The Force Field Analysis is a tool that enables a change practitioner to visually map and analyze the driving and resisting forces behind a project or initiative. Show The model portrays driving forces (those that are working in the direction of the change) and resisting and/or restraining forces (those that tend to support the status quo). These are arranged as a field of opposing forces, or as a “force field.” In this article I’ll cover what the Force Field Analysis tool is, why you should use it, but how to use it as well as a real-life case study of where I used this exact tool on a project. Force Field Analysis is a powerful decision-making tool widely used in organizational change management, originally developed by Kurt Lewin as a change management model in 1951. It’s used to understand problem-based, situations in social science to effect planned change. Today, Force Field Theory is still used to understand most organizational change processes. The Field Field Analysis tool for change management was created by Kurt Lewin. Known as one of the modern pioneers in social, organizational and applied psychology, Kurt Lewin, a German-American psychologist (born in Poland in 1890), was a professor at the University of Berlin between 1926 and 1932 before moving to the United States in 1933. Lewin worked as a professor in a number of US universities before eventually becoming director of the Centre for Group Dynamics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). For more on Kurt Lewin, check out this in-depth training guide on Kurt Lewin’s Change Model. What is Force Field AnalysisLewin’s basic premise with Force Field Analysis was simple. A given situation is the way it is, (at any specific point in time) because of counterbalancing forces. These ‘forces’ are not necessarily physical pressures but instead a broad range of influences and circumstances that are keeping it that way. Exclusive Blog Post Bonus: Free download Force Field Analysis Powerpoint Slide Template. These slides are easily customizable, helping you implement change management for maximum success. Download the Bonus Plus: Get Access to my Free 7 part Email Course on “Introduction to Leading Change.” In other words, the two sets of forces will work together to keep an equilibrium or status quo. Figure 1: Force Field Analysis – Towards a Desired State So, if an organization strives to keep equilibrium, it will work to maintain the balance. If on the other hand, an organization wants to create change, then it needs to unbalance and disrupt the equilibrium. Generally, this is achieved by strengthening Driving forces (one of the balancing forces) so they are stronger than the Restraining forces (the other balancing force). What are Driving Forces?Driving forces push to influence a situation in a particular direction. Driving forces work to support a stated goal or objective. They are usually seen as ‘positive’ forces that facilitate change. Examples of some Driving forces include:
Others may include:
What are Restraining Forces?Restraining forces work to block or counter progress towards a goal or objective. They tend to limit or decrease the Driving forces. Examples of Restraining forces include:
Changing the EquilibriumAs a change management tool, Lewin’s Force Field Analysis is used to evaluate the forces FOR (Driving forces) and AGAINST (Restraining forces) a change. Before they are evaluated, though, they need to be identified. This can be done through these types of analyses:
For change to be successful (i.e. shifting the equilibrium to a new desired state), you need to:
You can represent this in a diagram. It will help you understand where an imbalance can be created in the quasi-equilibrium (current state) to effect the change. Using the diagram, you plot the forces. Doing this helps you in your understanding of a complex environment. You can then use this visual to facilitate discussion with key decision-makers before an action plan is devised. Figure 2: Force Field Analysis Model for Manufacturing According to Lewin, three steps are needed to achieve change towards a vision or goal in an organizational change context. These are to:
Exclusive Blog Post Bonus: Free download Force Field Analysis Powerpoint Slide Template. These slides are easily customizable, helping you implement change management for maximum success. Download the Bonus Plus: Get Access to my Free 7 part Email Course on “Introduction to Leading Change.” A key benefit of Lewin’s Force Field Analysis is that it is really useful to help us understand:
Lewin’s Force-Field Analysis has us focus on the critical components to create change. It does this by:
Source: Lewin, K. (1951) Field Theory in Social Science, Harper & Row, New York Other benefits Force Field Analysis provide are that it helps to:
So how does Force Field Analysis work in practice? Let’s look at a financial institution case study … Exclusive Blog Post Bonus: Free download Force Field Analysis Powerpoint Slide Template. These slides are easily customizable, helping you implement change management for maximum success. Download the Bonus Plus: Get Access to my Free 7 part Email Course on “Introduction to Leading Change.” Here’s a real application of this tool I used on a financial operation project: Working on a re-engineering project in the collections department of a bank, I’d spent five months with the team to develop an automated ‘skip’ tracing system (called ‘skips’). These are used to find debtors that no longer have contact details. I didn’t want to leave implementation to chance. So instead, I aimed for a collaborative, well-considered implementation. I got the stakeholders (ranging from senior managers to frontline staff) together in a room. We walked through the change using Force Field Analysis as the tool of choice to plan it. Results speak for themselves: And this led to … reduced “write-offs” (total of $25.02m per year) for:
Those results are nice but what about the change implementation? Well, it was embraced better than I could have imagined. Here’s why I believe it worked extremely well … What I did (and you can too): Step 1: I kicked things off by having the frontline teamwork on the solution. By having the people impacted part of the solution, they’re more likely to be engaged and less likely to resist. They were a part of it. Step 2: I got the frontline team into a room and placed two pieces of butcher’s paper on the wall. One was labeled ‘Driving Forces (Aids)’ and the other was labeled ‘Restraining Forces (Barriers)’. Step 3: Together, we brainstormed a list for each category. Here’s what we came up with: Aids and Barriers Analysis Figure 3: Aids and Barriers Analysis Step 4: Next, we converted this analysis into a plan. High-Level Action Plan Step 5: Finally, we implemented the plan! Now, it’s your turn … How you can do a Force-Field Analysis?Exclusive Blog Post Bonus: Free download Force Field Analysis Powerpoint Slide Template. These slides are easily customizable, helping you implement change management for maximum success. Download the Bonus Plus: Get Access to my Free 7 part Email Course on “Introduction to Leading Change.” Easy. In these steps:
Step 1. Describe your change Get your team members and organizational subject matter experts involved to harness their expertise. Put a sheet of butcher’s paper up on a wall. In the center of the sheet, draw a box and write in your goal or vision for the change. Step 2. Identify the forces ‘for’ change Now, think about the forces that are driving the change. These can be internal or external factors. As a group, brainstorm and identify as many factors as you can. Ask these questions to help identify the forces:
List these forces driving change on the left-hand side of the box. Step 3. Identify the forces ‘against’ change Now, brainstorm internal and external forces that restrain or are unfavorable to the change. A common internal example that many organizations cite is, “that’s not how we do things around here” (inflexible attitudes). Similarly, an external example may be government legislation changes. List these Restraining forces on the right-hand side of the box. You can group similar items together to get the main theme. Next, look at your main themes. Remove any items that you have no control over. Step 4. Rate the remaining items Now, the fun begins! Rate each remaining force with say, one (lowest impact) to five (highest impact). The goal here is to determine how much influence each force has on the plan. Add up the ‘for’ and ‘against’ scores. This should now give you a clear picture of influence that each force has on the change. This picture should also allow you to decide to move forward with the decision or change it. Step 5. Implement the plan! If you are to move forward, the next step is to create an action plan. This plan needs to weaken or remove Restraining forces and strengthen Driving forces and so increasing the ‘net’ force for the change. Some analysis may suggest changes you might like to make to the initial plan to give some flexibility. This will help to ensure its success. For example, if your project is going to introduce some new technology pivotal to business survival in the digital economy, you will need to ensure staff are on board with the change. So, what needs to be done? Staff need to be trained. Training incurs a ‘cost’ to the organization. Let’s say one of your main themes is ‘Costs’ and let’s say they are already at a ‘3’. You’ll need to add ‘1’ to ‘Costs’ because your training costs are to increase. So, ‘Costs’ = 4 (i.e. 3 + 1 = 4). However, if your staff fear technology, then training might take longer as people learn to manage their fear as they learn new ways of doing things. Therefore, technophobia reduces overall benefits so we need to subtract ‘2’ from ‘4’. Training, however, supports the change. So, ‘Costs’ are now at ‘2’. You will need to prioritize your action steps. Which ones will enable you the greatest impact? What resources will you need and how will you implement these steps? Finally, you will need to assess your progress to determine the success of actions you have decided.
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