FountainBlue's April 4 Front Line Managers Online program, on the topic of 'Change Management Best Practices'. Please join me in thanking our panelists.
This month's panelists represented a wide range of perspectives and backgrounds, but they had much in common:
They are other-centric, focusing on delivering results for internal and external customers.
They are wise, accepting that change will happen and proactive about managing and working through the changes.
They are continuous learners, ensuring that everyone learns from changes.
Below is a compilation of their wisdom and advice.
Be the Leader.
Adopt your personal moral compass while also aligning to the corporate values, despite the constant changes impacting yourself, your team and your organization.
Monitor the market and technology trends and, where possible, manage how and when a change impacts the team and organization.
Consistently communicate clearly and transparently the WHY behind the change.
Proactively manage the communication with stakeholders to help facilitate buy-in around the change.
Distinguish between the brainstorming time, the planning time and the execution time. At the time of execution, there must be commitment, even if there's still disagreement.
Empower and Enable the Team.
Create a culture which welcomes diversity, collaboration, agility and learning.
Include the supporters and the laggards/opponents around the change.
Listen with empathy and openness.
Break up really big projects into smaller, more digestible pieces.
Encourage and support buy-in for a change, but don't insist on it, forcing a fit.
Help the team measure what matters and tweak the plan based on these measurements.
Work with the team to streamline processes and operations so all can better collaborate and communicate.
Challenge and Stretch Yourself.
Seek opportunities to learn and grow into the best version of yourself.
Learn to fail fast.
Aim for the 'aggressive' goals, but be wary of the 'impossible' goals.
Manage your emotions and focus on making measurable progress for your stakeholders.
Make connections which support your growth.
The bottom line is that we must respect that change happens, and that the pace of change will impact each of us differently. So managing change means both developing a plan *and* rolling with what actually happens, despite our best-made plans, and learning throughout the process.