Staying on Top of the Change Process

Engaging workplace change can be an unpredictable experience because processes and people evolve in diverse ways as they undergo change. No two individuals will respond in exactly the same way to workplace changes. In the same way, identical changes implemented in multiple areas of an organization can produce distinctly different outcomes. These tips show you how to stay on top of the change engagement process by thoroughly preparing for it, while allowing for various outcomes. These tips allow you to take a structured approach to organizational change and still maintain flexibility.
 
Motivation for Change
Change begins at the point where the organization finds a motivation for change. Sometimes external issues drive the change, like reorganizations, management changes, relocations, or acquisitions/mergers. Other times, internal forces such as upgraded technology, expansions and growth, or continuous improvement drive the change.
 
Analyze the Situation
As the organization becomes progressively more motivated to change, leadership undertakes a thorough analysis of the risks and opportunities associated with the proposed change:

• What are the potential gains in undertaking the change?
• What are the costs?
• What are the risks of making the change?
• What are the risks of not making the change?

 
Plan the Direction
Once an organization determines that opportunities outweigh the risks of making the change, it develops a plan for change implementation. Many organizational change initiatives fail because of lack of careful, thorough planning. In this step, the stage is set for the ultimate success or failure of the change. Key elements of the plan must include:

• Planning for the impact of the change on individuals who will be most affected.
• Planning for the impact of the change on the systems within the organization that will be most affected.
• A step-by-step plan for integrating the change into the organization.
• A review plan to measure the success of the proposed change.

 
Implement the Change
Depending on the type and scope of the change, implementation within the organization may be gradual or abrupt. Changes such as layoffs or acquisitions often are implemented with little prior warning; while staffing, reorganization, or technology changes may be phased in over a period of time. The team's most critical role in this step of the change process is to maintain open, honest lines of communication with each other.

• Define individual responsibilities.
• Announce and launch the change.
• Adhere to timetables.
• Promote the anticipated benefits of the change.

 
Review the Direction
Once the change has been implemented in the organization, you should monitor the outcomes of the new structure and system. As team members in a changing work environment, you can't assume that the change will evolve exactly as planned or that every individual affected by the change will react as anticipated. Your role is to observe review checkpoints that will reveal whether the change is working as anticipated and is producing the desired results.

• Establish ways of measuring results.
• Communicate criteria for successful change outcomes.
• Coordinate the gathering and measuring of change effects.
• Inform key team members consistently during the review process.

 
Adopt
When you have reviewed the change implementation and found it to be succeeding as planned, the organization adopts the change and it becomes part of the new organizational norm. The review process is not terminated, but it transitions to the ongoing monitoring of the changed systems and relationships within the organization.

• How well is the change meeting planned outcomes?
• How well have I adjusted to the new status quo?
• What aspects of the change have not met expectations?
• What is my role in making those aspects more successful?

 
Adjust
If the review process concluded that the change is not working as planned, you should adjust the change implementation. Assuming that the organization executed the change analysis and plan accurately, you should be able to adjust the implementation of the organizational change to achieve your desired results.

• Determine where the outcomes are falling short of your plan.
• Engage key individuals in determining adjustments that need to be made.
• Keep the lines of communication open with everyone involved.
• Make adjustments to the review process and to the change implementation. 

 

Improving Workflow and Processes in the Workplace

Fact Finding

Often a major challenge in determining if and how to make improvements is to conduct effective fact-finding. In some cases, this could take weeks or even months of painstaking research. Especially under today's market pressure, organizations often take less time than they should to get accurate, reliable information. People often cloud facts with opinions or feelings, which makes it more likely they focus on people issues instead of process issues. There are some steps, however, you can take to ensure successful fact finding.

Get all the facts: "All" is a short word, but it carries a lot of weight. To get all the facts, you need to directly observe. You need to go to an actual place, meet with the actual people, and watch the actual processes. Differentiate facts from opinions. Acknowledge people's opinions, frustrations, and feelings, and then ask how they can substantiate their positions. Review other sources of information like reports, test results, productivity data, etc.

Analyze the facts: Check for accuracy. Does information from different sources seem to be contradictory? Determine if there is information you still need. It's easier to see mistakes in something present than to identify information that is missing. Take a deeper look to determine what the facts mean. Try to identify root causes of problems. Review all the facts with key people, inside and outside the system. Based on the analysis, create a problem statement that clearly identifies the improvement to be made.

Come to a decision: Identify the key people who will need to be responsible, informed, consulted, or otherwise engaged in making changes. These people should probably be involved in gathering and analyzing facts as well. Get a consensus on specific decisions and action steps. People support a world they help create, so consult your team on assigning responsibilities and get your team to agree on when the steps will be completed.

Once a decision is reached, act! Get into action. It's all too common to become overwhelmed with the next crisis or next assignment and quickly lose focus on implementing new ideas. Don't lose the momentum. If people have invested time and energy in this initiative, reward them by making it happen quickly.

The Coaching Process

Coaching is a major responsibility for every manager, and for many people, it can be a major challenge. Managers need to be able to maintain performance standards, be certain people are following policies and procedures, and hit individual and team targets through other people.

Step One: Identify the Opportunity

There are five ways to identify opportunities.

1. You identify an opportunity for another person.
2. An individual identifies an opportunity for themselves.
3. A customer, vendor, or other outsider identifies an opportunity.
4. You identify new skills needed within your team.
5. A situation creates an opportunity.

These different opportunities may arise due to a new need or out of taking on a new job or project that requires a new skill, or they may come out of a performance review or be identified after a mistake occurs.

Multiple opportunities arise for people on your team, and it is your job as a manager to prioritize those needs to keep others on your team from getting overwhelmed by the possibilities.

Jot down some opportunities that you see for yourself or for others in your workplace. Are you the right person to point out these needs? What is the best way to do so?

Step Two: Picture the Desired Outcome

Once the opportunity is identified, it is important to take the time and pinpoint what the situation will look like when the gap is filled. This is the step that many people skip or don't develop fully, which can lead to confusion, misunderstanding, and frustration for everyone.

One of the most important concepts in coaching is having a vision or end goal in mind. Without that, people often lose sight of the importance of making the needed changes. How we create this picture of what is possible is the central component of this step in the coaching process.

People with a clear vision of the end result of coaching tend to move in that direction more quickly than those without. It is crucial that both the coach and the trainee own the goal. Without that sense of ownership, coach or trainee may lose motivation. We focus on motivation and buy-in even more in the next step of the process, but this is where direction and motivation really begin.

Step Three: Establish the Right Attitudes

How well you really know your team may determine how quickly you know if you have the right trainee for the job and are able to gauge their motivation. This step is a critical part of the process of effective coaching. Without it, you spend a great deal of your time just overcoming resistance.

You often hear that people resist change. It isn't true. People resist being changed when they:

• Don't see the need
• Don't want to do it
• Believe that the change is not possible for them

In this step, you should focus on some of the skills required to cut resistance and move through the coaching process with less friction. These skills are:

• Leadership
• Communication
• Building trust
• Getting commitment vs. compliance

Step Four: Provide the Resources

In order for a coaching process to be successful, it is important the appropriate resources available. This includes time and, most importantly, a personal commitment to succeed from everyone. Other resources may include money, equipment, training, information, and upper level buy-in and support.

Ensure that the appropriate resources are in place and available. Nothing is as frustrating as being promised something and then not getting it. It can make everyone feel like they have been set up to fail.

Step Five: Practice & Skill Development

Once the resources are in place and the correct skill set has been identified, explained, and demonstrated, it is now time for the trainee to practice and apply what has been learned. For knowledge to evolve into a skill, you must practice it and perfect the skill with the help of a coach, who can ensure that you are practicing the new skill and not the old habit.

Practice also allows the coach to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement.

• How to encourage others to success
• How closely to monitor and when to let go
• How to hold others accountable for progress

Step Six: Reinforce Progress

Making progress is one thing, but without a way to reinforce and maintain it, people may quickly go back to their old habits. One of the biggest fallacies managers hold on to is the assumption that if people know something, they will do it. People don't do what they know; they do what they have always done.

Try to use these strategies to reinforce learned skills:

• Empowering people to get results after they have learned new skills
• Giving the right kind of feedback
• Following up
• Handling nonperformance issues
• Handling mistakes and people who get off track

Step Seven: Reward

One of the best ways to cement growth and progress is to reward it. Rewarded behavior is repeated, and what gets repeated becomes habit.

But change can be uncomfortable. That is why people often revert to their habits if reinforcement and reward are not motivating forces. Habit is stronger than knowledge. To ensure that change happens quickly and is kept in place as long as needed, celebration and reward are important.

Some of the skills you put into coaching in this step of the process are:

• Praise and recognition
• Positive feedback techniques
• Recognizing people's strengths and accomplishments
• Having the right credibility and impact in the delivery

Is the Dale Carnegie Course right for you or someone you know?

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Building Trust Through Conflict

Ironically, you have an opportunity to take a relationship to a higher level of trust after a conflict situation.  Think of a time when your car had to be returned to the dealer for repair.  You may have been frustrated and annoyed by the situation.  If the auto dealer handled the situation successfully, we will choose that dealer over another in the future.  You trust that they will come through, even if there is an issue.  In order to rise to that level of trust in conflict situations, you must be able to:

Adapt

Nothing is more irritating than being in conflict with another person who is rigidly adhering to their set of rules and unwilling to adapt to the particular situation.  Be willing to look at the situation objectively and let go of resentment, bias, and inflexible thinking.

Keep the Relationship Warm

Just because you are coming from opposite viewpoints, you don’t have to treat each other coldly or rudely.  That only deepens the resentment in the conflict situation.  Try to continue to connect on a human level with the other person.

Listen to Values

Sometimes a conflict situation gets bogged down in petty details.  If you can focus on the values of the other person and look for shared values, you can often find a way to resolve the conflict. 

Act on What You Hear

If another person has an issue with you and feels strongly enough about it to express it, it is your responsibility as a professional to act on that communication.  You show your good faith in trying to bring the conflict to a mutually acceptable resolution.

Follow Up

You can’t simply walk away from a conflict situation and expect that everything is resolved.  People need time to cool off and process solutions.  Follow up with the other person and check to see that you have moved beyond the conflict in your relationship.

Be Willing to Change Yourself

How can you expect other to change if you can’t change yourself?  Someone once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, but expecting different results.  To put the conflict behind you permanently, you have to demonstrate that you are doing your best to change.

"Person to Person": Warren Buffett

(CBS News) 
Warren Buffett is one of the richest men in the world. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns or has a stake in over 70 businesses such as Coca Cola, IBM, and American Express. But this is no ordinary billionaire. He's giving 99 percent of his wealth to charity and he thinks rich people should pay higher taxes. 

"Person to Person" take you to where Buffett's mega deals are done. His private office in Omaha, Neb., is as unconventional as the man himself. 


 Go here for the story

Participating in Teams during Change

One way you can contribute to your team during change is to keep your attitudes positive and focused. These principles give you direction in keeping your attitude centered on team success.

Support each other
During periods of change, you sometimes feel like you are on a tightrope without a net. Even though other members of the team may be experiencing the same change, you tend to feel isolated and alone during organizational change. Make a commitment to express support to everyone else on the team, and let them know that the whole team is in this effort together. If you give unconditional support to your fellow team members, you will receive support in return.

Communicate expectations
The best way to break out of isolation is to communicate openly, honestly, and often. What are your expectations of each other as a team? What are your expectations of the team effort and the results that you can produce? Commit to discussing these expectations and applying the highest levels of listening to one another. In this way, all members of the team can unite in a common purpose.

Have fun
Let's face it. Sometimes you take yourself a little too seriously. Sure, you are engaged in serious, demanding team efforts during periods of organizational change, but teamwork at its highest level is fast-paced, engaging, and fun. Many of us feel that the most exciting and rewarding efforts in our work are team efforts. Let's make a commitment to make teamwork during change enjoyable and fun, rather than dreary and dull.

Find efficiencies
One of the advantages of working on a team is that you can capitalize on the individual strengths of your team members. You don't have to do everything or even know everything when you are on a team. Focus on utilizing individual team members' skills, experience, and abilities to achieve a high level of team efficiency and accomplishment.

Build competitive team spirit
You can take tremendous pride in being a member of high-achieving teams. As you set and achieve goals, why not compete with each other and push each other and the team to an ever-higher level of performance? When you tap into your competitive spirit, you unite as a team and reach higher levels of success.

Think big
Maybe the changes that you are undergoing as a team will be the best thing that ever happened to each of you. Maybe you will come through the change so successfully that you will achieve team recognition. Instead of viewing yourselves as merely surviving the change, think big and imagine the organizational change as a springboard to greater individual and team success.

Six Steps to Writing a Thank You Note – Holiday Edition

Writing a sincere thank you note is one of the professional skills that can make a lasting favorable impression. People like being appreciated. One of Dale Carnegie’s fundamental human relation principles is “Give honest, sincere appreciation.” When writing a thank you note, use a plain, small card. However, the card is not as important as the effort, so if paper is all that is available, write the note anyway! Use this 6-step formula as a sure-fire method of expressing appreciation in a written note.

1. Greet the Giver: Dear Mr. and Mrs. Smith OR Dear Jamie. It seems like an obvious point, yet many people will begin a note with “Hi” or even omit the greeting.

2. Express Gratitude: Thank you so much for the book. The key is to keep it simple and specific. The point of writing the note is to create an expression of a heartfelt sentiment.

3. Discuss Use: I started to read the book immediately and have found many great ideas already. People like to know that you found their gesture or gift valuable. Sharing how you are using the item or idea makes their effort more meaningful.

4. Another Thank You: Thank them again for the gift. It’s not excessive to say thanks again.

5. Complimentary Close: Wrap it up with a close that expresses your final thought: Regards, All the Best, Sincerely, Gratefully, etc. Then sign your name.

6. Send It: Even if your colleagues and acquaintances are not of the note-writing variety, be the one who sets the precedent.

It is the mark of a true professional to become skilled at writing thank you notes in this age of email, voicemail, and text messaging.

Demonstrating business professionalism is not difficult; it just takes effort and focus. Applying simple aspects of business etiquette goes a long way in establishing our professionalism, which builds our confidence and comfort in business settings.

Twelve Tips to All-Win Negotiations

Negotiating is the process of attempting to agree on a solution. Compromising, or settling on a mutually agreeable solution, is the result of successful negotiations. Compromise is all about being flexible. It means being able to generate alternate solutions when you've "hit the wall." Whether it involves a person you can't get along with, an idea you know will work but that others are reluctant to embrace, a change in office systems, or a turf war that needs ending, learning to negotiate and compromise is essential to your success.

1) Have a positive attitude.

Your attitude is essential to the outcome. You improve your chance of achieving a mutually rewarding solution if you approach the negotiation as an opportunity to learn and achieve an all-win outcome.

2) Meet on mutual ground.

Find a mutually agreeable and convenient physical space to meet that is comfortable for all involved. Agree on when you will meet and how much time is available to devote to the process. Whenever possible, deal with negotiations face-to-face. Be careful about negotiating over the phone or in e-mail. A lack of facial expressions, vocal intonation, and other cues can result in a negotiation breakdown.

3) Clearly define and agree on the issue.

Agree on a statement of the issue using simple and factual terms. If the situation is multifaceted, search for ways to slice the large issue into smaller pieces and deal with one issue at a time.

4) Do your homework.

Take time to plan. You must not only know what is at stake for yourself, but you need to know the other side's concerns and motivation. Take into consideration any history or past situations that might affect the negotiations. Know the must-haves (non-negotiable items) and nice-to-haves (negotiable items). Determine the best resolution, a fair and reasonable compromise, and a minimally acceptable deal.

5) Take an honest inventory of yourself.

Determine your level of trust in the other person and the process. Be conscious of aspects of your personality that can help or hinder the process.

6) Look for shared interests.

Get on the same side by finding and establishing similarities. Since conflict tends to magnify perceived differences and minimize similarities, look for common goals, objectives, or even gripes that can illustrate that you are in this together. Focus on the future, talk about what needs to be done, and tackle the problem jointly.

7) Deal with facts, not emotions.

Address problems, not personalities. Avoid any tendency to attack the other person or to pass judgment on his or her ideas and opinions. Avoid focusing on the past or blaming the other person. Maintain a rational, goal-oriented frame of mind. This will depersonalize the conflict, separate the issues from the people involved, and avoid defensiveness.

8) Be honest.

Don't play games. Be honest and clear about what is important to you and communicate why your goals, issues, and objectives are important to you.

9) Present alternatives and provide evidence.

Create options and alternatives that demonstrate willingness to compromise. Consider conceding in areas that might have high value to the other person but are not that important to you. Frame options in terms of the other person's interests and provide evidence for your point of view.

10) Be an expert communicator.

Nothing shows determination to find a mutually satisfactory resolution to conflict more than applying excellent communication skills. Ask questions, listen, rephrase what you heard to check for understanding, and take a genuine interest in the other side's concerns. Reduce tension through humor, let others vent their concerns, and acknowledge their views. Focus less on your position and more on ways in which you can move toward a resolution or compromise.

11) End on a good note.

Make an all-win proposal and check to make sure that everyone involved leaves the situation feeling they have won. Shake on it and agree on the action steps: who is responsible for each step, how success will be measured, and how and when the decision will be evaluated. Be open to accepting an impasse for noncritical issues; agree to disagree.

12) Enjoy the process.

Look at the benefits of learning other people's point of view. People report that after overcoming conflict and reaching an agreement, the relationship grew even stronger. Reflect and learn from each negotiation. Determine the criteria to evaluate the process and the solution.