This curve is used to understand the stages of institutional transformation. It is considered one of the forms that are widely prevalent and that they have proved their effective in understanding how the employees deal with the change and how they can be helped to accept it.
By using the change curve, the institution can implement the new businesses and projects smoothly and reduce the employees’ resistance to a minimum. This is done by identifying the location of each of them on the change curve and taking measures that are commensurate with that stage to reach the desired results.
The change curve consists of four stages describing the case that person experiences when he confronts a sharp change and these stages are:
Phase I is the denial, which is the basic reaction to the situation caused by the change. The employees are in a state of shock and need time to think. At this stage, it is important that the information is provided to enable the employees to understand what is happening. We should focus on the effective communication with the employees and communicate the information to them in a gradual way and in batches as their ability of assimilation is limited. It is recommended to provide assistance upon request so that any employee can ask for additional information when necessary.
Phase II is the confusion as the individuals collide by the change and start to act in a negative way. They begin to feel angry and resist the change directly. Some of them may feel afraid of the negative consequences of the change and this disables the expertise of the employees and harms the institution, especially when the employees see that their status, that they have acquired as a result of the prevalent situation before the change, could be affected or they lose it. Unless this situation is quickly dealt with, it may turn into chaos. At this stage, the employees need to express their feelings and concerns. Because of this dangerous stage, it needs a careful planning by the persons engaged in the change so that they listen and watch carefully so as to be able to deal with what is unexpected.
Phase III is the discovery as the employees stop behaving negatively and practice of rejection and turn to try to understand the change that took place and its positive and negative consequences for them and how they can adapt with it. The administrator of the change management should make sure that the relevant personnel are well trained by enabling them to experience what will be caused by the change. At this stage, the high performance and productivity of employees should not be expected as they will be busy with the construction and discovery.
Stage IV and the final one is the stage of reconstruction as the employees begin to familiarize themselves with the change and be convinced about its benefits and positive aspects. At this stage, the institution begins reaping the fruits of the change as the performance is efficient and the productivity increases. This stage usually includes the celebration of the successful change and that helps the future projects of change going better.
