Start with Middle Management in your Change Approach

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Following up the discussion “Bottom-up Approach Towards Organizational Change” I think that even in a bottom-up or top-down approach, the key to achieving a successful change in a (large) organization, is the middle management. Without the commitment of those managers not much will happen. Also according to Patrick McGurk (Sept 2011), "middle managers have traditionally been seen as the organisational ‘linking pins’ (Likert 1961), a view which is echoed in more recent research on managerial work by Mintzberg (2009: 138), who finds that middle management is the place in which the organisation best integrates its activities. Balogun (2003), identified middle managers as ‘change intermediaries’. In this study, middle managers played the dual role of interpreting and ‘making sense’ of organisational change, both for themselves and their teams, and balancing the pressures of managing continuity of service with the implementation of change". Due to the above, I recommend to: 1. Introd (...) Read more? Sign up for free

		Hor Kam Peng Business Consultant, Malaysia
	Change Management Starts in the Middle Couldn't agree with you more, Marl! Top Management (...)

		Andrew Blaine Business Consultant, South Africa
	Middle-out Change Management I agree entirely with your hypothesis and suggest (...)

		Sonny Vicente Coach, Philippines
	Change-readiness, a Crucial Factor I agree that organizational change would have to b (...)

		Kathy Hevey Management Consultant, United States
	Mid-Managers Make it Happen or Not I agree. Middle Managers can make or break a chang (...)

		sekgalabye Student (MBA), South Africa
	Role of Middle Managers in Organizational Change A locomotive is never directed by the middle coach (...)

		Barney Wade Howard Manager, United States
	Interpreters in General Good article. I see middle managers sometimes as " (...)

		Gary Stead Director, United Kingdom
	The 'Squeezed Middle' OK - this title may best be recognized in UK! Acti (...)

		Rebecca Roe United States
	Stuck in the Middle It all depends on what you are changing. Only thos (...)

		Sithembiso Mkhwanazi Project Manager, South Africa
	Selecting the Right Change Management Approach I support Gary & Rebecca. Surely a change in any (...)

		Sudarshan Ramaiah
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		j.a. karman ICT Consultant, Netherlands
	Levels 2, 3, and 4 are Often More the Cause of Problems than Being the Solutions The assumption is the middle management is in a po (...)

		Fillemon Nangolo Hambuda HR Consultant, Namibia
	Middle Managers as Catalyst Even though I wholeheartedly agree with your theor (...)

		Rebecca Roe United States
	Tips for Success @J. A. Karman: I agree with you JA in that most mi (...)

		Paul Steele Consultant, Australia
	Middle Managers - Change Agents There are many good points here made by many of th (...)

		Dr zahra gheidar Consultant, Iran
	Each Organization Has a Wave Pattern!!! It is Unique!! Organizations, to achieve success, should consider (...)

		VMK3 Analyst, Zimbabwe
	Middle Management as Drivers of Change There is need for the executives to buy-in. This i (...)

		Andrew Blaine Business Consultant, South Africa
	Drivers of Transformation and its Implementation So much has been written about where transformatio (...)

		VMK3 Analyst, Zimbabwe
	Organisation Transformation Andrew, what you are saying is very correct. The p (...)

		Paul Steele Consultant, Australia
	Bottom-up Approach to Organisational Change Agreed, middle managers are the linch pin in the o (...)

		NAMUWENGE EDITH BECCA Uganda
	Why Involve Middle Managers in Change Effort You seek the buy-in and/or wins of the middle mana (...)