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The Key to Managing Change
Companies & Industries
The Key to Managing Change
Photograph by Hannelore Foerster/Bloomberg
Lufthansa Airlines has not been able to effectively manage an aggressive cost-cutting program
Constant change is a business reality, and organizations must continually adapt to their environments to stay competitive or risk becoming obsolete. That is why the ability to incorporate big changes into the DNA of an enterprise while driving operating results is a much-sought-after competency.
Five key questions are helpful in determining the likelihood that a major change will succeed or fail: How is the vision different, better and more compelling? Are the leaders personally committed to the change? Does the organization have the capacity to make the change? How ingrained is the current culture? And will the change actually deliver the identified outcomes?
What organizations get the thumbs up on their ability to change? Based these five key questions, Cisco Systems (CSCO), Citrix Systems (CTXS), and eBay (EBAY) are some companies that make the grade. Cisco’s leaders and team members have demonstrated the skills and agility to maximize the value from the projects they lead. The company has put in place simplified approaches and tools, business results measurement, integration of change practices into operating structures and processes, clear accountability for results, consistent standards, and peer learning.
Citrix, meanwhile, is building a change-management capability in which leaders’ and team members’ confidence and ability to lead change are enabled by real-world examples, coaching, and employee-designed workspaces. And eBay’s founding values remain touchstones for leaders and team members as they rethink and expand their consumer and business offerings. A fast-paced culture driven by personal accountability for results advances their mission of enabling commerce.
Organizations that fail to change are typically plagued by protracted transitions and increased costs. Take Lufthansa Airlines: Since it announced the details of an aggressive cost-cutting program in February 2012, the airline has not demonstrated the skill or culture to execute its plan effectively. Alienated employees have waged ongoing strikes that have inconvenienced customers and increased costs.
As the pace of change continues to increase, an organization’s change capability will become a greater requirement for sustainable performance. The organizations that are investing in these capabilities are more likely to capitalize on future opportunities. Is your organization one of them?
7 Essential Skills for Managing Change
7 Essential Skills for Managing Change
It’s a cliché, but change has always been the only constant. In recent times, the pace of change has accelerated greatly, and we all need to find ways to deal creatively with this fact of modern life. Leaders, in particular, need to face and manage change in a constructive way, but everyone who wants to be successful – in career, in relationships, in life – must learn how to see and manage change the way that successful ‘change leaders’ do. Such leaders are adaptable and creative in managing change in three key ways:
1. People who respond well to change will have a high ‘ambiguity threshold.’
Change is inherently ambiguous, and those who deal creatively with change will have a high tolerance for uncertainty and ‘shades of grey.’
2. Skillful managers of change will have a constructive ‘internal monologue.’
They will see themselves as inherently powerful and having the ability to control elements of the situation in which they find themselves. Some circumstances cannot be changed, but the way we respond to them is always a choice, and we always have a sphere of influence, however small. By focusing on this sphere of influence, and not expending energy bemoaning the area outside it, the circle will start to expand and give us progressively more control. Solutions to problems always exist, and the ‘internal monologue’ should reflect the desire to find them and the certainty that they can be successfully implemented.
3. Those who deal well with change will have a good reservoir of emotional, physical and mental energy.
Leaders draw on this reservoir when things get tough.
Managing Change
The above ways of dealing with change tend to be innate, with some people having a greater capacity for one or more of them than others. However, they can be learned, and the following are seven tips for improving your skills in managing change.
1. Spend time reflecting on your own core values and your mission in life.
A sense of purpose is essential to success and effectiveness, and those without a clear idea of what they are doing and why they are doing it will not have the foundation to keep going in the face of change.
2. Be persistent.
Success is usually more to do with tenacity that genius. Persistence is only possible when you have clarified your values and when you are able to build on the bedrock of purpose. Successful people keep going in the face of change, finding new and creative ways to achieve a positive outcome.
3. Be flexible and creative.
Persistence does not mean pushing through by force. If you are unable to achieve success one way, try another, and then another. Keep looking for more creative solutions and innovative responses to problems.
4. Think outside the box.
Read widely, and don’t confine yourself to your own area of ‘expertise.’ Try to see links between apparently separate and diverse elements in your life and experience.
5. Accept uncertainty and be optimistic.
Life is inherently uncertain, so don’t waste your energy trying to predict the future. Of all the possible outcomes, focus on the most positive one. This is not to be a ‘Pollyanna,’ but to accept that if you respond well and work to the best of your ability, a good outcome is as likely as any other. Don’t waste your energy being negative.
6. Keep fit and healthy.
Eat well, get enough sleep, exercise regularly. Meditation can help, too. This will keep up your energy levels and allow you to keep going in tough times. Not taking care of yourself physically, mentally and spiritually is foolish and short sighted.
7. See the big picture.
Change is inevitable, but if you take a bird’s-eye-view of the landscape, the change won’t be so disorientating and you will keep perspective at all times.
The Change Game: Engaging Exercises to Teach Change
The Change Game: Engaging Exercises to Teach Change
Successful initial implementation and ongoing maintenance of process improvements requires overcoming the resistance to change. Green Belts are change agents who need to recognize, understand and interpret resistance to change and develop skills to manage it effectively.
Managing change resistance is often covered in training, yet a primary learning issue facing most organizations is the lack of engagement and motivation in lecture-based training. By using simulations, exercises or games, practitioners can enliven their learning environments and improve knowledge retention, skills and applications. This will keep the audience members interacting with each other and with the content.
Games are a great way to illustrate teaching concepts for several reasons. First of all, games are intrinsically motivating. It is no secret that kids like games, but people of all ages like to win or out-strategize the other team and as long as there is a good tie-in to the teaching subject, this results in people practicing and using Lean and Six Sigma concepts. Standing up and moving around also provides variety and can save a long class from boredom. Finally, traditional classroom activities cater to visual and sometimes audio learners, but kinesthetic learners benefit from more physical activities. Overall, games can make a fun and helpful addition to class.
The following exercises and games were designed to increase participant understanding of the emotional barriers that are part of resistance and how to deal with them. In addition, they increase participant understanding of the support needed to keep changes in place.
Change Game 1: Cross Your Arms
Duration: 5 minutes
Number of participants: unlimited
Materials required: none
Description/Process: For practitioners facing a large class and not a lot of time, this exercise really gets the point of change across. After the introduction of the change subject, ask the audience to cross their arms. My operational definition of crossed is folding their arms together, as if they were bored or waiting for something. Once they have completed this task, ask them to fold their arms the other way, reversed of what they just performed. I guarantee that 90 percent of the class will struggle with it.
Discussion Questions
- How did it feel when you were asked to cross your arms the other way?
- Did it come naturally or did you have to stop and think about it?
- Were you comfortable with doing this differently from your normal process?
- What are some things that make people resistant to change?
- What can you do to make it easier for people in your organization to accept the changes associated with Lean and Six Sigma?
- What kind of support is necessary to maintain the changes associated with Lean and Six Sigma?
Facilitator Notes
When people cross their arms, they do so naturally, without even thinking about it. When they are asked to fold them the other way they, for the most part, stop, refold their arms again and then try to figure out which arm was on top, which arm moves first and so on. Try this yourself and see. Encourage participants to consider and share their own personal emotions related to making changes.
Change Game 2: Change Your Seat
Duration: 5 to 15 minutes (depending on debrief)
Number of participants: unlimited
Materials required: none
Description/Process: This is another quick and easy game. Participants are asked to change where they are sitting so they can experience the emotions and feelings often associated with change. After the class gets situated and comfortable, the facilitator should ask participants to change seats.
Discussion Questions
- How did it feel to be asked to change seats?
- Did you view changing seats as an opportunity to sit with someone new or as an uncomfortable or undesirable change?
- What are some things that make people resistant to change?
- What can you do to make it easier for people in your organization to accept the changes associates with Lean and Six Sigma?
If participants move back to their old seating arrangements after the exercise is over, ask the following questions:
- Why is it difficult to maintain changes once they are made?
- What kind of support is necessary to maintain the changes associated with Lean Six Sigma?
Facilitator Notes
Encourage participants to consider and share their own personal emotions related to making changes. This is what makes the exercise powerful. Another twist to this game might be asking participants to change seats frequently, which also can help them enhance their personal ability to deal with change.
Change Game 3: Change Your Look
Duration: 30 minutes (depending on debrief)
Number of participants: pairs of two
Materials required: none
Description/Process:
- Tell participants that they are going to assist in an experiment about making changes. I would not mention that it is a game. Obtain their buy-in ahead of time with their agreement to live with the changes made until the experiment is over. Reassure them that the experiment only lasts 30 minutes, and they will not have to do anything that they feel uncomfortable with.
- Number participants off in groups of two and have each pair stand facing each other.
- Ask the participants to determine which one will observe and which one will make the changes.
- Tell the observer to study their partner closely because their partner will be making a few changes.
- Next, the observer from each pair should turn their back (or close their eyes) and ask the other person to make five changes to their physical appearance. This could mean moving their watch from one wrist to the other, removing a shoe, taking off jewelry or a tie, or removing their glasses. Give participants 30 seconds to complete the changes.
- Participants may face each other again, all eyes open and ask the partner who did not make changes to identify as many changes as possible. Allow about 30 seconds for this.
- Do a couple more rounds of steps 5 through 7.
- Finally, ask participants to make 10 changes in 20 seconds. You will likely get some resistance at this point. When you start to get verbal resistance, stop and move to the discussion questions.
Discussion Questions
- How did it feel to be asked to make so many changes?
- What are some things that make people resistant to change?
- What can you do to make it easier for people in your organization to accept the changes associated with Lean and Six Sigma?
Begin with the preceding questions. At some point participants will begin to refer to the changes made during the exercise. When this starts to happen, ask the following questions:
- Why is it difficult to maintain changes once they are made?
- What kind of support is necessary to maintain the changes associated with Lean and Six Sigma?
Facilitator Notes
When providing instructions for this exercise, obtain agreement from the participants that they will maintain whatever changes are made until the exercise is over. Prompt the group to think about and share their own personal emotions related to making changes.
Some participants may make the point that these changes are not like changes being made in the organization. If this happens, acknowledge the validity of the statement, but ask how these changes and peoples reactions to them are similar.
Use Games to Keep Class Moving
Change is one of the most difficult things for humans to readily accept. If we can utilize games to better illustrate change, why not use them? While some adults see games in class as childish, as long as the games are not too ridiculous, many adults are willing to give them a try.
Provost announces policy changes
News
Provost announces policy changes
Article by Anam Baig – September 15th, 2014
On Aug. 28, Baruch College Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, David Christy, sent an email to faculty and staff informing them of major policy level changes, departmental appointments and academic issues.In the email, obtained by The Ticker, Christy announced two major policy level changes, namely, wider implementation of CUNYfirst and introduction of stringent regulations governing Greek social organization pledging activities.Baruch, along with other CUNY schools, is in the implementation phase of the CUNYfirst system this year. At the start of this academic year, the system, developed by Oracle, faced major technical interruptions forcing Baruch to make accommodation for class registration and tuition payment for students. Moving closer to the broader purpose of developing CUNYfirst as an umbrella platform for academic and administrative functions, “all faculty recruiting will be moved onto [the] system” for the first time, stated the email.
Another policy level change involves tighter regulations for social Greek-letter organizations at Baruch.
“The President and I, on the recommendation of the Student Affairs team, have decided to impose a moratorium on Greek social organization pledging activities during the Fall 2014 semester,” read the email. “I will need assurance that students are not placed in a situation that compromises their physical safety or well-being during pledging.”
The aggressive policy comes after the Dec. 9, 2013, death of freshman Chun Hsein “Michael” Deng while participating in an unsanctioned pledging event for Pi Delta Psi, a social Asian-American organization, which has since been banned from the college and suspended by the national board of Pi Delta Psi. During a hazing ritual that happened in the yard of a rented home in Tunkhannock Township, Penn., where the pledging took place, Deng and three other pledges carried 20-pound sacks of sand on their backs as they ran across a field, blindfolded, while their other fraternity members repeatedly tackled them to the snow-covered ground.
According to authorities, Deng was knocked down to the ground during the ritual, immediately losing consciousness. The fraternity members carried Deng’s unresponsive body inside the house, changed his clothes and placed him next to the fire, spending the next hour researching the freshman’s symptoms and allegedly covering up all fraternity-related memorabilia and audio-visual evidence of the happenings of the night before. By the time Deng was brought to the hospital, he was already brain dead.
Deng passed away two days later, at the age of 19, as a result of major brain trauma. The 30 or so members who attended the retreat might be charged with hazing, a misdemeanor in Pennsylvania courts. Some members might be charged with criminal homicide, which in Pennsylvania means anything from involuntary manslaughter to premeditated murder. The charges, expected during the summer, have not been filed yet.
Earlier, Christy sent a letter to social Greek-letter fraternities and sororities at Baruch announcing the new policy, the email stated.
In response to the moratorium, Jonathan Albujar, former chapter president of Alpha Phi Delta and former vice president of Inter Greek Council, said, “Speaking on behalf of my chapter and the Greek community as a whole, we condemn the events that cost Michael Deng his life last year and pray for his family and those close to him as they continue to mourn his loss.”
“Although we dissent with this decision as an organization, we recognize the need to have stricter bylaws in light of recent tragic events,” Albujar said continuing his statement. “Alpha Phi Delta will adhere to the new rules, while advocating for the resumption of recruitment events across all Greek organizations, as we believe the Greek community can continue to better the college experience for countless students and should not be penalized for the actions of a few,” Albujar clarified.
Besides the policy-level changes, Christy addressed issues of academic integrity at Baruch in the email. In February 2013, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program at Baruch was suspended for a breach in its student certification training. Earlier, in December 2012, an administrative director for executive programs at the Zicklin School of Business pled guilty to 11 charges of felony and 10 misdemeanor charges after allegations of forging grades and falsifying business records.
The issue of academic dishonesty was addressed by the provost and President Mitchel B. Wallerstein during convocation this fall, and the school looks to improve on this aspect of college by enlisting the help of the Undergraduate Student Government.
At Baruch, academic dishonesty is defined as cheating in any form, including distribution of tests, unauthorized phone use during exams, and the use of the same or similar paper for multiple classes. Plagiarism includes purchasing papers from online databases, not acknowledging sources and failing to give credit to students who have collaborated on projects. These provisions are all outlined under the “Academics” link on the college’s website.
“We are working with Provost Christy on an event or series of interactive events where students, faculty and staff can openly discuss and learn about academic integrity in such a way that the topic becomes more present to them,” stated Michael Harris, executive vice president of Baruch Undergraduate Student Government, in an email.
Harris and Samuel Rubinstein, USG’s vice president of academic affairs, will work alongside the dean’s office in order to ensure that the message of academic integrity is spread throughout campus.
“Academic integrity means not only the typical definition—not cheating, for example—but also learning from your studies, taking things away from what you’ve learned in the classroom and applying them outside the classroom,” Harris added. “As USG, we want to make academic integrity well-understood rather than something that’s dismissed and not taken seriously enough.”
Dr. Ronald Aaron, the academic integrity officer at Baruch, has dealt with numerous issues concerning rule violations during his time at the college. Speaking to The Ticker, Aaron described his approach to academic integrity issues as proactive.
“Our policy here is not, ‘Thou shall not cheat, if you cheat, to the guillotine you’ll go.’ The goal is not to scar [the students]. My goal is to engage them in conversation where they come away with a better understanding of what they did and how they may avoid putting themselves in that situation in the future.”
Aaron acknowledged that a student might have committed an act of academic dishonesty in the past and found the act to be acceptable to carry on to college. Some students might commit acts of academic dishonesty due to the pressure to perform well, he added.
If a student is caught cheating or plagiarizing, punitive measures are taken to ensure that the student does not do it again, and severe measures, including suspension and expulsion, are taken depending on the severity of the case, as well as the frequency. However, according to Aaron, 99 percent of the cases are typically resolved between him, the faculty member and the student, but if a student feels that the allegation is unfair, the student has a right to due process.
“The most important thing to me is that the student develops a sense of integrity,” Aaron said.
The email further announced administrative appointments made at Baruch during the summer, including that of Dr. Fenwick Huss as the new dean of Zicklin. Huss, formerly dean at the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University, was recommended to the CUNY board in March this year.
Art King has been appointed the assistant vice president for student affairs and dean of students. King has previously served in similar capacities at San Jose State University, Calif., and Towson University, Md., among other institutions for over 20 years. Additionally, the email announced the appointment of Heather Samples as the director of the Bernard L. Schwartz Communication Institute.
Additional reporting by Mary Pauline Pokoradi.