Communication - Change Guides LLC - Guiding Organizations Through Change

How to secure your network

March 7, 2012/0 Comments/in Change Management, Change Readiness, Communication, Culture, Leaders, The Change Management 101 Model/by admin

There are many ways to secure a network but the starting point is only allowing network access to authorized people. If you have a proxy server with access, you can’t be hacked. It’s not a wise idea to publish it or disclose the IP address of the proxy server. Also, don’t include a secret password or other security of the site. The HIPAA compliance on GCP is what is needed for proper security. Protect your personal data and privacy, look at this helpful resource for further details.

Cybersecurity - secure your systems with Expleo

Be careful with your cookies.

A common mistake is to save all your cookies with the server. That is not a wise practice. Even the most common and obvious use case for a website that saves your data for you is potentially a privacy threat. We can’t use the same account for multiple websites that store private data. It’s not hard to construct an infrastructure for a site that keeps all data in a cookie that can be read by the server.

If you run a video production business, having dedicated storage servers will provide more storage and better transfer speeds and tackle post-production tasks without any lags.

The next step is to move to encrypting all data, or create a public-key encryption of all data and use the key for all data. This is easier said than done. Hashing is a little harder because we don’t know the salt of the hash. It’s difficult to put the data into an asymmetric encryption scheme (such as AES). These problems make it pretty hard to turn a service into a practical provider of decrypted data.

Use good encryption.

According to companies like Fortinet, it is recommended to create an encrypted store like a pen-drive or a special hard drive for highly sensitive data, like financial transactions, . That would have to be kept with different keys from all other keys. Keeping both cloud and physical storage for sensitive data is a good idea. You can go to site to find more details.

Don’t provide incorrect passwords.

Password management is an area of security that can be a nightmare. Remember to use different passwords for different purposes. For example, for a job where you may have to login often, use a different password for each of the dozen different websites you use. So if someone tries to brute force your password, you’re still protected.

There’s an industry of password reset services (for example see Password land) that provide a customer service to assist you in resetting your password. Many applications also provide integrated password management. It’s never easy to remember all the different combinations of letters, numbers and special characters. Don’t use the same password on your bank and email accounts. Never share your computer’s password. Don’t be lazy and use a password manager, it’s not enough that you use the same password for every site. Hiring a Cyber Security Company can also offer you several benefits and help provide you peace of mind, knowing you’re protected.

A caveat here is that there’s nothing in the manual that shows you how to create or use a password manager. Most vendors will not even recommend you to use one. When you combine that with the difficulty of remembering those passwords you should make a decision about how valuable you think it is.

Ensure you are also safe with access to your email accounts, accounts on other sites. One of the biggest problems is hackers pretending to be you. They usually pretend that you work for the service, have your credentials and so on. So if you are using any services, please be aware of the fake email/password. To prevent this, you can hire managed IT services to protect your data. Visit sites like https://tvit.net/managed-it-services-in-homedale-id/ to know more about how this can help your business. Or, you can set up a managed wifi for you business. You can click here to learn about managed wifi.

Are You Getting the Return on Your Investment?

July 25, 2011/0 Comments/in Change Management, Communication, Leaders, The Change Management 101 Model/by admin

How much has your company spent on initiatives: cost reduction? quality? product launch? What were the business cases for these initiatives? What was invested in these efforts externally and internally – in terms of budget and people? What was the projected ROI of these efforts? Have you reached that promised ROI yet?

Odds are that you haven’t. Many times, the promised benefits are not reached in the projected time. Sometimes, they are never reached. So, maybe you’ve made it some of the way there. Maybe there are valid, unforeseen causes for not reaching your ROI.
You’re not alone. Google “project failure rates” and you find pages of articles and research. One example is the 2009 Standish Chaos Reports (research on client success and failure implementing IT systems). This report states that only 32% of survey participants characterized their projects as “successful”. 24% characterized their project as “failed” and the other 44% characterized their project as “challenged”.

Projects fail to meet objectives for many reasons but among the most cited reasons are related to people issues: leaders not aligned in support of the effort, lack of communication, lack of understanding, resistance, lack of support or skills, lack of reinforcement of the effort.

A people strategy is a required component to reach a project’s ROI. After all, it’s people who use the technology, adopt the new processes or sell the new product. Without a majority of people willing and prepared to make the change happen, it is doomed to fail. Influencing people to change takes a strategy. It takes a plan. It will not happen effectively just because you say so.

Change Management is the people strategy and planning approach that prepares employee to transition from how they work today to how they need to work in the future. Just like project management or Six Sigma, there are proven processes, tools and tactics that help company’s create a thoughtful proactive people strategy. A Change Management approach easily fits hand in hand with a project plan to implement a new technology, process or the like.

Albert Einstein is quoted as saying that “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” If you haven’t achieved the ROI on your past projects, don’t go about the next project the same way. Include a thoughtful, proactive people strategy and get a different result.

Change is a marathon, not a Sprint

July 13, 2011/0 Comments/in Change Management, Change Readiness, Communication, Culture/by admin

We have a client that is smack-dab in the middle of a significant change effort. The team is getting tired. They feel like they have been beating the drum forever. They can’t understand why people don’t just GET IT and CHANGE.

But change is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s easy to get mired in the details and lose sight of the success that is slowly building.

When stepping back and looking at what they have actually achieved since getting started, the situation looks a litlte better. They still have a long way to go, but progress is progress. Every step counts.

Take time to focus on what is going right. Remember that persistance is a key characteristic of a great change leader. If things are not going well, then update the plan. Find a way to work around obstacles.

And for all of those things are going well, even if a litlte slower than you would like, keep at it!

Key Messages are Key during Organizational Change

June 22, 2011/0 Comments/in Change Management, Communication/by admin

We have seen more organizations than we care to remember that have waited and waited and waited and waited to say anything at all about a change that was being implemented. And when they finally did start talking, it was as if a flood of information had just breached a levee.

If you have ever been on the receiving end of the “flood” style of communications, you know it isn’t really effective. In fact, burying people in details about something that is happening in an organization before people even know “why” is this happening actually usually backfires. People shut down, tune it out, and duck into their cubes to wait for it all to pass.

Understanding the key messages that should be sent about a change at any given time is critical to effective communication and change management. Outlining what to communicate and when is a great start to ensuring that a consistent and relevant message stream reaches people in the organization.

To make it simple, start with outlining your initial “level 1 messages.” These are simple statements that answer questions such as: What is this project or change? How does this link to other projects or initiatives going on? Why is this important? What is the end result? What is the timing?

If any of the “simple statements” above is more than 30 words, try again. It is too much.

The “level 1 messages” should be consistent throughout the project and set the context from beginning to end. It is like saying we are taking a trip from New York to California. We will have different messages along the way about where we are, who is driving, sights along the way, etc…. but we always tie our messages back to the fact that we are on a trip from New York to California.

Next, develop “level 2 messages” that address group specific impacts and concerns. These might change over time as we learn more and additional concerns are unearthed. But start by developing answers to the following questions for each group that will be impacted: What specific impacts will this group have? How will specific concerns for this group be addressed? What specific job changes will happen?

The key messages are a critical component of an effective change management program. If you can’t answer some of these questions now about a change you are involved with or are managing, most likely impacted stakeholders can’t either. And until they can, the change won’t stick.

“Off-Shoring”, “Right-Sizing”, “Out-Sourcing”… Whatever You Call it, it Means Big Change

May 24, 2011/0 Comments/in Change Management, Communication, Leaders/by admin

For organizations seeking to reduce costs by sending work to other countries, the
path is long and difficult. Off-shoring may be absolutely necessary for your organization to remain competitive or possibly just stay in business, but don’t underestimate what it will take to do it and do it right. With the pace of change around the globe these days, even the basic questions like “Where should we send the work – India? Ireland? China?” may be hard to answer.

What is also hard, but often overlooked, is how to deal with the people within an organization during the process. There are two primary groups you need to think about when you are off-shoring: the people who will lose their jobs, and the people who will be left behind and will watch the process unfold before them. If off-shoring doesn’t take into account the needs of the people who are impacted by it, the gains that you hope to make can be lost by large scale disengagement, decreased productivity, and massive turnover.

During organizational transition, everyone is affected. People who will lose their jobs are obviously impacted; but also, employees who don’t lose jobs may experience guilt that they “survived” and fear that they could be next. The things we do to help both groups transition are completely inter-related. For the “survivors,” the #1 factor that contributes to their experience of the off-shoring is their observation of how those who lose jobs are treated. It’s easy to write a good resume headline once you know the steps. Visit Sweet CV’s website to learn more.

During out-sourcing (well, any time actually), there should be an underlying desire to treat people with respect and dignity. It sounds easy enough, but it can be difficult in situations like this. It’s not as if we intend to treat people poorly, but sometimes we just forget what people need or we just get too busy and forget about the people impacted. Every day, you need to ask yourself, “Are we doing for people who will lose their jobs what I would want to be done if it were me that was going to lose my job?”

As you make every decision, keep the golden rule in mind. How would you want to find out your job was being eliminated? Most likely, you’d like to hear it directly from your manager in a one-on-one conversation rather than in a meeting of 50 people. And you probably would want to hear it before anyone else in your group heard it. While it is logistically difficult, the effort will pay off.

Remember that the people who will lose jobs are also likely friends of people who will remain a part of the organization after they are gone. If the people leaving the organization are treated poorly, not only do you engender ill will from organizational alumni who are out there bad-mouthing your organization, but you also plant the seed with employees who will stick around that you might not treat them so well either in the future.

While the work of off-shoring is difficult, it doesn’t mean you should steer away from off-shoring. Just go in with your eyes open about the work it will take. Treating people well is not about just coddling people. It is about getting the business results you are seeking by keeping your organization engaged and productive.

Helping Others Say a Hearty “Yes”

April 25, 2011/0 Comments/in Change Management, Communication, Leaders/by admin

Joseph Campbell, best known for his work in comparative mythology, is quoted as having said “the big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure.” Although this quote wasn’t made in the context of organizational change, I have been thinking about the applicability to change management. The best change leaders do just that, they help organizations and the people within them say a hearty yes to the adventures ahead.

Although saying yes and opening up to adventure sounds great, it isn’t the first instinct for most of us. Most of us instead instinctually have questions… we want to know more about how we will be impacted. We say “maybe,” “let me think about it”, or “this isn’t what I would have chosen.” Just take a moment to think about how this dynamic may play out over and over again in your own life in small ways. We know that people tend to try to re-establish a sense of control, and most of us probably have ample personal examples of that to draw on. Now from those simple examples, think about how it feels to hesitate, and how it feels to say yes. Questioning can feel like a like a lot of intellectual work, and saying yes can feel like an emotional release and even bring cautious exuberance.

Good change leaders understand the natural hesitancy to say a hearty yes. Having questions, gathering information when applied productively can lead to good things for individuals and organizations. In fact the ability to address the logical reasons for change, to outline the business case, is critical for any effective change leader. This is the price of admission. And this task alone, the intellectual challenge of winning over the minds, can be a challenge.

The best change leaders however recognize that there is another significant piece of work to be done, to win over the hearts. This is the emotional work of letting go and opening up to new ways for now. Great change leaders move people not only through compelling arguments, but through paradigm shifts. In my observation, what moves people from “no” to “hearty yes” is less often an intellectual argument, and more often a feeling. The moment when individuals shift from a position of hesitancy to a space of possibility is often more about inspiration, vision, and trust. An intellectual argument might get you to the place of a reluctant yes. But great change leaders take organizations to the space of a hearty yes… to the space of possibility, creativity, collaboration, flow.

To speak to the hearts of employees often takes a great deal of courage. It means acknowledging the very human side of business, which is often devalued. It means talking about things that are sometimes uncomfortable. It means addressing fears and telling the truth. It means reducing the uncertainty when you can, and acknowledging the unknown when it exists.

As I reflect on some of the best change leaders I have worked with, the ones that inspire a
hearty yes, I realize that they are also great story tellers. This is something I imagine Joseph Campbell could appreciate. They make the complex simple and they use metaphor or analogy to create an “ah ha” moment that allows people to embrace possibility. The research of Dr. Robert Leahy, Director of the American Institute of Cognitive Therapy, shows when people are anxious they often fill in the unknown with a negative outcome. The best change leaders offer a story that fills in that uncertainty with possibility, and
calls the individual forward.

This story telling might be as simple as saying “but what if…” in a focused one-on-one conversation. Or it may be painting a radical picture of the future for a crowd. It may be like suggesting you can’t see a masterpiece through a pin hole. Whatever the method, great change leaders help individuals feel moved to step into the journey. That although there is an uncertain outcome, there is great possibility particularly if we choose to say a hearty yes to our adventure.

Contributed by Gina Giannitelli, a Consulting Director at Change Guides LLC

Fear During Change

March 15, 2011/0 Comments/in Change Management, Communication, Leaders/by admin

Fear increases when organizations are in transition. Leaders fear failure. Workers fear the unknown. Fear during change is normal but it shouldn’t be ignored. Fear distracts people. Fear drives unproductive behavior and causes poor decision making.

Lack of communication usually increases fear during change. Workers are great observers of behavior. They see leaders meet behind closed doors. They see high paid consultants come in and meet with leaders. They sense important decisions are being made but the leaders aren’t talking. This leaves the workers to their own thoughts and fears. Will there be lay-offs? Will I be laid off? Will my department change? Will my boss change? In the absence of information, people make stuff up. We know from research that people tend to fear the worst. Their fears are almost always worse than the reality. They guess and feed off of each other. Without leaders talking, the rumor mill is the main source of information (even speculative information is better than no information).

Thus, I’ve found part of my job as a change consultant is to reduce fear. I counsel leaders on how to communicate during change. They need to follow a set of rules such as: 1) tell what you know, what you don’t know, and when you’ll communicate more, 2) have consistent, compelling messages so employees understand why the change is happening and the scope of the change, and 3) communicate what is NOT changing which is just as important for employees to understand. I counsel the project team on how to best reach out to employees, involve key people and expand ownership of what is coming. These tactics help employees better understand the change. With a set of principles and tactics, fear can be reduced. It can’t be eliminated entirely but it should be addressed. You don’t want fear to distract workers and drive behavior. Change is hard enough without rampant fear.

Mergers… Hold on to Your Hats

January 17, 2011/0 Comments/in Change Management, Communication, Leaders/by admin

We have a client that is in the throes of a merger. One of the decisions the new combined leadership team made was the realign all of their offices under a new leadership structure. It makes sense given thier new size and scope of services. Now each location will report to a new boss.

In the Denver office, people were eager to meet the new boss on the day of his first visit. Well, maybe not “eager” so much as…. “anxious”. There was talk that this new boss had a track record of closing low performing offices. “We’ve been having a rough quarter. I bet he’s going to tell us they’re closing our office.” “I heard from someone at another office that he is a real jerk and will shoot first and ask questions later.”

Why on earth would people assume the worst without even meeting this guy or learning of what the ultimate plans are? Simply because they are scared of the unknown.

When people are uncertain about the future, they instinctively seek out greater control, better understanding, and human support. Rumors are a completely natural human response to help fill those needs for control, understanding, and support in a time of uncertainty and change.

The act of speculating and commiserating with peers is a real way to feel more control by talking through a situation and discussing alternatives. Studies show that, in the absence of information, people just make stuff up… and they most often assume a far worse outcome than reality. It is interesting that we don’t really care if the information is correct. We just want to know something to make us feel like we understand what is going on.

And those same discussions help people feel supported by others. Time spent sharing gossip or conjecture with peers helps people feel as if they are not alone in their fears.

If people don’t have a constructive way to channel their drive for control, understanding and support, they will fill those needs themselves, in ways that are sometimes not advantageous to the organization. People are talking, whether leaders are a part of the conversations or not.

To effectively manage uncertainty and change, be proactive about connecting people and encouraging them to share their thoughts and fears in controlled, rational forums. We are not talking about free-for-alls where everyone moans and complains about management. What is needed is the chance to share ideas and fears, and a forum for the transparent flow of questions and answers.

When a merger happens, some productivity dip is natural. But leaders need to guide people through change in order to minimize that dip. By guiding the conversations that people have about uncertainties, leaders can keep people motivated and focused on the right targets without unnecessarily taking their eye off the ball.

The Eight Constants of Change

December 27, 2010/0 Comments/in Change Management, Communication, Leaders, The Change Management 101 Model/by admin

If you are experiencing or leading change in your organization, you should know the Eight Constants of Change. A change manager who doesn’t have a good grasp of these incontrovertible facts about organizational change will face an uphill battle making change happen.

The good news is that learning about the Eight Constants is easy – and free! Listen to this podcast on iTunes featuring Stacy Aaron and you will get a sense of the basics of organizational change in a jiffy. http://tinyurl.com/stacypodcast

If you are inspired, you can learn even more by reading the Eight Constants of Change – What Leaders Need to Know to Drive Change and Win (Aaron and Nelson, Change Guides, 2008). Happy New Year and Happy Changing!

Build the Management Team, and Propel the Change Forward

December 7, 2010/0 Comments/in Communication, Leaders/by admin

Groups of management peers with similar titles and similar levels of responsibilities can be hotbeds of dysfunction. These people often competes for resources, promotions and attention. But unfortunately for organizations trying to transform, this group is integral to effectively changing the way an organization works. Management teams need to work together to achieve goals but sometimes the environment encourages the opposite.

If the leaders don’t create the right environment, managers focus solely on their individual fiefdoms, their silos. If resources and attention are scarce, this group can become a cesspool of finger pointing, competing, back stabbing and ganging up.

To prevent this limited focus, leaders need to set the right tone and stage for this group to work effectively and successfully. A few things can be done to encourage these managers to work together, tackle problems as a team and leverage opportunities cross functionally:

The manager group needs common cross functional and organizational goals
Managers need to be recognized for team efforts
Leaders need to handle the troublemakers
Managers need tools and training on how to work together

As employees and managers, we work within the limitations of our work environment. We work within the rules and expectations that surround us. We respond to signals about what is important and what is valued. When that environment encourages unproductive behavior, new signals need to be sent, new rules and expectations delivered.