A Change Project in a Local Government Agency in New Zealand

Overview

The case study highlights the element of communication and its role in the process of change. This scenario is depicted by a local government agency within New Zealand. The process of change was led by a team with two individuals. The change was intended to introduce compulsory reviews by peers for all the advice papers and create various pre-developed tools. Communication of this change process was critical to the government agency. While resistance occurred initially, the process of communication turned the situation around. The staff felt involved in the process and demonstrated a greater desire to participate. The change introduced considerable progress as the results showed improvement four months later (Dawson et al., 2017).

Questions and Answers

What does this case study tell us about communication and change?

Based on the case study, communication determines or influences the success or failure of change. Communication is about connecting with the people who will be affected and have the potential to influence the change (SHRM, 2022). Communication brings people together and creates a commitment and synergy that should lead to the expected vision (Kotter, 2009. This way, change becomes easy to implement as people demonstrate greater cooperation. The Agent’s decision to obtain the staff’s opinions regarding the intended change was a wise step that led to tremendous success. Staff felt incorporated in the process and demonstrated greater collaboration.