WK10_Tony_The Need to Change Apartment

Problem Definition

I lived in an apartment up till about 2 years ago. This apartment was decent and in a lovely environment and the kind of place I wanted to stay. However the power supply was epileptic, the noise level from my neighbour’s generator very high, and the cost of services in the estate added to the annual rent made the yearly cost outlay very high. I needed to make a change. What were the forces that drove or restrained this change? I will attempt to discuss this issue using Force Field Analysis. Force Field Analysis identifies the forces and factors in place that support or work against the solution of an issue or problem so that the positives can be reinforced and or the negatives eliminated or reduced[1].

Change Objective

To get an apartment that has regular power supply, fairly decent and fairly spaced out in a secured environment.

Driving Forces

· Constant power supply

· Cost reduction

· Proximity to place of work

· Reduction of noise level

Restraining Forces

· Highly decent environment

· High net worth neighbours

· Good estate services, i.e cleaning, security, gardening etc

· Very spacious apartment with all rooms en-suite

Weighting the Forces

Scores of 1 to 5 will be assigned to the forces in order of strength or importance. 1 meaning a weak force while 5 is strongest force. Figure 1 below show the results

Figure 1: Force Field Analysis Driving Forces			Change Objective	Restraining Forces
weighting	forces for change		To get an apartment that has regular power supply, fairly decent, fairly spaced out in a secured environment		forces against change	weighting
5	Constant power supply				Highly decent environment	5
4	Cost reduction				High networth neighbours	3
1	Proximity to place of work				Good estate services	3
3	Reduction of noise level				Spacious apartment	2
13						13

Comparative Analysis

A look at figure 1 above, show the forces driving and opposing have overall equal strength and therefore there should not be a change. But in this case there was the need for change as the epileptic power supply became unbearable. We could not store things in the freezer or fridge without their going bad. It was also not possible to run our generator continuosly as we were not home most of the day and the cost would be exhorbitant. So while decent environment is treasured, it is not as important as regular or constant power supply, and so should not have the same strength.

Furthermore good estate services accounted for a huge part of the yearly cost outlay for the apartment. Since I was desirous of cost reduction, a little drop in the quality of the services (lead to reduced costs) should be accommodated thus reducing the strength of that force. Proximity to place of work also contributes to cost reduction and so that force can be strengthen to reflect this. Figure two below show an updated force field analysis reinforcing the driving forces while weakening the restraining forces.

Figure 2: Updated Field Force Analysis

	Driving Forces		Change Objective		Restraining Forces
weighting	forces for change		To get an apartment that has regular power supply, fairly decent, fairly spaced out in a secured environment		forces against change	weighting
5	Constant power supply				Highly decent environment	4
4	Cost reduction				High networth neighbours	3
2	Proximity to place of work				Good estate services	2
3	Reduction of noise level				Spacious apartment	2
14						11

Choice of Best Action

It follows from the comparative analysis above that changing apartment was the best thing to do after considering what could be traded off to achieve my desired goal. It has a weighted score of 14 for driving forces and 11 for restraining forces.

Post Evaluation of Results.

Looking back now I can say clearly the move was worth the while. I have enjoyed staying in my present apartment with regular power supply, proximity to my place of work, reduced cost for services, all leading to lower cost per annum.

References

1. Michael Brassard, Diane Ritter ; Memory Jogger 2 –Force Field Analysis – Pg 86

2. Field Force Analysis-Decision Making Skills Training from Mind Tools. http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_06.htm