Whether the change is as seemingly noncontroversial as rerouting collection vehicles or as contentious as siting a solid waste facility, effective change-management strategies need to be employed to address the concerns of both internal and external stakeholders. Unfortunately for solid waste managers, unless the stakeholders can be moved beyond their own personal concerns to what is best for the system, the best-made plans might remain just that. Fortunately, there is an interactive process, called the Systems Focused Approach, that solid waste managers can use to move stakeholders from entrenched viewpoints to shared vision for the solid waste management system. Click here for a larger view The Systems Focused Approach brings together group discussions and systems-analysis techniques that have been developed through the management fields of system dynamics and systems thinking. Lessons learned in one area are more quickly and effectively transferred to other areas.
Communication is enhanced, teams become more effective, and longer-term views become more prevalent.
The best process involves a highly interactive relationship among key persons within and outside of your organization. The process and its benefits are summarized in the figure and table below. Features of the Systems Focused Approach Benefits 1. Regarding problem definition variable identification past and potential variable behavior 2. Interactive System Diagram Development system structure identification 3.