Has this happened to you? You try to implement a change in your organization and it doesn’t get the support that you thought it would. And, to make matters worse, you can't figure out why. Or, you have a great idea but can’t get the resources required for successful implementation. Jennifer Bonine shares a toolkit of techniques to help you determine which ideas will—and will not—work within your organization. This toolkit includes five rules for change management, a checklist to help you determine the type of change process needed in your organization, techniques for communicating your ideas to your target audience, a set of questions you can ask to better understand your executives’ goals, and methods for overcoming resistance to change from teams you don’t lead. These tools—together with an awareness of your organization’s core culture—will help you identify which changes you can successfully implement and which you should leave until another day.
Cloud Frontiers: A Deep Dive into Serverless Spatial Data and FME
Leading Change―Even If You’re Not in Charge
1. ME
AM Tutorial
9/30/2013 8:30:00 AM
"Leading Change? Even If You’re
Not in Charge"
Presented by:
Jennifer Bonine
tap|QA
Brought to you by:
340 Corporate Way, Suite 300, Orange Park, FL 32073
888-268-8770 ∙ 904-278-0524 ∙ sqeinfo@sqe.com ∙ www.sqe.com
2. Jennifer Bonine
tap|QA, Inc.
Jennifer Bonine is a VP of global delivery and solutions for tap|QA Inc., a global company that
specializes in strategic solutions for businesses. Jennifer began her career in consulting,
implementing large ERP solutions. She has held executive level positions leading development,
quality assurance and testing, organizational development, and process improvement teams for
Fortune 500 companies in several domains.
17. What is the culture of your current Organization?
1. Characteristics
2. Beliefs
3. Norms or traditions
4. Values
Does this differ among teams, business units, under
different executives?
List your proposed initiatives or changes you want to
make in your organization. Do they align to the culture
you described above?
How to Observe Your Current Organizational Culture
You can obtain a picture of your current organizational
culture in several ways. To participate in the assessment of
your organizational culture, you must:
• Try to be an impartial observer of your culture in
action. Look at the employees and their interaction in
Susan M. Heathfield. “How to Understand Your Current Culture”
http://humanresources.about.com/od/organizationalculture/a/culture_create.htm
18. your organization with the eye of an outsider. Pretend
you are an outsider observing a group that you have
never seen before.
• Watch for emotions. Emotions are indications of
values. People do not get excited or upset about things
that are unimportant to them. Examine conflicts closely,
for the same reason.
• Look at the objects and artifacts that sit on desks and
hang on walls. Observe common areas and furniture
arrangements.
• When you observe and interact with employees, watch
for things that are not there. If nobody mentions
something that you think is important (like the
customers), that is interesting information. It will help
you understand your organization's culture.
Assess Your Organizational Culture
You can assess your current organizational culture in several
ways.
Participate in a Culture Walk: One way to observe the
culture in your organization is to take a walk around the
building, and look at some of the physical signs of culture.
• How is the space allocated? Where are the offices
located?
• How much space is given to whom? Where are people
located?
• What is posted on bulletin boards or displayed on
walls?
Susan M. Heathfield. “How to Understand Your Current Culture”
http://humanresources.about.com/od/organizationalculture/a/culture_create.htm
19. What is displayed on desks or in other areas of the
building? In the work groups? On lockers or closets?
• How are common areas utilized?
• What do people write to one another? What is said in
memos or email? What is the tone of messages (formal
or informal, pleasant or hostile, etc.)? How often do
people communicate with one another? Is all
communication written, or do people communicate
verbally?
• What interaction between employees do you see? How
much emotion is expressed during the interaction?
These are just a few of the questions to answer when you
observe and assess your organizational culture. Take a
culture walk frequently to observe organizational culture in
action.
Culture Interviews: Interview your employees in small
groups. It is just as important, during these interviews, to
observe the behaviors and interaction patterns of people as it
is to hear what they say about the culture.
Since it is usually difficult for people to put into words what
the culture is like, indirect questions will gain the most
information. The following are examples of indirect
questions you can ask during a culture interview.
• What would you tell a friend about your organization if
he or she was about to start working here?
• What is the one thing you would most like to change
about this organization?
• Who is a hero around here? Why?
•
Susan M. Heathfield. “How to Understand Your Current Culture”
http://humanresources.about.com/od/organizationalculture/a/culture_create.htm
20. What is your favorite characteristic that is present in
your company?
• What kinds of people fail in your organization?
• What is your favorite question to ask a candidate for a
job in your company?
Culture Surveys: Written surveys taken by people in the
organization. Create the survey using the information
collected during your culture walk and interviews.
•
Susan M. Heathfield. “How to Understand Your Current Culture”
http://humanresources.about.com/od/organizationalculture/a/culture_create.htm
