change management

Wake Up Rip Van Winkle

There are moments when I feel like Rip Van Winkle waking up from a long winter’s nap and questioning if COVID really happened or was it only a bad dream?

How could something come along so quickly that threatened our lives and livelihood, caused us to question if we would ever feel safe again, force us to make changes we didn’t choose, and then appear to leave us just as quickly?

Is it true that one minute I was on a cruise ship sailing around Australia, and the next I was scrambling to jump on the last flight out as Australia completely closed down and praying to get home before all US flights were grounded?

Did my husband and I really not go out of our house for months only to contact COVID from our four-year-old granddaughter and survive, when so many our age didn’t?

Riding the Roller Coaster of Unexpected Change — Part I

The Transitions Curve Model is commonly used to illustrate the different phases –and emotions- we experience as we move through the transition process that is triggered by change.

Change is an event. Transition is the process of adapting to what is different because of the change.

Transition is triggered by an ending. Something we once had we no longer do. A way of living, thinking, and/or feeling has changed – and changed us in the process.

This may or may not be a change for the better. If we didn’t choose to make the change, we aren’t likely to believe it is a good change. But, even when we choose to change, there is still no guarantee that the choice we’ve made will bring us what we expected. Either way, we still experience a time of transition until we accept what has ended and embrace what is new.

Riding the Roller Coaster of Unexpected Change — Part II

From the moment you realize change is inevitable to the moment you begin to feel comfortable again, you experience an in-between and uncomfortable time of transition. For a time, you’re carrying both the weight of the past and uncertainty about the future. It may feel like a huge stone tied to your back, making it difficult to move forward.

There will be moments when you feel exhilarated about new opportunities change creates. And then, there will be moments filled with fear about what lies before you that makes it difficult to keep going.

As you begin walking a different path, you will likely encounter obstacles to overcome, barriers to breakthrough and challenges that could make you consider running back to the world you left behind. But, there is no ‘going back’ to go back to. Every change you experience changes you. You are not the person you use to be and you are not yet the person you have the potential to become.

There are actions you can take during this in-between time to make your roller coaster ride through transition triggered by unexpected change a little smoother:

A Manager’s Guide to Managing Change: Checklist For Success (Step I)

***Is your project on the path to success or to become one of the many that fail to achieve the expected benefits?***

The lessons I’ve learned, from the past twenty-five years of working with senior leadership of Fortune 500 corporations to prepare for enterprise-wide change, can help you avoid mistakes that can prevent your change initiative from succeeding.

There are six critical requirements for success:

Shared Vision
Understanding of the Full Impact to the Organization
Effective Stakeholder Engagement
Clear, Consistent and Continual Communication
Adequate Preparation
A Plan to Sustain

We will focus on one requirement in each of the next six blogs as a step you can take to minimize resistance, increase readiness, and realize the benefits of a successful change initiative. Together, they can serve as a checklist to evaluate the current status of your project.

A Manager’s Guide to Managing Change: Assessing Impact (Step II)

***Is your project on the path to success or to becoming one of the many that fail to achieve the expected benefits?***

Step One, Shared Vision, was the focus of my previous article. We will now shift our focus to Step Two: Understanding the Full Change Impact to the Organization

Have you identified the degree and type of changes required to realize your project’s benefits?

If not, how can people be prepared when you haven’t determined what type of change to prepare them for?

There is no such thing as a “small” change. Change has a ripple effect that is often underestimated. A change in technology will require a change in process that will affect how and where work is done.

A Manager’s Guide to Managing Change: Checklist for Success (Step III)

Effectively Engaging Stakeholders

The third step on the path to success is to effectively engage stakeholders. A stakeholder is anyone who will experience change because of your project or who has the ability to influence the outcome of your project. The keywords here are impact and influence.

The Impact Assessment, described in Step 2, is a tool to identify the type and degree of change and the areas and individuals affected. You can identify the high influence stakeholders by asking who has the power – whether formal or informal – to prevent your project from achieving success. Your Stakeholder Engagement Plan established the timeline, defines key objectives and describes the approach to involving the high impact/high influence stakeholders throughout the project.

Communication alone is not sufficient to achieve the level of support and preparation high impact/high influence stakeholders require for your project to be successful. Engaging the right stakeholders at the right time in the right way creates an opportunity for them to take ownership of the outcome. They become part of what is happening instead of an observer or a victim of what will be different. We are less likely to resist what we have a voice in creating.

Changing The Way, You Think About You: How to Rethink Your Way To A Happier Life

by Rita Burgett-Martell

Here’s a quiz to help you identify behaviors that may be undermining your self-confidence and preventing you from living the life you desire. Respond with a simple “yes” or “no” answer to each statement and then tally up the number of yeses.

1. I often compare myself to others.

2. I make decisions based on what others tell me I should do.

3. I would have to honestly say I sometimes take my family for granted.

4. I find myself thinking more about the past or worrying more about the future instead of focusing on what’s happening in the present moment.

5. I often give up on my goals when things aren’t going my way.

6. I believe that if I do something less than perfectly, I’ve failed.

7. I play it safe. Taking risks is not for me.

8. I sometimes believe I will never fall in love, and if I do it won’t last.

9. I used to dream about the life I wanted, but not anymore. Dreams are a waste of time.

10. I’m always rushing to get things done and seldom have time to “smell the roses.”

Did you respond with “yes – that describes me” – to more than 2 or 3? It’s ok if you did because there’s no pass or fail. The purpose of the quiz is to increase your awareness of thoughts and behaviors you can change that will make a positive difference in how you see yourself and react to those around you.

The quiz is based on one of my favorite poems by Nancye Sims called “A Creed to Live By.” I’m including it below, followed by a modified version that exams each statement and thoughts triggered for me that changed my thinking and put me on the path to experience a more fulfilling life. I hope they will help you as well.

Second Chances

by Rita Burgett-Martell

“It’s never too late to become what you might have been.”
George Eliot

When Joe’s manager began the conversation by saying: “I want you to know how grateful we are for your twenty years of valuable service to our company,” Joe expected to hear that he was being promoted, or at least receiving a pay increase. After all, his performance reviews had never been less than stellar.it came as a shock when what he heard next was: “our company is moving in a new direction and unfortunately your skills aren’t the skills we need. We wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.”

It was a defining moment when Joe realized that doing a good job no longer guarantees that you’ll keep your job.

How To Be A Leader People Want To Follow

by Rita Burgett-Martell

“The days of Command and Control are over. Today’s leaders must Trust and Inspire their employees to be trusted as leaders.”
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I was a shy sixteen years old, afraid of my own shadow, the summer I worked as a Nurse’s Aide at our local hospital. The Director of Nursing was a strong loud woman that I found very intimidating. Whenever I saw her coming I would turn and go the other direction, or look for someplace to hide.

One day she stopped beside me, put her arm around my shoulder, and said: “I want you to look at my shoes.”

I immediately thought there must be something wrong with my shoes. They were the wrong kind. They weren’t as white as hers. They weren’t laced up correctly. I was literally “shaking in my shoes,” expecting to be criticized or reprimanded. Instead, her words taught me a valuable lesson in leadership that has served me well in my career.

If Only “They” Would Change

“Be thankful for the difficult people in your life and learn from them.
They have shown you exactly who you do not want to be.”

I always begin my change management workshops by asking each participant what they hope to learn. “I’m here to learn how to change my boss because he really needs to change,” one woman responded. She literally thought the workshop was about how to change management instead of how to manage change.

When life isn’t going our way, it’s easy to get caught up in the blame game and fall into the trap of thinking that if only someone else would change, our problem would be solved.

If only…

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Effectively Engaging Stakeholders

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