team members to utilize the same code, save it once they have made their changes, or revert back to the original code if an error has been performed in the code. The project managers could see who made the change and what change was made. If there was an error you can revert back to the original code which was housed on another staging environment.
The Analysis
To understand the business model for a software development company is very crucial. I like the concept of “Functional Structure which is set up so that each portion of the organization is grouped according to its purpose which helps each department rely on the talent and knowledge of its workers and support itself” (Writing, A., 2013). From having past transitional leaders has helped me in this approach of a major positive change for our company in the way we utilize our development environment. As stated by (Christensen, C. M., Marx, M., & Stevenson, H. H., 2006, p. 73), “the first step in any change initiative must be to assess the level of agreement in the organization along two critical dimensions which are the extent to which people agree on what type want and the extent to which people agree on cause and effect”. (Kotter, J. 2007, pp. 60-67), states the eight critical errors that an organization could make during change phases: 1. Not establishing a great enough sense of urgency; 2. Not creating a powerful enough guiding coalition; 3. Lacking a vision; 4. Undercommunicating the vision by a factor of ten; 5. Not removing obstacles to the new vision; 6. Not systematically planning for and creating short-term wins; 7. Declaring victory too soon; 8. Not anchoring changes in the corporation’s culture.
Conclusion
Once this change was implemented into our day-to-day development cycle, it made a more complete and secure development environment. Each member under took it upon themselves to learn every aspect of GIT and to utilize it to grow. “A vision says something that clarifies the direction in which an organization needs to move” (Kotter, J. 2007, pp. 64). The main reason for suggesting such a change is that I saw the ever notion of change can be good or bad but to see the direction of the company was the main focus. I brought this vision to my manager with a plan of action and showed the departments the benefits that this will enable us to provide.
The best vision was that my boss did not refuse to the change and ensure that the demands that are consistent with the overall effort did not fall through the cracks. (Kotter, J. 2007, p. 64) The project to change the way our software company housed and manipulated our code was planned and managed at every level of its elements. To perform this and fail would have been very catastrophic for our company. “For the new behaviors to last, they must first fit into the personality of the individual or the culture of the group that is being changed” (Schein, E. H. 2002, p. 41). Some were on board and a few did not see a need for the change but in the end it has worked out to be a success.

References
DuBrin, A.J. (2013). Leadership: Research findings, practice, and skills (7th Ed). Boston, MA:

Houghton Mifflin.

* Christensen, C. M., Marx, M., & Stevenson, H. H. (2006). Tools of cooperation and change. Harvard Business Review, 84(10), 72–80. Retrieved from the Business Source Complete database * Kotter, J. (2007). Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business Review, 85(1), 96–103. Retrieved from the Business Source Complete database * Schein, E. H. (2002). Models and tools for stability and change in human systems. Reflections, 4(2), 34–46. Retrieved from the Business Source Complete database
Writing, A. (2013). Different Types of Organizational Structure. Demand Media,

Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/different-types-organizational-structure-723.html *