Force Field Analysis

Force Field Analysis

In decision-making or change management, we have to study all the pros and cons of a certain decision, especially if it is a tough decision we will have a struggle. Decision-making process needs to be done carefully in order to be improve the quality of the decision and increase success chances. Force field analysis is an organized and structure technique for decision-making.

This tool was introduced in 1940 by Kurt Lewin. The tool was conceived first for his work as a psychologist; however, nowadays it is used in business environments for making decisions.

Before adopting changes to business processes, businesses often use force field analysis as a decision-making tool to assess the significance, impact, and influence of numerous aspects.

This method aids in assigning proportional values to the driving factors and restraining forces of a proposed change once the objectives and goals have been established.

Advantages of Force Field Analysis

The fact that force field analysis offers a visual picture of the circumstances around the suggested adjustment is one of the main benefits of employing it as a decision-making tool.

It also considers how these elements will affect the choice made in the end.

Applying this idea has the following additional benefits:

• Encourages collaboration by enlisting multiple people in weighing the advantages and difficulties of a proposed change.
• Analyses all the aspects and what they mean in connection to a proposed change, allowing for a high-level perspective of the situation.
• Primarily by using a score approach that makes evaluations easily quantifiable, simplifies the evaluation process.

How to Use Force Field Analysis

Remember to keep everyone on the same page by allowing them to include the factors that they consider to be important and other elements that may not initially be obvious. This is because force field analysis is best used in a situation where a whole team, process, or organisation may be affected by a potential change.

You can perform your force field study by following this detailed procedure:

Step 1: Outline and present your change proposal

Declare the proposed change, list the components, and list the objectives to begin the analysis. This would provide a clear understanding of how to approach the problem. Additionally, as this approach tries to enhance an existing process or processes, addressing the potential repercussions of not making the change would also be a good idea.

Step 2: Determine the forces at work

In this phase, you will compile a list of every argument in favour of implementing the suggested modification. Keep everyone informed and engage in team brainstorming so that everyone may contribute their observed motivating reasons.

List as many elements as you can to support the case for the change. Once finished, list each factor on the diagram's left side individually.

Step 3: Determine the restraints

This is the section after the second stage where you will detail every obstacle to the proposed change's execution. Include as many factors as you can so that they can be considered fairly and dealt with beforehand. After that, position the factors that you've determined on the diagram's right side.

Step 4: Scores

Evaluate the impact of each force and restraint in this step by attributing scores varying from 1-5 or 1-10 depending on the user. You must be careful in this step and involve your team in this process.

Step 5: Analysis and apply

Once you are done with previous step, you can see which side have the highest weight. The objective of this process is to decide to change if the driving forces have higher score than the restraining forces. 

If the restraining forces are higher than the driving forces, it would be better to think about procedure to strength the drivers or weaken the restraints. 

Force Field Analysis Example 

A software company is aiming to engage the hybrid working arrangement for its employees. There are identified factors that support and restrict the change so management would like to weigh these and see if they can implement the plan.

From the above example, the driving forces are higher than restraining forces. Thus, the company can proceed to effectuate the project.