8600-301 Understanding Innovation and Change in an Organisation

Unit Overview

The workplace environment experiences a significant transformation that is necessitated by social, technological, environmental or political changes. These changes require the leaders in different areas to effectively put up strategies that are aimed at adapting the organisation to the changing environment. 8600-301 Understanding Innovation and Change in an Organization is a unit within the ILM Level 3 module that focuses on improving the learners with the support they need to build the capability and skills to understand the process of change and innovation within the workplace.

The change focuses on ensuring that the organisation remains relevant and productive within the market dins serving both external and internal customers. Innovation, on the other hand, focuses on the new approaches that are adopted within the organisation to facilitate the adaptive nature of the organisation to the changing environment. Innovation requires the leaders to be able to oversee creativity and autonomy among the subjects being led to ensure that they are able to express themselves in ways that provide creative solutions to the problems they are trying to solve.

The unit is important in preparing the leaders, including junior managers and first-line managers, for facilitating activities within their teams as well as improving their techniques and potential. The main purpose and aim of the unit is to provide and develop knowledge and understanding of the innovation and process of change within the organisation to enable first-line managers and junior managers to effectively achieve their managerial roles. This unit is taught in 9 hours of guided learning and contributes 2 credit values to the ILM Level 3 model.

Suitability of the Unit

The unit is designed for all stakeholders within the organisation. Different groups of stakeholders need to understand the process of change and innovation within the workplace to ensure that it builds their professional and personal capabilities in facilitating organisational activities and ability to successfully complete tasks that are assigned to them within the organisation. 8600-301 Understanding Innovation and change in an Organisation as a unit is designed to meet the learning needs of the leaders in lower ranks of management, including the junior managers, first-line managers and the supervisors within the organisations.

It helps this individual to implement innovation within the operational level of decision-making and support the people within this level in adapting to the changing environment of the organisation. However, this unit is not limited to the needs of first-line managers and junior managers. Other leaders, including middle managers and executive managers, must exhibit an understanding of the concepts presented within this unit to ensure that they can effectively lead the organisation amidst the highly changing environment and create suitability in adapting to the change.

The employees can also pursue the unit to ensure they understand their contribution in the changing organisational environment and develop innovative solutions to the problems and tasks they are required to handle in their daily activities. It also prepares them for positions of team leaders and junior managers in future.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the unit, the learners should be able to:

• Understand the benefits of innovation and change within the organisation

• Diagnose barriers to the change and innovation process in the organisation by analysing their areas of responsibility

• Describe effective and practical strategies that can be used to overcome the barriers identified

• Explain planning, monitoring and review techniques that can be used to manage innovation and change within the organisations

• Show understanding of the role of effective communication in successfully implementing innovation and change processes within the organisation

• Identify the human effects of innovation and change on people and teams within the organisation and their area of responsibility

Key Learning Areas

8600-301 Understanding Innovation and change in an Organisation focuses on guiding the ability to diagnose the need for change and understand the changing process in the orginisation. Some of the areas of focus within the unit include:

Understanding Change

This area of learning builds the ability of the learner to understand the element of change and innovation and innovation and the impacts of failing to effectively adapt to the changing environment.

It guides the learners to appreciate the role that innovation and change plays in sustaining the prosperity and survival of the organisations and concepts that can be used to effectively develop change to facilitate organisational success. In this area, the learners are able to understand different barriers within the organisation that affect adaptability to change and put in place interventions to overcome the barriers, such as unfreezing and freezing techniques.

Process of Monitoring Change and Innovation

This area improves the ability of the learners to understand the process of monitoring and controlling the progress of innovation and change within their areas of management. As a leader, it is important to ensure that one has control of the progress and ensure that it is in line with the set plan. The learners are guided in developing Gantt charts and network planning which provide support in the evaluation process.

Additionally, in this area, the learners are helped to appreciate the role of communication in supporting the innovation and change process. They are guided to building the relevant skills that support their abilities to effectively communicate with different stakeholders, including the individuals within their teams and senior authorities, on the progress of change and innovation.

Impacts of Change and Innovation on People

This area helps the leaders to understand the role that they should play in providing relevant support to their teams to ensure they are able to overcome the effects of change. The learners are guided to evaluate change fatigue and the effects that it has on the ability of the individuals in their areas of responsibility to embrace the change and the ways that they can effectively organise and coordinate resources and activities to provide support for the planned innovation and change. They are also made to understand the direct and indirect aspects of innovation and change on the human and financial elements of their areas of responsibility.

Evaluation

Upon completing the unit, the learners are assessed using a written assessment. They are required to show an understanding of the principles that have been learned in relation to change and show the ability to implement this principle in an organisational context. On passing the assessment, they are provided the awards related to the unit.