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Managing Organization Change in a Turbulent
EnvironmentFutures Conference
Collingwood, Ontario
October 6-8, 2015
Discussion
1. What are the uncertainties and turbulence affecting youth employment service organizations2. How do the uncertainties and turbulence affect organization performance, staff well-being and the people served by the organization3. What skills and practices must staff and managers adopt if their organization is to succeed?
The ‘Big Picture’
Trends contributing to turbulence
1. Organizations need to engage their employees, volunteers and supporters
During this period of random and unpredictable change any organization that distances itself from its employees and refuses to cultivate meaningful relationships with them is destined to fail.
Reference: Finding Our Way, Margaret J. Wheatleyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPvEKP1cUZA
2. Non profits adopting social enterprise model
• Non profit organizations are becoming entrepreneurial adopting the management practices of for profit companies.
• The social enterprise model is replacing the traditional non profit and charity organization models
Reference: Harvard Business School executive education Program: Strategic Perspectives in Not for Profit Management
3. The Third Industrial Revolution has started.What will be the impact on jobs and services?
Robotics, automation, self help and artificial intelligence will replace 50% of the existing occupations during next 20 years.Will new occupations be created replacing the lost jobs?
4. “BIG SOCIETY SMALL GOVERNMENT”
Current Thinking in many Governments
5. THE MILLENIALS have arrived
Will be the largest group within the population in the next few years9-10 million in Canada, estimated 80 million in the U.S.Having a significant impact on society
6. The Multi-Generation Workplace: A challenge for organizations?
What are the opportunities and challenges?https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=RGNiXMlLzO8
Responding to a turbulent work environment
Managing organization change requires you know:1)What you can change.2) What you can influence but not guarantee change.3) What you are not able to influence or change.
Required knowledge and skills
1.Start with knowing yourself: Leadership skills, technical skills, emotional well being and content knowledge2.Practice effective time management3.Practice stress management 4.Learn how to assess risk and plan 5.Learn the discipline of effective execution
Important!Experiencing significant STRESS can over-ride everything
else you doIf you or your organization is experiencing significant stress
your change process has to start with measures that will eliminate or reduce the sources of stress.
Do you have ‘grit’?
What is your ability to stick with a task?Having a high degree of passion for the goal(s) along with persistence, perseverance, resistance to quitting is vital to success as a manager
Know How to Manage Your Time to ManageTime is an asset you own. “Your time”. Allocate it with care.
Stephen Covey time management video. How to use the time management matrix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ODyG5lKbH08
Options for Managing Stressful Situations and Relationships
1. Accept: Build the emotional strength to accept what you cannot control or influence.
2. Adapt: Build the emotional strength and interpersonal skills to work with the situation.
3. Avoid: Accept you cannot cope with the situation and remove yourself.
Resistance to Change
Resistance to your ideas is good because it demonstrates that others hear you and are intrigued enough about your ideas to oppose them. That may sound like cold comfort, but it’s not. Figure out what’s behind the resistance and you’ll be well on your way to turning opposition into support.
Reference: Why Don’t You Want What I Want? ,Rick Mauer
Resistance to Change:
Level 1 resistance—“I don’t get it.” When you see a person’s eyes glaze over, eyebrows furrow, or head tip slightly to one side or the other, he is sending you an unspoken message: “I don’t get what you’re saying.” That’s your cue to slow down and touch base with the person before he gets so confused or lost in the morass of your idea that he loses interest altogether. After all, if he doesn’t get your idea, there’s no chance he’ll support it.
• Level 1 resistance involves the world of facts, figures, and data. It crops up often when people in highly technical fields, like computer science, try to share their brainchildren with others.
• If you find yourself in this position, step back from your idea and consider your audience. How can you communicate the idea to them in a language—minus all traces of jargon—they can understand? Will pictures, models, slides, or an on-site walk-through help? Clear, thoughtful, two-way communication is the key to overcoming Level 1 resistance.
Resistance to Change:
Level 2 resistance—“I don’t like it.” Sometimes your idea can trigger an emotional response, typically rooted in fear, that causes another person to hem and haw about the idea or actively oppose it. Some of the fears underlying these Level 2 responses include:
• Concern that something about your idea will make the other person look bad or lose status in the eyes of others
• Worry that your idea will cost the person his job or endanger his financial security• Nervousness that your idea will cause the person to fail, perhaps as a result of—and in the
wake of—your success• The emotions behind Level 2 responses get in the way of productive communication. If
they’re never aired, these fears fester until what was once a tiny bump on the road to implementation is now an enormous boulder blocking your way. Recognize and address the fears underlying Level 2 resistance and your idea is more likely to continue moving forward.
Resistance to Change:Level 3 resistance—“I don’t like you.”
• While the other two types of resistance have to do with your ideas, Level 3 resistance is about you—ouch! When you’re the one doing the proposing, your history with others, as well as their bias, prejudice, or mistrust, influence how your idea is heard and received.
• Level 3 resistance is the toughest to deal with because it’s so hard to believe—and accept—that there are people in the world who don’t like or trust you and everything you stand for. However, if you choose to deny or ignore it, your ideas will never get off the drawing board.
• The key to dealing effectively with Level 3 resistance is to step outside yourself and see what others see when they look at you—and what they hear when they listen to you.
Resistance to Change:
Once you’ve made an effort to see yourself and your idea through another’s eyes, try these techniques for working through and moving beyond all three levels of resistance—“I don’t get it,” “I don’t like it,” and “I don’t like you”:a) Focus on conversation, not presentation. Ask questions to find out what’s going on in the other person’s mind and why she opposes your idea.
b)Listen carefully to what others say in response to your idea—both verbally and through their body language and behaviors. c)Avoid knee-jerk reactions, like defensiveness, sarcasm, and deference. d)Find ways to connect with others. Paraphrase their concerns to show that
you’re listening, embrace suggestions that piggy-back on your idea, and make it clear that there’s room—and opportunity—for others to join you as you move forward to implement the idea.
Managing Relationships During a Change Process
Know who will support you?
Family: other party will not hesitate to sacrifice personal needs to support proposed change
Friends: other party will consider sacrificing personal needs to support proposed change
Fellow-Rider /Fence Sitter: other party will support change as long as s/he will benefit
Foe: other party will support change if you are prepared to sacrifice and provide a reward that is valued by the other party
Fools and Fanatics: Avoid these people as they are unreliable, untrustworthy and will behave in destructive ways.
Managing and Building Stronger Organizations
What does my organization need to do to become “best”? What are the challenges?
1)Develop a clear direction of what you want to achieve and have the discipline to stick to the agreed path (a strategic direction)
2)Develop a “brand”,- “it is how people will know/experience your organization”c) Build commitment within staff group, organization supportersd) Start small,- do what can be achieved; start process with a series of small
changes that build pride, sense of accomplishment within the organization
Building your Organization: “From Good to Great”
Principles:1.Define “great” for your organization.2.Organization leadership includes: a) professional determination, b) humility, c) effective leader(s) and d) effective manager(s). 3.Getting the right people on the bus: staff, volunteers that have the skills, experience,
commitment required. 4.How to build long term success: a) What are you deeply passionate about? b) What you can be best in the world at; c) What drives your resource engine (e.g. funders, sponsors, volunteers).5.Build the Brand-Build Momentum: “Success builds support and commitment which leads to
more support and commitment.”Reference: Good to Great and the Social Sectors, J. Collins
Strategic Planning can be a waste of time!
• Only 10% of formulated (pre-scripted) strategies are implemented.• Plans are necessary: An organization needs a clear definition of what it wants to
accomplish and how it believes it will get there.• Effective approach: Develop a concise statement describing a strategic
direction, monitor, evaluate, make necessary changes.• Effective strategies usually are the result of many small actions and ideas coming
from people throughout the organization. Develop effective staff, stakeholder engagement practices.
• The Learning/Developmental Approach: Learning is an ongoing and encouraged process within the organization; through collaboration within the organization strategies are developed
Reference: Strategy Safari, H Mintzberg et al
A resilient organization needs a strong “Brand”
In today’s ‘noisy’ ‘turbulent’ world we are bombarded with information and it is very difficult to be noticed and understood.
• A brand is not your logo• A brand is what people understand/experience who you are• To have a strong brand you have to know who you communicate with and how to communicate with a clear and consistent message
Building Staff Commitment
Framework for Building Staff Commitment:
1.There is leadership that builds a sense of pride within the staff2.Staff are in positions in which they are suited3.Trust and mutual understanding exists between the employee and employer4.The work environment is characterized by autonomy, trust, manageable
pressure, recognition, fairness, support and innovation 5.The organization culture is based on openness, collaboration, opportunities to
grow
Learn how to Manage Risk
1) Turbulence increases the unknowns resulting in higher risks.
2) Be pro-active
3) Develop a Risk Management policy (for operations, governance)
4) Assess risks on an ongoing basis:
a) Identify
b) Assess (quantify)
c) Mitigate
Effective Execution is the Key to Success
Many organizations are not able to effectively execute their strategy, services or programs because staff are blocked by:
the pressures and stress created by the daily responsibilities in the work place.
Effective Execution is the Key to Success
The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Key Points
1.Focus on the ‘wildly important’2.Act on lead measures3.Keep a compelling score card4.Create a culture of accountability
Reference: The 4 Disciplines of Execution, C. McChesney, S. Covey, J. Huling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ahH2WdrovPg
