FountainBlue's March 5 Front Line Managers' Online meeting was on the topic of 'Change Management Best Practices'. My thanks also to our panelists for their participation. Our panelists were certainly experienced prior to the pandemic, but the events of 2020 and the resulting changes have made them more adept, more courageous, more gracious in the face of change.
They agreed that when dealing with change, be bold about what to do, courageous about how to do it, gentle with yourself as you manage through it, open-minded about how to repeat the cycle. Below is a summary of other suggestions and recommendations around change management.
Be the Best YOU you can be
Be courageous, strategic and humble enough to pivot through the changes, knowledgeable and connected enough to be agile, making it up as you go (within guidelines), and practical and tactical enough to keep shifting, measuring and correcting with your adjustments.
Reflect on your 'Zone of Genius', your personal Super Power. Leverage that when appropriate. Hone it and learn from it.
Push through the fear with microbursts of energy, small trials with clear objectives and guidelines for success.
Manage Your Team Through Change
Be more empowering, more inclusive, more supportive of your people through these changes.
Remember that Change will impact people from all backgrounds at all levels, but it will impact everyone differently. Be open and curious enough to help others adjust to changes.
Look not just on the change that's happening, but also at the ripple effects of the change on yourself, your team, your product, your customers and plan accordingly.
Get the team aligned to a common rhythm, and build engagement and connections following that team rhythm.
Create many touchpoints for individual team members and the overall team.
Create and nurture a culture which invites trial and error, and learning from both wins and losses.
Be Customer-Centric
Put your customers first with every change.
Being customer-centric and developing collaborative strategies will create an ecosystem of partners which would increase the likelihood of surviving and thriving through changes.
Embrace Technology
Fortunately, technology will continue to evolve to support leaders in envisioning and creating changes which better connect people, better support customers. But only companies and leaders willing to make investments in technology advances shall reap those rewards.
Quote - we have God-like technology, run by Medieval institutions, and people with Paleolithic emotions. Which leaders can help rise above their more primitive emotions (including fear) and the constraints of short-sighted, inflexible organizations?
This pandemic and its aftermath has taught us yet again that change is not easy, but it is inevitable. It also provided the bonus lesson about our shared humanity and challenged us to collaborate with others to take change by the horn, and together shift to a more gracious, more sustainable mindset benefitting more people.