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Q U E S T I O N S & A N S W E R S
Just in case you've got a few questions...
How can you direct and lead my employees without being onsite?
Change Management follows a solid methodology which requires specific activities that need to be executed during all phases of the change project. It’s the DOING of those activities that take time, not the TEACHING or instruction of HOW to DO the DOING. I guide your team (step-by-step) who are responsible for the CM activities on the HOW via weekly video conference meetings. Ours is a DONE WITH YOU model, not a DONE FOR YOU model which allows your employees to learn all of the aspects of implementing change management on a real initiative.
Have you led change management teams on "live" projects remotely in the past?
Oh my goodness, YES! I’ve done this for years with my Fortune 100 global clients. One disadvantage to being a consultant is that many clients don’t support consultants traveling; especially to locations abroad. I’ve led, taught and guided Change Management teams around the world all from my personal office at all hours of the night and wee hours of the morning. For domestic clients, I lead change teams across the U.S. Happily, the time zones are a bit easier to accommodate.
We're resource strapped. We don’t have time to develop our people, we just need someone to come in and DO the work for us.
That's often how it feels for many organizations. But in today’s business environment where change is constant, it’s better to build change capability within your workforce rather than relying on expensive consultants to do it for you. Each time you hire external consultants to DO the work for you, they walk out the door with the expertise when the project is finished. It’s a difficult treadmill to get off of if you don’t “bite the bullet” and make a conscious choice to embed change capability with your own people. What you end up with is an organization where individuals embrace change more quickly and effectively, and your organization is able to successfully implement your critical strategic initiatives, and adopt new technology more quickly and with less productivity impact.
What are the advantages of developing change capability within our workforce?
Having change capability embedded in your organization’s roles, structures, processes, projects, and leadership competencies gives your organization and company a stronger competitive edge within your industry.
Shouldn’t companies integrate the change capability into daily operations?
Absolutely! That’s the ideal state given that change initiatives are so ingrained in daily operations now. However, there is that pesky crawl–walk–run reality. In order to build change expertise in your people, it’s best to grow their skills with expert guidance on specific strategic projects your organization is implementing first. The more people with whom you can grow their skills in this manner the faster you’ll get to a truly change-capable organization.
You meet with my team(s) on a regular weekly basis to move them forward. What if they have questions and challenges in between the weekly meetings?
We hold Office Hours at various times during each week. Your team members can quickly jump into our calendar without any advanced notice for a video call and we'llI will help them problem solve any challenges that arise. After nearly 3 decades of doing this work, there are very few challenges that we haven’t already tackled. They are able to leverage our expertise and experience so that they won’t be stymied by the unexpected.
Who monitors the progress of the change team during the project?
We do that by submitting a written weekly progress report to you as a leader/sponsor of the project.
How do I, as a project leader/sponsor get updates on how the change team is doing?
You will receive weekly progress reports from me in writing with a full assessment of the progress of the change team. In addition, we'll arrange ~30 minutes (we can certainly do 60 minutes if desired) video or phone meetings with leaders/sponsors on a monthly basis for in-depth discussions and coaching.
How can I get time with you outside of the weekly reports and monthly meetings?
As the leader/Sponsor of the project, we can schedule something during my weekly Office Hours. Or you can pop a meeting into the calendar with very little advanced notice just like your employees can.
Why do you consult this way instead of DOING it all for clients?
Gone are the days where we had many months in between significant change initiatives in the business world. Change initiatives today are so frequent, far-reaching, cross-functional and deeply ingrained in an organization’s daily operations that it’s time to equip an organization’s greatest asset (human capital) with change management skills. Your organization likely has numerous strategic priorities being implemented at the same time, if you need to hire change consultants for each, the budgets will run dry in the blink of an eye throughout the company. It makes financial sense as well as operational sense. Needless to say, we're huge advocates for growing people’s skills. We know that you have Change Management Superheroes just waiting to be developed. We see it with every client.