Transformation Starts With I

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By Mindy Kantor

Transformation involves planning, designing and realizing a new reality. In organizations, success is determined by reaching a desired goal or target. Often change management programs are planned to help employees navigate, adjust and adapt a new way forward.

Used interchangeably here, change or transformation, albeit slightly different in magnitude and scope by definition have become common place. Change surrounds us, at work, home and in our communities. It is an infinite continuum. Just when we’re feeling settled, something new comes along. At work, we’re asked to welcome new processes, structures or technologies on an ongoing basis. The word “new” can be unnerving or calming, depending on your emotional capital vested in the actual change. Much of the time, we think these changes are outside our control and feel overwhelmed, frustrated or aggravated.

However, let’s posit the notion that the change is not outside your control and that success is determined by
You, hence “Transformation starts with I.” You make the conscious decision to make the change easy or hard.
You determine your openness and willingness to shift your mindset and welcome the change. You are
accountable for infusing your energy and positivity into the new direction. You control your words and actions.
You make the difference. Believe it. Honor it. Be it. And success will be in your reach for any size change or
transformation.

Often companies focus on the big picture of transformations. A vision could be that “every single employee is
customer-obsessed.” Change Management methodology teaches us to look at the current state of the
organization compared to the desired state and map out actions or programs that help employees become
customer-obsessed. Communication plans are crafted with key messages to deploy throughout the organization.

Using this example, transformation can start with you. Ask yourself, “How will I demonstrate that I’m customer obsessed? What will I start doing differently?” If you manage employees, are they able to skip an internal meeting with no consequences to help out a customer? Have you provided them resources that empower them
to make choices on the spot? What will you say and do that shows your authentic, customer-obsessed self?
Decide and live it daily through your words and actions. Similar to a child mirroring their parents’ speech and
movements, your peers and managers are watching you. Be the leader, set the example.

All transformations start with the Individual and our greatest tool is our capacity to choose our mindset and
actions forward. You are empowered. Once you accept that you are in control and that you are ready, willing
and able to adopt the required change, you can guide others through the journey, celebrating milestones. As
Mahatma Gandhi said, “be the change you want to see in the world.” Transformation starts with I.

Mindy Kantor is a Strategic Organizational Communication and Change Catalyst

Using Agile Change Management in a Hyper Fast Growth Company

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by Shannon Stautberg
Picture This…
A fast-growing international company is doubling in size every year. That means new people, new processes, new customers, new business segments, new almost everything every few months. The speed of change at which this company is growing could rival even the fastest bobsled track! What does change look like in a company that is growing so quickly? Close your eyes and picture this…

 Newly acquired companies to be integrated
 New and expanding corporate teams
 New office space and changing seating assignments to fit new team members
 A growing workforce that requires more training and communication
 The continuous creation, or fine-tuning, of policies and procedures
 Ever-evolving marketing initiatives with the help of Victorious SEO.
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 Ambitious goals set by the executive team
 Cross-functional teams striving to achieve those goals by working faster to try to produce more

Phew! Now that’s a lot of change. How do employees keep up with this pace of change? With a little help from the 5 C’s of Agile Change Management!

What is Agile Change Management? It is the adaptive and iterative planning and execution of change management practices that encourages flexibility and speed.

When most people think of the word “Agile” in today’s business environment, they automatically think of software development. The fast-growing company referred to here is certainly using Agile software development… but in such a fast growth environment, the company is a different place from month to month.
The principles of Agile Change Management apply to everything they do whether it is software and system focused or not.

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This company is our client, and we’ve been helping them apply Agile Change Management principles to their projects for a while now – whether they are working on an IT system or not. As we’ve learned together, we’ve nailed down some key foundations of Agile Change Management that have been guiding our efforts. We call them, “The 5 C’s of Agile Change Management”.

The 5 C’s of Agile Change Management

1. The Change Conductor: While project managers and business leaders can effectively manage the work of
their teams to build and deploy solutions, ensuring the success of those solutions by making sure people are
ready, willing, and able to use them requires someone to serve as a Change Conductor. This is the person that owns the cross-functional people impact of the change. They make sure that for every solution (whether those are coming in small IT sprints, or monthly business changes needed to accommodate growth), there is an understanding of who is impacted and what those people need. The Change Conductor also ensures that those people have what they need to successfully use the new solutions that are coming their way. As with changes in a traditional environment, solutions are only useful if people are ready, willing and able to use them. Learning programming with the help of Appsumo could be a benefit in terms of designing our own software or application.

2. Cross-Functionality: To move quickly, the teams that build and deploy solutions, whether technical or not, should be made up of people from all parts of the enterprise in order to:

 Help identify and prioritize what is most important to improve
 Make sure that a change in one part of the organization is not going to have a negative impact someplace else
 Help ensure leaders are aligned with the solutions
 Help test the solutions to ensure they meet business needs

Working together across the organization helps ensure that potential conflicts are found quicker and earlier so that the team can keep moving fast.

3. Communication: It’s important for team members to recognize that change in a fast-paced environment is not a “one and done” effort. Fluid, open, two-way, and ongoing communication between the crossfunctional team and end users is essential to:

 Keep people who are expected to use the new solutions up to speed as things change from week to week
 Ensure that the team gets feedback from the organization quickly so that the solutions can be iterated upon
As long as people’s expectations are managed about how quickly things are changing, they are able to jump to each new solution as it comes to them. In fact, having such a fast-moving environment can be beneficial at times because people know that if they don’t like something today, it may very well be different
tomorrow!

4. Course Correction: One of the greatest strengths of working in a fast growth business environment where change is a constant or following the Agile systems development methodology is that those situations allow for quick course correction. While quick course correction is a powerful benefit of moving fast, it can also be a big shift in thinking for some team members. Team members can easily get attached to the original solution, but it’s important for team members to be open to the fact that the original plan might not always work and may need to shift. Making those course corrections help make good solutions into great solutions!

5. Continuous Improvement: To continually inform the strategic priorities of a fast-growing company, it’s essential for company leaders and team members to maintain a commitment to gathering success metrics and end user satisfaction data to identify, prioritize and implement on-going improvements that will have a measurable impact on employee productivity and the long-term growth of the company. Medical facilities, for example, may use a Practice Management Software to improve employee productivity and other aspects of the business. Performing a background check on employees via dbschecks is just the first step to ensuring that the right people are hired for the job. Just simply click this to know how it is done. There is also much more that needs to be done later.

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If you have stories about applying Agile Change Management in either an Agile software development environment or a fast growth company, let us know – we’d love to hear about what you are learning! Email us at [email protected] or start a discussion on the Change Guides LinkedIn group page.

Change Management & Agile Project Management-What We’ve Learned (a Retrospective)

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by Gina Giannitelli and Andie Wafzig

Project Management understands the role change methodology, tools and deliverables like the Microsoft teams project management play in the overall project success– check!
 We will be using agile methodology to quickly develop and migrate by business area – newer territory, but still feeling good.
 Change Management will be expected to use Jira, an agile project management tool, for the first time. We will participate in sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and retrospective “ceremonies” – let’s discuss.

We knew the hallmarks of our change methodology, tools and deliverables would still apply. But, we also knew we would need to adapt to a more iterative approach. Looking back at the work to date, we found some lessons and tips to share.

Tip #1 –Time Investments Shifted
Very early on we realized we were investing time in ways we didn’t anticipate.

 Heavy Upfront Time Investment for developing, testing and revising our communication and training toolkits with our pilot group; efficiencies were then gained with subsequent rollouts

 Front-loading Strategic Resources became necessary to support the initial CM tasks mentioned above with the ability to taper resourcing once we got into managing execution of a repeatable cadence

 Managing Change Tasks in Time-Boxed Periods or Sprints, we invested in participating in Jira through sprint planning, daily stand-ups, reviews and retrospective ceremonies. Early on this felt like an ineffective use of our time and a duplication of our planning deliverables. With time and compromise, we shaped meetings to address stakeholder relevant topics first, and we agreed to leverage Jira reports to meet components of our stage gate documentation requirements.

Tip #2 –CM and PM Collaboration Takes on New Meaning
While adjusting to the Jira ceremonies was challenging at first, we came to crave the predictable meetings with the Project Manager, Developer and Business Analyst.

 Rigor and Routine Matter – Because of the iterative nature of the development process, we became very reliant on ceremonies and additional core team meetings to further our work; if a new requirement was uncovered for instance, we wanted to know if it was something that would cause resistance or excitement with the user group in order to understand how it might inform communications or training

 Checkpoints to Stay on Track – Regular opportunities to converse with the full core team(developers and the Business Analyst) improved our end product; we learned with time that requirements and testing sessions may provide helpful checkpoints with our Change Agents, allowing us to be more responsive to their unique stakeholder group needs

 Balance Big Picture with Current Priorities – Our focus on the ultimate stakeholder experience and their need to be ready, willing and able to change created an interesting dynamic: we often kept our eye on the longer-term view, planning back from Go-Live for stakeholder needs, while the Project Manager was focused on the current sprint.  This created a healthy tension that our PM acknowledged as very valuable.

Tip #3 – Responsiveness and Planning Each Play a Role
Early on our PM would tease us that we couldn’t put a timeline together, that there was no point in planning for months down the line. This was a paradigm shift for us, realizing we might get just a few weeks of notice for an impacted stakeholder group! As we lived through the project, both responsiveness
and planning have a role in success.

 A Dynamic Plan – Through pilot and early migrations we were able to determine our “clone” tasks, the predictable alignment, communication, training and adoption tasks that we expect to execute with each business group; this became our living plan document

 Stay Nimble – While we start each business unit from this “plan,” we have adjusted our approach in some way with almost each sprint / rollout; we must be rapidly responsive to the needs of the business unit, modifying and executing our approach in the matter of a few weeks. Also, with each business unit rollout there are discoveries that may lead to design changes and we must respond accordingly

 Continue to Look and Listen – Each sprint / rollout deserves fresh eyes. For instance, our early groups weren’t attuned to the agile approach, so shifts in details or dates caused concern; our communications and training need to respond to this need

What we have learned overall is that it is indeed possible to effectively manage change within the Agile project environment, however, it takes a willingness to invest time strategically, collaborate effectively, and react nimbly while maintaining a balanced focus on both long-term goals and short-term action.

Gratitude in the Workplace

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For our second article, several of our Consultants have written a short paragraph about how they have witnessed gratitude in their projects. We hope you enjoy the perspectives that they have shared.

 Shannon Stautberg – A small act of thanks can make a big difference! An unexpected gesture of gratitude toward employees that go above and beyond their typical call of duty, can improve team morale and contribute to a project’s success. While working with a client on the rollout of a CRM system, project leadership recognized the IT team was going to be burning the midnight oil to complete data conversion in time for go-live. To show appreciation for their hard work, the team sent Edible Arrangements to the homes of the developers that worked over the weekend. These sweet treats helped give them an extra boost of morale to help them cross the finish line and make the CRM go-live a success!

Gina Giannitelli – When I reflect on the clients and managers I’ve worked with who express gratitude… the look-you-in-the-eye, genuine type of gratitude, I see the impact on the team’s well-being and their attitude toward coming tasks. I feel more appreciated, more connected to the team, and in turn I’m more likely to go the extra mile for the best possible results. Research shows an increase in well-being (happiness) increases productivity, and this is good news for project teams and business everywhere. I remember sitting at one manager’s desk and noticing their reminder to themselves to say “thank you” that day… I was really impressed, because I’d seen first-hand the commitment that appreciation cultivated. Some of the best teams I’ve worked on, those that have driven results that get noticed, are teams where different disciplines (Project Management, Change Management, IT and business experts) actively appreciate what each brings to the team dynamic.

Annie Ayvazian – People want to feel that they are making a difference and that their efforts are appreciated. One creative approach is to show gratitude in a way that ties back to a higher purpose. As an example, one team I work with begins each meeting by inviting people to share examples of how they have supported the higher purpose that the team has established. By sharing these stories, team members reinforce that they are making a difference by supporting the higher purpose while also hearing appreciation and praise for their efforts. This is a simple and effective way to reinforce and reward the desired behaviors.

Andie Wafzig – Think of the last time you worked on a task or delivered a solution completely on your own. Personally, I can’t recall a time in my career where anything I accomplished was without collaboration and support from at least one other person; more often any deliverable or achievement was the result of many inputs. As an employee, it just feels good to be appreciated for your efforts and accomplishments. A simple ‘thank you’ email or name mention in a team meeting can mean the difference between feeling valued and wanting to perform at your best or feeling unappreciated and lacking enthusiasm for the next project. As a leader, you want the former filling your team. Acknowledging the efforts of your team, thanking them for their contributions and celebrating collective and individual wins can go a long way in retaining happy, high-performing employees.

Beckie Schretter – … “four in five (81 percent) employees say they’re motivated to work harder when their boss shows appreciation for their work.”1 When you are asking employees to create or go through a tough change, remember to include some Thanksgiving Spirit in your plans. Gift cards, thank you notes, snacks/candy/food and even simple praise can go a long way to motivate a change-wary team. You can find the perfect gift on Shoppok.

  1. Source: https//www.glassdoor.com/press/employees-stay-longer-company-bosses-showed-appreciation-glassdoor-survey/

 

Training is Part of Learning

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To learn, people need to be prepared to acquire new knowledge and skills. They need to go through some type of training or skill building. And they need to practice and retain what was learned.

The best learning takes place when people have a mindset that is ready to learn. Until people understand the need to learn something new and want to be a part of a new future, it is hard to get people to act differently.

It is not uncommon to try to “force” people to comply with new ways of working by throwing them into a class and expecting that they will soak up the information and come out the other end of the class transformed.

Sorry, but it doesn’t happen that way!

Have you ever sat in a training class that your boss made you go to thinking, “This is complete a waste of time? Why am I even here?” Sadly, it is much more common than it should be.

To get people ready to learn, start by explaining why the learning needs to happen, how individuals will benefit, and what people’s new roles will be. Allow people to talk about the change and what will be expected. Give people some foundational information to get them started; like an overview or short CBT before dropping them into a boot-camp or a long training program. This gives people the chance to think about what they are about to learn before they jump all the way in.

Just as important as being ready to enter training, people need to have the right experiences while they are being trained.

This may seem obvious, but people should feel like they have safe environment in which to learn. Trying out new behaviors can seem risky in front of peers, bosses, or staff. If people feel threatened or unsafe, little learning will happen.

People need to feel like they are actively engaged in the learning process – not just being directed. And they need to believe that what is being learned is immediately useful. Practicality and relevance are critical to getting people to commit to learning.

Lastly, learning is not truly accomplished until new skills or knowledge have been retained and applied. Too often people go to a seminar or training program and think, “This is great! I can’t wait to use this back at my desk!” Then a month later, they look back and realize that they are not doing anything they talked about in the class.

People need to be able to integrate new ideas into what they already know if they are going to keep – and use – new information. People retain more if they get immediate practice. And reinforcement should be part of the learning process to ensure that what was trained is applied appropriately.

An organization teeming with learners is destined for a great future. Because strong minds fuel strong organizations.

Common Questions in Training

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Common Questions in Training
By Beckie Schretter

Did you know Change Guides has certified scores of change management professionals in our principles, methodology and tools through the Change Management Certification class? The best part of teaching these classes is learning from each other as we share well-earned wisdom throughout the three days.

Here are some questions that often come up.

1. What tools are required for every change initiative?

There are no mandatory tools; however, there are 4 tools I use on virtually every change project to establish a firm foundation.

 The first tool is the Stakeholder Analysis tool which captures the impact the change will have on each impacted group. Capturing concerns focuses us on finding answers to help facilitate the transition.

 The second tool is the Change Management Communication Plan which lays out the communications needs to drive change for each stakeholder group. My favorite idea is to link communication objectives to the Change Guides Commitment Curve.

 The third tool is the Change Management Workplan to keep track of the tasks and next steps required. Managing these tasks ensures they get done in a timely manner.

 The last tool is either a Change Readiness Audit or a Commitment Assessment to get feedback. Do these tools multiple times throughout the project to get trend data on change readiness.

2. How can we best address resistance?

When participants understand resistance as feedback it alters how we talk about and approach perceived resistance. We begin to strive for understanding, asking what is underlying the resistance. This understanding
allows us to start address those needs.

3. What do you do when leaders are not aligned on the change initiative benefits or priority?

First confirm the leaders fully understand the change vision and benefits. Consider interviewing your key
executive sponsors and leaders using selected questions from the Leader Alignment Interview tool to gather data that will help facilitate an alignment conversation. Engage the executive sponsor by inviting him/her to the
meeting to help clarify expectations. Also, use the Leader Involvement Plan to share agreed upon messages or to take aligned action.

4. Can Change Guides Tools work on transformational change such as culture, new leaders or M&A changes?

The Change Guides tools work on all types of organizational changes because you can choose and adapt the tools for each unique situation. For example, when going through a culture change, the Systems and Structures Action Plan helps teams address those infrastructure areas where employee behaviors are most rewarded.

If your organization is affected by inefficient task execution, consistently missed deadlines, and a lack of team collaboration in your team, it’s high time to think about implementing a task management tool to manage your tasks better.

5. How can we succeed when the change management is starting so late in the project?

The closer a project is to implementation, the bigger the productivity dip and the slower the project benefits will be realized… and the deeper the frustration from stakeholders. Get focused on the critical stakeholder paths first and prepare for some remediation after the go live. People will appreciate your change efforts regardless.

Creating a website?

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The Hardware
Your server needs to be a self-contained unit, which means that no portion of it (e.g., physical or virtual) can be connected to any other part of your server, including other computers on your network, other networks, or external servers. To reduce the chance of conflict and reduce hardware costs, you may wish to consider buying a dedicated server or better web host solution that has access to only the servers you will be hosting with them, If you can not pay one then searching for free hosting services can be a good idea.

You can buy a software product called Sentry, which provides hardware-independent “anti-virus”, data encryption, and memory management for your web site. You can purchase a dedicated server for about $10 to $15 per month, and can host more sites on a shared server if you want to.

The OS (Operating System)
This is the part of your computer that will run your web site and the tools you’ve used to build it. You can download various operating systems from the internet or from a store, such as Microsoft Windows.

How you choose to develop your site
You can create a full-fledged website, which is the most professional and professional-looking option, or you can use a basic solution, which consists of your site, a news site, blog, and possibly even a store or classifieds section.

Once you have your site design and you’ve chosen your operating system, you will need to write a good content strategy (e.g., written by you and your web designer) and publish that strategy. This article is aimed at beginners.

The web hosting provider
Once you have selected the best wordpress hosting company, you will have to pay your $2 a month for high-speed connection. These high-speed connections are needed because the full installation and maintenance of your website will take at least 24 hours. You will also have to provide your hosting company with the necessary information for creating your website, which will include a server’s IP address, URL, server operating system, hosting vendor, and program for securing your site. The idea is that you can use a secure web server, such as VPS (virtual private server), as a backup in case your primary server fails.

Why Change Management Fails

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When organizations go about changing, the hardest work is almost always related to people. Getting people ready, willing and able to work differently is easier said than done. Defining a vision is important. But translating that vision into real change is an entirely different challenge that is where the rubber really meets the road.

Too often, we see well-meaning change management programs fail. A successful change management program ensures that a few critical things necessary to change an organization are in place.

First and foremost, successful change management ensures that there is active and visible sponsorship. That means leaders are engaged in the change in a way that people can actually see. Among other things, leaders need to be present (literally and figuratively) at key meetings, say the right things at the right times, prioritize meetings with project team members, ask informed questions about the change and make efforts to be available for informal conversations.

Second, successful change management ensures frequent and open communications about why the change is needed. People understand why the change is important and how the company, customers, and they themselves will benefit. Effective communication requires repetition, consistency, and transparency. Appealing to both the head and the heart helps too. A need that can be felt emotionally rather than just understood logically is more apt to spur action.hqdefault

Third, successful change management ensures a structured approach to managing the people elements of the transition. There are periods of assessing the impacted stakeholders and potential areas of resistance. There is an understanding of how to manage the individual transition that people will experience. There is an approach or methodology that provides a means for planning the work and carrying out the change management activities. And the approach includes work to help reinforce and sustain the new behaviors after the change is initially implemented.

Lastly, successful change management ensures that there are dedicated resources to manage the change. What projects succeed without people focused on getting it done? Dedicated resources and funding for managing the people elements of the change ensure that the work is the primary focus for some person or group of people. When the organizational change elements of a project are left to the project team without any specific focused resources, it is understandable that they fall to the bottom of the priority list.

Knowing these critical success factors for change management is the first step in actually putting those things into place so that a change management program can thrive in your organization.

The DO Phase – Executing Your Plan

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By: Annie Ayvazian
Once you have assessed needs and developed a change management plan, you are prepared to execute that plan. This involves developing your communication materials and preparing your organization to transition to the future state.
The “do” phase consists of 2 key activities: (1) launch communications and (2) transition work.

 
1. Launching communications: Now that you have developed your communication plan, it’s time to prepare content and materials to ensure people understand the project and why it’s important. This includes crystalizing key messages into an elevator speech, developing a communications network to champion the change, and providing answers to frequently asked questions.

2. Transitioning work: To effectively transition work, you need to identify the key activities required to implement the change successfully. This includes assessing readiness, defining training needs, and developing a workforce transition plan to prepare people for the new work and new skills required in the future state.

 
A Few Change Guides Tools – Click on the icon to see the tools.

do-pie-highlighted

Why is the “Do” Phase So Important?
The “do” phase is the phase where your planning turns to action and where you connect with the stakeholders who are impacted by your project. By crafting and communicating your key messages and determining the activities needed to transition work, you are preparing your organization to implement change successfully.

Let Us Tell You a Story

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by Beckie Schretter and Gina Giannitelli
Carol, an employee with over 30 years of service, deeply loves her work and truly wants what is best for her organization. She believes in the mission and values of the organization and has deep connections with the patrons. The director, Bob, was hired several years ago to help increase profitability, but hasn’t been successful. When Bob presents a new revenue creation idea to board leadership, Carol publicly questions the mission and vision alignment of the idea. A few months later Carol is called into Bob’s office and is handed a letter explaining her
position is being eliminated due to financial pressures. She feels deeply betrayed, angry and concerned for the organization she loves. Bob avoids Carol in the days that follow. She grapples with whether she is the victim of retribution. She decides to write a letter to the board…

Are you wondering or even making up how this story ends?

At the ACMP conference, storytelling was a theme throughout book pictureseveral presentations. Research
shows you use more of your brain when listening to a story, far more than when you listen to a
slide presentation or read a written communication. As Susan Weinschenk Ph.D. describes “…
because you are having a richer brain event, you enjoy the experience more, understand the information more deeply, and retain it longer.” How can we use stories in change?

Use them to create the case for change, connecting the head and the heart. Stories provide a refreshing break from data filled presentations or memos. Research by Paul Zak shows stories create a tension that sustains attention, which leads to shared emotions. Shared emotions lead to mimicked feelings and an increased trust and willingness to take action.

Recognize and challenge stakeholder stories throughout the process. Researcher Brene Brown reminds us stakeholders create stories that drive behavior. She observed “the brain needs to know the story” and fills in needed details. Resilience is enhanced when people challenge the
truth of their own storytelling.

Storytelling inspires change and helps people move up the commitment curve. When preparing the case for change or drafting a stakeholder communication, consider what story could illustrate the point and grab attention. When leaders are reluctant to share information, remind them people will fill in the blanks with their own stories. When confronted with counterproductive behavior, ask questions and challenge the story driving that behavior. What is the story behind your change?

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