Introduction
Adding a program, subtracting a service, entering into an initiative or partnership, or adding a new administrative role are some of the features of what is considered “change management.”
There are many useful tools and resources available to support organizations with such changes and we listed them below.
Before launching into an organizational change, it is important to ensure success by encompassing all strategies, timelines, and tactics with the following 2 Tips.
Tip 1
Communicate with all units in the organization about how the change impacts them as well as the types of supports that will be provided to ensure that the change is integrated in a meaningful way throughout the organization (e.g. schedule regular check-ins).
Tip 2
Revisit, over and over, the shared commitment to serve your clients through this change; as long as everyone can anchor their minds and workloads to this shared commitment, then the time and brain-power investments can be tempered by a focus on the welfare of the clients.
Tools and Resources for Leading Change Management
The following tools and resources are free and valuable for lean and robust organizations.
Communicating with your team
Relationships and clear, kind communication matter. Here are resources to support you with this:
- Prioritize your time together during meetings, as well as help your team to prepare for meetings, with a Consent Agenda.
- Hold consistent change management meetings for check-ins and updates in-person and through video conferencing to convey face-to-face meaning.
- Asana is great for project task management, assignment, and recording (especially if your team is remote or spread-out across geography).
Assessing impact of the organizational change on clients and staff
Preventing splintered understandings and relationships is possible. Here are resources to support you with this:
- Take temperature checks at specific benchmarks during the course of the organizational change in order to assess how the change is being experienced by clients; this could happen through casual exchanges or paper surveys with a segment of clients, keeping it short and simple.
- This same approach should be used with the staff team; adapt an employee satisfaction survey, framing it around the organizational change and make sure that the results are actionable.
Strategies, timelines, and tools for planning and carrying-out change
- Plan for possible resistance from clients and/or staff with preliminary, change-readiness tools.
- Change proposal templates support the initial planning phase.
- Change management process diagram gives a bird’s eye view of the entire process.
Study change management approaches through LinkedIn’s high-quality online training system
Many libraries and universities pay memberships fees for their constituents to use the LinkedIn system called “Lynda.” Check with your local libraries and universities for such an opportunity. You may benefit from the following trainings, designed by leaders across several sectors:
- Leading Change (2013) with Britt Andreatta
- Embracing Change with Todd Dewett
- Project Management Foundations: Change with Doug Rose
- Motivating and Engaging Employees (2013) with Todd Dewett
- Project Management: Rescuing Troubled Projects with Bob McGannon
Why did we develop 2 Tips videos?
We know that many professionals and organizational leaders do not have the funds to partner with specialists (like us) and/or the time to strategize on what might seem like extra projects.
We launched these 2 Tips videos to support you with making tweaks, adjustments, and refinements in programs and operations — doable for busy professionals like you!
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