James Alstott

MGMT 8175 Assignment Executive Brief 3: Storytelling in Change – Four Populations Student Name Franklin University MGMT 8175 Professor Name Date Executive Brief 3: Storytelling in Change – Four Populations In healthcare organizations, change has become constant as organizations attempt to adapt to the patient’s needs, new technologies, and other laws. Therefore, an organization must meet organizational conditions to prepare for change if the change initiative succeeds. The Four Roles of Change Model developed by Daryl Conner is an effective tool for assessing and retelling the processes in an organization since it involves four roles: The Sponsor, Targets, Change Agents, and Advocates (Etareri, 2022). These brief narratives demonstrate the positions these four groups take when a large healthcare system is implementing a new EHR system to enhance care coordination and connectivity in line with the 21st Century Cures Act. The Story The Sponsor – Chief Medical Officer (Dr. Maria Thompson) “Having been working as the Chief Medical Officer for some time now, I have realized that the system has numerous shortcomings that make it difficult to provide integrated care to the patients. One of the things I’ve learned in the past two years is that our departments were not sharing information, which led to duplicate lab tests, wrong medication prescriptions, and delayed discharges. When the board decided to go for a central EHR system, this was a chance to change the face of patient care. Sponsoring this change is not limited to providing the $6M for implementing and signing this vendor contract; it is about embracing the vision and being accountable for its results. I have been explaining ‘why’ many times: to improve the safety of patients, to make data more truthful, and to meet the requirements set by the authorities. In line with this undertaking, we ensured it aligned with the corporate strategy and created an executive sponsorship committee to oversee the effort. As Conner noted, I stayed in the public eye and engaged in activities, thus guaranteeing our company’s presence at the meetings of each department. And not only did I support this alteration but actively promoted it.” The Targets – Frontline Nursing Staff (Angela, RN, BSN) I’ll be honest. When I first heard the new EHR, I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. Even with the last system update, it is still difficult to adapt, and there are always some forms of hitches. As a bedside nurse, I have a very busy schedule—now a learning curve. It felt overwhelming. But this time, something was different – something which was most unexpected. It does not matter that our nurse manager gave us a manual to read: she implemented a communication feedback system. Engaging frontline staff early in the change process increases their sense of ownership, reduces resistance, and enhances the overall effectiveness of implementation efforts (Ominyi et al., 2025). The week beginning 8/2/21, we held our weekly huddles, and for the first time, management listened to us and our concerns. I recall my example of discharge documentation being entered into three systems and how it was a problem. A week later, it brought in a demo of the new and improved workflow. That was a turning point for many of us. That is the system we are using right from the minute level. Conner refers to us as ‘Targets’- the most affected. It’s true. We have also become interested because we were active initially and not passively informed at the end. Even when annoyed, we understand we are part of the decision-making process.” The Change Agents – Project Implementation Team (Jacob Reed, Health IT Manager) “Being a change agent isn’t about pushing buttons—it’s about pulling people together. I lead the EHR implementation team, a group of 12 IT specialists, trainers, and workflow analysts. Our mission? Make the system work for them, not just roll it out and hope for the best. From the start, we used an adaptive change model. We didn’t just drop the software and walk away. We embedded trainers on the floors for two months. We held simulation labs. We created user personas to test workflows for nurses, physicians, case managers, and more. We had to manage resistance, sure. But we saw it as a signal, not an obstacle. We logged into every concern and built an iterative process. If something didn’t work, we fixed it. That flexibility-built credibility. Change Agents, as Conner describes, must be respected, resilient, and responsive. We had to earn trust every day.” The Advocates – Clinical Nurse Educator (Tina Morales, MSN, RN) Advocates play a crucial role in organizational change by leveraging trust, communication, and informal leadership to influence others and build grassroots support for new initiatives (Kuehne et al., 2022). “As the clinical nurse educator, I wasn’t directly tasked with building the system—but I saw its potential. I became one of its strongest advocates because I believe in what it can do for patient outcomes and staff satisfaction. I began organizing informal lunchtime talks where staff could bring questions and test features in a low-pressure space. I gathered success stories—like the new care summary tool that helped a nurse catch a medication allergy—and shared them during shift reports. Advocacy, as Conner notes, is about influencing others through credibility and connection. I used my relationships with staff to build momentum, helping turn skeptics into supporters. I wasn’t part of the executive decision-making, but I was essential in bridging the gap between leadership’s vision and the reality on the ground. Advocacy isn’t just about promotion, it’s about belief. And I believe this system will make our work better.” Conclusion This story clearly shows the processes that must be in place and the interrelatedness of those processes to effect change in a healthcare environment. Applying the Four Roles of Change Model by Daryl Conner, one can see how Sponsors, Targets, Change Agents, and Advocates are all interrelated and how each contributes to the change process. It was not just about planning. It was about preparing the organization for change, getting […]

MGMT 8175 Assignment Executive Brief 4 Student Name Franklin University MGMT 8175 Professor Name Date   Brief Summary of Findings, Analysis, and Recommendation for Action – Board of Directors The executive brief synthesizes findings from an important change initiative under the healthcare organization’s centralized Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. The transition to an EHR system was necessitated by compliance drivers, namely the 21st Century Cures Act, as well as improvements in clinical efficiency, communication, and patient safety (Gellert et al., 2024). Daryl Conner’s Four Roles of Change Model was used to guide the process, outlining the Sponsor, Target, Change Agent, and Advocate populations (Etareri, 2022). Each group significantly shaped the path and impacts of the initiative. From each population’s stakeholders, this brief captures pivotal narratives, analyzes the convergent patterns, and builds the case toward recommendations to preserve efforts and facilitate further progress. Summary of Findings In the previous three evaluations, we analyzed the impacts of change on different organizational populations within a healthcare system changing due to the integration of a centralized EHR system. Within the healthcare organization, the implementation of a centralized EHR system represented a change that emerged as a “transformational” per McLeran’s classification driven by the 21st Century Cures Act aimed at improving patient safety, mitigating information silos, and enhancing care coordination (Gellert et al., 2024). Daryl Conner’s four roles of change model provided the framework for this analysis, using the interdependent contributions of four key organizational populations to delineate organizational change (Etareri, 2022). As a Sponsor, Dr. Maria Thompson controlled critical strategic resources like institutional alignment, funds, and oversight, as well as fiscal control commensurate with strategic institutional objectives. As a Target, bedside nurses participated in the change but showed a great deal of resistance owing to disruption of familiar workflows and low-level competence (Ominyi et al., 2025). This perception changed in large part due to the participation strategies and aligning the new system with existing routines at the unit, along with the new system being implemented into workflows. Change Agents, as led by health Information Technology (IT) manager Jacob Reed, played a crucial part in interacting with clinical staff by putting in place support structures and integrating feedback mechanisms, transforming technical specifications into user-focused design interfaces. Alongside these initiatives was clinical nurse educator and Advocate Tina Morales, who, with her advocacy work, narrative craft, and peer mentorship, lowered anxiety and elevated confidence within the nursing workforce. These roles supported an atmosphere of trust, learning, and adaptability, all of which enabled the smooth transition (Ominyi et al., 2025). All together demonstrate the need for leadership in the integration of multidisciplinary participation and attention to organizational culture as a method for accomplishing change in the healthcare system. Analysis of Findings The new EHR system implementation highlighted some factors that contributed to the initiative’s success and the collective work of the sponsor, targets, change agents, and advocates. Resistance was initially mitigated at the strategic alignment level by the sponsor, who framed the transformation as critical for meeting regulatory compliance and patient safety, addressing staff concerns proactively, and communication focused on navigating meeting issues (Hong et al., 2023). Participation of the targets was optimally conducted through feedback forums, which were designed with participatory workflows and thus staffed with early robotics as the non-hierarchical coordinators to ensure reduced resistance. End user trust enhancement reinforced enhanced trustworthiness through trainers placed in situ and simulation labs, adjustable to enhance faculty trust, as was executed by the change agents (Worley et al., 2022). Grassroots advocacy by the clinical nurse educator played a vital cultural role, using informal peer support, storytelling, and knowledge sharing to shift staff attitudes from skepticism to optimism. Ultimately, all aided enabling both informal power and formal hierarchy as organizational faculties blend, moving beyond the system resistance hurdles for achieving adoption together. Recommendations for Actions Moving forward with change initiatives within the organizational context will be more effective if the four roles of the change model (Sponsor, Change Agent, Advocate, Target) are adopted as a basic model of reference. This model ensures role definition encourages clarity and responsibility across the project while also providing guidance (Gellert et al., 2024). Teaching each person the relevant components of the role helps in understanding their influence and responsibility within the change process (Gellert et al., 2024). Meetings, digital communication, and personal interactions provide forums for the needed credible communication which is needed about and for the change process (Wannheden et al., 2022). Fostering real-world challenges and experiences, frontline voices must be included actively in planning and decision-making. With a shift in user-centered approaches to change supported alongside flexibility, the adaptive models that can be tested with feedback loops will be more responsive towards the staff’s needs as well as the dynamics of the organization (Wannheden et al., 2022). Enhanced access to informal leaders as advocates empowers change with a demo tool and success stories (Wannheden et al., 2022). Providing these resources fosters grassroots support. After the change is implemented, maintaining said momentum requires targeted effort like feedback, placing, recognition activities, and modifying engagement for sustained attention-focused improvement. Conclusion   Implementing the EHR system was a reconfiguration of clinical workflows, communication channels, and organizational culture. Collaborative efforts led to success: alignment of leadership and engagement of frontline staff through planning, as well as the influence of informal advocates. Advocacy coupled with direct engagement from the system’s sponsors and change agents ensured that all workflows were streamlined and barriers to effective system use were proactively resolved. Regular communication also supported coordination among the different stakeholders involved in the implementation. Emphasis on active resistance mitigation ensured that the system was usable, functional, and supportive rather than detrimental. This underscores the need for employing purposeful change management, feedback cycles, and consensus from all stakeholders. As the organization forges ahead, these insights, alongside managed innovations, will strengthen tailored approaches to integrated patient care at all organizational levels. References Etareri, L. (2022). An analysis framework of change management. Medicon Engineering Themes, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.55162/mcet.03.056 Gellert, G. A., Erwich, M. E., & Herdman, S. […]