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Working through transitions and institutional change
- 1. Working Through Transitions and Institutional Change Meg Delaney and Amy Hartman Toledo Lucas County Public Library Mid-Pandemic 2020 Edition
- 3. The Book(s) • Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change by William Bridges with Susan Bridges (4th Edition, 2016) • Fifteen-page summary available PROVIDE LINK HERE. • Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes by William Bridges with Susan Bridges (40th anniversary ed, 2019) 3
- 4. Change vs. Transition • Change is situational: the move to a new site, the retirement of the founder, the reorganization of the administrative team • Transition is a 3-phase process people go through while internalizing and coming to terms with the details of the new situation brought about by change 4 When change happens without transition, it is just a rearrangement of the chairs. People say, “Just because everything has changed, doesn’t mean anything is different around here.”
- 5. Leading Transition • Even the best leaders cannot anticipate all changes, but all leaders can improve their effectiveness in helping their organization through the transition process 5 • As a leader you cannot always tell your team, “We are on top of every change that comes our way,” but you can tell them “We’ve successfully dealt with change before, and if we manage this transition properly, we will come out stronger in the end.”
- 6. Visualizing Transition 6 Three Phases of Transition 1. Ending – letting go of the old ways and old identity 2. Neutral Zone – the in-between time where the old is gone but the new isn’t fully operational 3. New Beginning – Coming out of transition and developing the new identity/ways
- 7. Step 1: Ending • The starting point for managing transition is not the outcome but the ending that must be made to leave the old situation behind • Before beginning something new, people have to let go of the present first 7 Beginnings depend on endings The problem is: people don’t like endings
- 8. How to get people to let go Effective Change agents: 1. Accept the reality and importance of subjective losses • Expect some period of overreaction and traditional signs of grieving • Acknowledge losses openly and sympathetically 2. Give people information, frequently and in as many ways as possible 3. Define what is over and what isn’t 8
- 9. Step 2: The Neutral Zone Psychological no-man’s–land between letting go of the old reality and landing into the new one; both a dangerous and an opportune place • Capitalize on all the confusion by encouraging everyone to be creative; with everything up in the air anyway, people are more willing than usual to try new things • Use a Test & Try methodology 9
- 10. Different timelines = Easy Derailment • Leaders go through their transitions before they launch the changes and now they’re ready for a new beginning. • Employees will be entering the transition cycle when the change is announced. 10 Change leaders will be significantly ahead of those being led, in processing the new idea. How can understanding this help with leading transition more effectively?
- 11. Strengthen Intra-Group Connections Allowing Everyone to Play a Part: • Gives people new insight into the real problems being faced by the organization • Gets people aligned as they focus together on solving problems, creating allies rather than adversaries • Brings participants’ firsthand knowledge to bear on solving the problems. Leaders can’t anticipate everything. Front line input can be extremely helpful 11 • Everyone who plays a part is, tacitly at least, implicated in the outcome
- 12. Help People Visualize Paint a picture of how the outcome will look/feel: Purposes are critical to beginnings, but can be abstract. Give a picture of how the outcome will look 12 • Use visuals (floor plans, flow charts, etc.) to convey how things will be. Listen to input on design and incorporate where possible. • If possible, arrange for people to see another organization where things are already done in the new way. Anything you can do to help people visualize the change will help.
- 13. Share a Plan Plans are immensely reassuring to people, not just because they contain information, but because they exist. • Lay out a step-by-step plan for phasing in the outcome • Outline the steps and schedule by which people will receive the information, training and support needed to make the transition 13
- 14. Building a Culture of Trust 1. Be Consistent… Avoid mixed messages which contradict the desired changes. 2. Ensure Quick Success—include early opportunities for success, no matter how small. Quick successes reassure the believers, convince the doubters, and confound the critics. 3. Own missteps and mistakes 4. Commit to Institutional Values – Welcoming, Innovative, Objective, Accountable and Collaborative 14 When people trust their leaders, they’re willing to undertake change, even if it scares them.
- 15. Step 3: Beginnings • Beginnings involve new understandings, new values, new attitudes, and—most of all—new identities • Starts can and should be carefully designed, like an object. A beginning can and should be nurtured, like a plant. • Starts take place on a schedule as a result of decisions. Beginnings follow the timing of the mind and heart 15
- 16. Consequences of poorly managed transition A poorly or unmanaged transition leaves behind: 1. Survivors who have been wounded by the changes they have been through 2. Those who are grieving over all that they have lost in the change 3. Those whose loyalty and ethics have been so compromised by their experience that they turn hostile, self-centered, and subversive 16 Unmanaged transition fosters an environment of distrust, resentment and low morale, guaranteeing management difficulties and stagnation
- 17. And currently….. • Covid and quarantine • Bridges’ lessons continue 17
- 18. Change + Human Beings = Transition Whatever currently exists is going to change. It can be managed. 18
Editor's Notes
- We originally presented this topic for PLA in February 2020, and we've gotten so many kind compliments and requests to repeat, we thought we'd record it for a more widespread release. Introduce ourselves – and the lens through which we build the presentation. Meg – Regional Manager overseeing the Main Library and Sanger Branch; on the Admin negotiating team for contract talks with the Librarians union; presenting the Admin view of change Amy Hartman, Collection Development Specialist, for many years on the leadership team of the Association for Public Library Employees (aka APLE),the union that represents librarians and professional staff, presenting the staff view of weathering change.
- Alternate reading each line: AH - Welcome! We’re here to talk about Change with a capital C and that rhymes with T and that stands for TOLEDO! Friends, we’ve got a tale of trouble… MD - On September 1, 2018, TLCPL’s Main Library closed for one year of renovation. Most of Main’s public service staff were spread throughout the system or assigned new temporary positions embedded in the community for the duration AH - On January 24, 2019, Library Director Clyde Scoles announced his plan for retirement after 34 years in that role, effective by the end of June. Twenty-two days later on February 15, Clyde Scoles collapsed as he left work for the day and passed away unexpectedly MD - August 1, Former Deputy, Acting Director Jason Kucsma officially became Director AH - September 28, newly renovated Main Library opened to the public, with a new service model and 150,000 square feet of public spaces changed MD - October 18, Director Jason Kucsma asked for feedback on organizational needs and suggestions/ideas for reorganizing the administrative council structure AH - November 21, the entire administrative organization design is restructured 2019 was…. A Year. With a Capital “Y” …. usually followed by the word ME with ?!?!?!?!?!!??? MD - And THEN, just as we were catching our breath, we got hit by March, 2020, and whatever sense of reality and predictability went right out the window as the pandemic moved in. While massive construction projects and complete administrative reorganizations won't happen to everyone in their careers much less the same year like it did for us, we can certainly see Covid as the universal example of transition management; a frame of reference that everyone in the world can understand. What have others done to move through this time? What can we learn? How are our communities changing and how can we meet them where they are NOW with and responsibility and grace? while we will be touching on Covid/pandemic issues parenthetically, the bulk of our focus will still be on basic institutional and library functions, and we'll just keep our fingers crossed that these experiences will continue to BE traditional once we're through this.
- AH First edition of Transitions, focusing on general life situations, was written in 1980, first of Managing Transitions came out in 1991. Both have been updated with newer editions. Given a summary by a friend on the Leadership team of the Buddhist Temple of Toledo. You’d think that as Buddhists who spend a great deal of time thinking about and meditating on the subject of impermanence, we’d be good with transitions and really wouldn’t need something like this. And in that, You’d be wrong, wrong, WRONG. Along with the slides from this presentation, a 15-page “best-of” summary is available at the link on this slide. The book is quite short and extremely readable; the 15 page summary hits the high points from a library perspective, and this presentation will hit maybe ¼ of what’s on the summary. So please try to take a look at whatever print version you can. William and Susan Bridges formed a consulting firm to help institutions with complex transitions, so if you’re really struggling, that might be a good investment.
- AH Change hinges on the external situation; what one does: the move to a new site, retirement of a founder, or incorporating new technology. It’s situational. Transition is psychological, based on how one feels, and depends on letting go of the old reality and the old identity we had before the change took place. It’s how we internalize what is happening. Bridges talks about it being a 3-phase process we must progress through while coming to terms with our new situation (more on those phases in just a bit). Think of getting your first job, moving into your first home, or even way back when we first got the internet in libraries (BRIEFLY reminisce about this). The actual change happens pretty fast, but the psychological transition happened much more slowly: instead of becoming a new person as fast as we changed outwardly, we found ourselves struggling for a time in a state that was neither the old nor the new. It was a kind of emotional wilderness, a time when it wasn’t quite clear who we were at that point, or what was real. In thinking about the pandemic, what stands out is that the change LITERALLY happened within a few days for most of us. As of this recording, it has been about 4 months since that initial shutdown, and we are STILL transitioning through this which I suspect that will be true for quite a while. Those who are struggling the most these days are those who are frustrated, feeling we should have everything figured out because it has been "so long" since the change happened. If we're going to succeed as institutions, we must learn how to be more nimble in dealing with groundlessness and change, whether pandemic-related or not. When change happens without paying attention to the transition process, it is just a rearrangement of the chairs. People say, “Just because everything has changed, doesn’t mean anything is different.”
- MD Managing people and organizations during times of tumultuous change is one of the most difficult tasks leaders face. During such times, it’s always tempting to take short cuts, accomplish quick results and move on to the next thing. But this tends to backfire and the organization either gets bogged down in resistance to change or struggles through poorly planned change and winds up with endless tangential problems, slowing progress, building a culture of distrust and animosity, and making future successful change even more difficult to achieve. Helping people through this process will ultimately make leading them easier and will build an important level of trust going forward.
- AH Here are those phases of transition that Bridges outlines. As with so many useful tools they seem simple, but are actually very helpful waypoints in understanding how we move through internalizing change. We’re going to discuss each phase, give examples of how we navigated through them, sometimes successfully, sometimes not so much, and share insights learned.
- MD [Read the 1st bullet point] The starting point for managing transition is not the outcome but the ending that you’ll have to make to leave the old situation behind. First task of change management: understand the desired outcome and how to get there First task of transition management: convince people to leave their current state Organizations that overlook that letting-go process do nothing about the feelings of loss that it generates. And in overlooking those effects, they nearly guarantee that the transition will be mismanaged and that, as a result, the change will go badly. Some traditional examples of endings: Changing collection development processes and moving to a Floating Collection Main's temporary closure during the remodel Therefore, there were staff reassignments – but…. That leads to new opportunities The point is to be explicit about the ending; you want people to willingly come to the Neutral Zone. From the chaos of Endings comes the Creativity of new opportunities. Creating a wholly new department from people with previous assignments My first thought was to bring the 2 affected managers together so we could build the process together COVID Examples: - Closing the buildings - Giving up the predictability / normalcy in planning – what could we expect of staff working from home? How could we make re-entry into the buildings safe? -
- AH Librarians are a passionate people, and most of us love what we do. Good results depend on getting people to stop doing things the old way and start doing things a new way. And since library staff have this intensely personal connection to how they work, there is just no way to do that impersonally. It is self-defeating to try to overcome people’s resistance to change without addressing the threat the change poses to their world. Pandemically speaking, we're all having a hard time dealing with those who refuse to let go of how life used to be prior to pandemic precautions. I feel like many people who can't (or won't) see or understand the effects of this disease are refusing to make their transition (sometimes while fully armed!). These folks moved through the change with everyone, because they really had no choice as societies shut down around them, but are spending so much time and energy refusing to transition that they often perpetuate and exacerbate the problem for everyone. So how do we get people to move into the Transition process and let go of what is no longer valid? Accept the Reality and Importance of the Subjective Losses: Basically: Allow people to feel what they are feeling, which requires leaders to Expect some period of overreaction : Bridges talks about our perception of “overreaction” as basically any level of reaction that is higher or more intense than out own. It’s when they are reacting to change more than we are: Changes cause transitions, which cause losses, and it is often the loss, not the change, that they’re overacting to. It’s usually a piece of employees’ world that is being lost, not a piece of management’s, and everyone reacts that way when it’s part of their world that is being affected. Being reasonable is much easier if you have little or nothing at stake. Overreacting also comes from past experiences, either with losses that haven’t adequately been dealt with or when endings became viewed as symbolic of some larger loss. Learn to look for the loss behind the “overreaction” and deal with the underlying issue. Think about the internet. The panic came from losing our sense of expertise, of technology taking away the foundation of what we did. AH Expect and Accept the Signs of Grieving: When endings take place, people get angry, sad, frightened, depressed, and confused. These emotional states can be mistaken for bad morale, but they aren’t. They’re signs of grieving, the natural sequence of emotions people go through when they lose something that matters to them. Always expect to see various displays of Denial Anger Bargaining Anxiety Sadness Disorientation Depression. AH Acknowledge the Losses Openly and Sympathetically: Don’t shy away from bringing losses out into the open—acknowledge them, express your concern for the affected people and your intention to help them find the best way forward. Do it simply and directly. It is pretending that the loss is inconsequential or doesn’t even exist that stirs up trouble, not the acknowledgement/discussion of it. Research on what helps people recover from loss of all kinds agrees that recovery happens more quickly if the losses can be openly discussed. Talk about staff perspective of pandemic closing because of the pandemic – expecting admins to have all the answers had to change. Really brought out the changes in leadership structure from an older style of top-down decision management to a newer style of transparency and bringing everyone along together. While staff enjoys the benefits of the new style, they need to let go of having everthing figured out and handed to us.*** fix MD Give people information: Threatening information is absorbed remarkably slowly, and often incompletely. Leaders must find as many different ways to share as possible. When people don’t understand what is going on, resentment and fear blossom. People will create stories of their own to explain what is happening, usually relying on innuendo, gossip, wild guesses and worst-case-scenarios (in the absence of facts – people make them up!) Say what you know, admit you don’t know more and provide a timetable for additional information, repeat the cycle often and regularly. For example: related to revising the floor plan for each department, we started with a current plan – and made a list of everything we wanted to add or change. Then, I made those changes by putting post its on the floor plan. That diagram went to the architects, and then each draft from the architects went back to department meetings. In this way staff could see their ideas reflected on the evolving plan. Later, when we discovered we were going to close Main, there were dozens, if not hundreds of questions. We compiled that information into a table that described the plan to accommodate programs, services, and customers. ** You don’t have to have it all figured out before you start talking about the changes that are coming. MD Define what’s over and what isn’t: One of the most important leadership roles during times of change is that of putting into words what it is time to leave behind. Leaders risk three equally serious and difficult reactions when they do not specify what is over and what isn’t: 1. People don’t dare to stop doing anything; they try to do all the old things and the new things. Soon they burn out with the overload. 2. People make their own decisions about what to discard and what to keep, and the result is inconsistency and chaos. 3. People toss out everything that was done in the past, and the baby, the tub and all the toys disappear with the bathwater. Back to that example of creating a new department – Fact and Fiction: We held joint meetings with all the affected staff, shared what we knew, and answered their questions We provided ways for them to ask questions from a more private setting, and shared the answers in a growing FAQ list Meetings continued during Main’s temporary closure so that staff could successfully have Endings, navigate the Neutral Zone, and move on to the Beginnings of the programs and services they would offer as Main reopened COVID Examples - Bewildering week for Aple expecting answers & Admin really not knowing and trying to both lead and be transparent - Currently we offer PCs for the public at 5 of our 19 locations. In updating staff procedures, we have to be careful to paint the forward state. Right now, staff disinfect PCs and surfaces between each customer. As services (and customer numbers) expand, some of these responsibilities may transfer to customers.
- MD Many may mistakenly conclude that the confusion and feelings of groundlessness in this phase are a sign that something is wrong. Some may be alarmed in this no-man’s-land and try to prematurely escape. (Employees do this frequently, which is why there is often an increased level of turnover during organizational changes.) Painful though it is, the neutral zone is the individual’s and the organization’s best chance to be creative, to develop into what they need to become, and to rejuvenate themselves for the time ahead. The task before a leader becomes twofold: first, to get your people through the neutral zone in one piece; and second, to capitalize on all the confusion by encouraging them to be innovative. Encourage experimentation and a Test and Try atmosphere, brainstorm and try new answers to old problems Embrace losses, setbacks, or disadvantages as learning opportunities and entry points into new solutions Examples: During Main’s temporary closure we encouraged the staff and teams that were working “differently” to really dig in and try some new things. Tech Team surveyed staff to understand where people needed help, then worked with managers to schedule 1:1 coaching and small classes. The success of those efforts built positive momentum for the possibilities of working differently. Also, as soon as Main’s closing was announced, individuals and social service agencies asked about the impact on those experiencing homelessness County Commissioners, Library, and about 8 other groups met bi-monthly, to have a solution in place for winter Collaborative approach to opening a "library" in the Life Revitalization Center Other groups working on Rapid Rehousing and Housing First models That satellite library is a success and continues to this day COVID Example: PC use for public – 5 pilot libraries building Best Practices / Tension in that some staff clearly thought that the Best Practices already exist – they don't!
- AH – Biggest “aha!” moment in the entire book: Leaders typically go through their transitions before they launch the changes. By the time they are ready to announce the change, they have left their endings and neutral zones behind, and now they’re ready for a new beginning. But staff and employees will just be entering the ending phase at the point the change is announced. Often, Change leaders will be significantly ahead of those being led, in processing the new idea They'll have had adequate time for discussion and consulting with other industry leaders, will have thought about and accepted the trade offs that come with every change. Even if employees are included in change planning, there will still be a need for them to process the idea of the change. Understanding this will help leaders with guiding transition more effectively. As a union leader, I got to simultaneously appreciate both perspectives where staff were in the “overreact” zone and leaders were in the perceiving bad morale and obstinance realm. Perfect example of this was the way we announced Main’s closure: - This was such a big decision, management didn’t want “leaks” to happen before they could officially announce the closure. Email to +All at the same time that the local paper ran the story. Staff freaked out. They didn’t have a chance to process before being the public face of this change. Staff were grieving and “overreacting” at the same time we had to field questions from the public about the decision we’d just learned about ourselves. On the other hand, in situations like Covid, leaders WON'T have the luxury of time and experience to guide their thinking, and we're seeing that staff need to learn about relative patience in dealing with missteps and unexpected hurdles. We're going to talk about the role of trust building in surviving transition in just a bit. With Covid, managers are truly learning to appreciate the bewilderment of moving through transition on the same timeline as staff, and everyone is feeling the pain of how difficult it is to make decisions when the situation is so fluid. Test and Try really needs to be part of the process, allowing us to be more nimble in learning what works and moving on from what doesn't. Staff are struggling with continuing to expect decisions and guidance when that is just not possible. Example: opening up for computer use by appointment. We're going to talk about the importance of communication, and this is more vital than ever as we're all swerving and pivoting when developments come hurtling towards us. There was frustration in that they were making it up on the fly. ***
- MD – Getting people through the neutral zone: Strengthen intra-group connections: The neutral zone is a lonely place. People feel isolated, especially if they don’t understand what is happening to them. Old problems are likely to resurface, and old resentments are likely to come back to life. It is especially important to try to rebuild a sense of identification with the group and of connectedness with one another via good communication. Be wary of any arrangement or activity that shows a preference for one group over others. During this middle phase of transition, people want to feel that ‘we are all in this boat together Employees need to see the role and their relationship to others in the new scheme of things. Until they know this, they can’t begin to adjust hopes and fears to meet their new reality. They need a role in dealing effectively with the transition process itself. Leaders should ask: How can I make this interim between the old and the new not only a bearable time but a time during which the organization and everyone’s place in it are enhanced? How can we come out of this waiting time better than we were before the transition started? Traditional Library examples: [describe what the Forums were] Staff forums around Main's temporary closure; continuing staff meetings during that time even though most staff were reassigned to different branches; Example of AV/Computers and Media during the temporary closure & that leadership model might not have been the best choice. Going forward, how does that team further come together COVID Example: ALA Annual – Council meetings via Zoom – seemed to be more participative; less intimidating; full of fresh voices & perspectives
- MD Picture: Be careful not to overwhelm people with a picture that is so far ahead of where they are or hard for them to identify with that they become intimidated rather than excited. Examples: How will the beginning work? Seeing it (visuals) makes it more successful Why did we need the renovation in the first place? Why did Main need to close? Tours to potential sponsors/donors: alignment & working forward Internal and External – Arts Comm & Making equipment COVID Example: Opportunity of Zoom / screen share in summarizing the detailed Facilites Master Plan at the Board meeting. In a way it was BETTER to have the 10 slides as a focal point more than the 150 report. Detailed summaries are the key!
- AH Plans are immensely reassuring to people, not just because they contain information, but because they exist. Give people information: Say what you know, admit you don’t know more and provide a timetable for additional information, repeat the cycle often and regularly. It helps to have access to living documents of what leaders are working on. We need to know what you don’t know, otherwise we assume you’re keeping things from us either because you’re afraid to admit what you’ve decided, you don’t understand what we need to know, or you just don’t care. In an information vacuum, which voice is going to dominate? The one who says, “We can DO this, everyone! It’s going to be GREAT!”? Or the one who says “WE’RE GOING TO DIIIIIIEEEEEEEE! Children and highly literate people to the lifeboats! Run away!”? Plans also help those who are operationally or functional minded, the picture can be interesting, but they get frustrated by lack of details. For them, the question is, “What do we do on Monday?” A transition plan outlines the steps and schedule by which people will receive the information, training and support needed to make the transition. It lays out the nature and timing of key events. In communications along the way, effective leaders speak to wherever people are NOW, not just to where they’ll be “someday”. At this point, employees need help, not in achieving the destination they’ll ultimately reach, but in taking the NEXT BEST STEP in the transition process. What kind of reinforcements will help people develop the new attitudes and behaviors that will be necessary if the new beginning is to work? Point of a plan isn’t to share every bit of info for everything that could possibly happen – just what makes sense now Talk about Jason’s “This will Only take a minute” and COVID update messages. Digests of what he’s working on/thinking about. A great way for us to know what’s coming down the pipe. Best Example of a Plan that made a huge difference: Sharing new Job descriptions and clear timeline for phasing in new administrative positions Tiered plans – Service Models Workgroup
- AH – add link to values to this slide MD When people trust their leaders, they’re willing to undertake change, even if it scares them. The good news is that you can build trust; the bad news is that it takes time to build it. Share yourself honestly (but beware of using “honesty” as a cover/excuse for hostility). A lot of mistrust begins when people are unable to read you. While hiding your shortcomings may polish your image, it ultimately undermines people’s trust. Admitting an untrustworthy action is itself a trustworthy action. Example? Don’t be surprised if your trust-building project is viewed suspiciously. Asking people to let go of their old mistrust of managers puts them into a significant and dangerous-feeling transition. Their mistrust – justified or not—was a form of self-protection, and no one gives that up easily. Leaders often find themselves fighting old battles (some possibly preceding that person’s tenure) when transition starts. Old grievances resurface, old scars start to ache, and old skeletons come tumbling out. On the positive side, every transition is an opportunity to heal the old wounds that have been undermining effectiveness and productivity. It is never too late to become an organization that manages its people well. For that reason, the old scar and the unresolved issue are great gifts. They represent opportunities for organizational enhancement. Examples: Innovation Incubator – depts/agencies keep a lane open for success That tool is key to developing the mental skills necessary to build trust and innovation! COVID Examples: Building on what Amy shared about Jason’s messaging - Connecting messages to our Values - Take the time to establish and connect to Values (before the next pandemic!) - Right now is a good time to "lift" your organizational culture
- MD Beginnings are psychological phenomena. They are marked by a release of new energy in a new direction—they are the expression of a new identity. They are much more than the practical and situational “new circumstances” that we might call starts. Situations can change quickly; beginnings take place only when people are ready to make the emotional commitment to do things the new way and see themselves as new people Examples: Preparing for Opening Day! Bringing staff back 4 weeks ahead – some admin pushback (it’s their JOB to pushback – that’s part of what we need to have accountability and good rationale for our planning/work) The new department, Fact and Fiction, decided to use a new tool together – they started with Basecamp and are now transitioning to Microsoft Teams. It is proving to be a great place to share detailed work plans and progress reports for learning equip, services & cross training. It’s something new that hadn’t existed for any of them before. We’re at the beginning Right Now (example of goal setting / visualizing during the January MDSM meeting) - and now trying to offer all of those good ideas, programs, and services remotely.
- AH Bridges shares a very effective German proverb: A great war leaves a country with three armies: an army of cripples, an army of mourners, and an army of thieves. Similarly, a poorly or unmanaged transition leaves behind: Survivors who have been wounded by the changes they have been through and are unable or unwilling to go forward Those who are grieving over all that they have lost in the change and unable to appreciate or even understand any benefits that have been gained Those whose loyalty and ethics have been so compromised by their experience that they turn hostile, self-centered, and subversive (It's like looking in the mirror with Covid, isn't it!?) Poorly or unmanaged transition creates an exhausted and demoralized staff who may consciously or unconsciously hinder positive outcomes and further growth. Either way, transition takes time. You get to decide where you spend it: helping people through the transition, or managing the chaos that remains after ignoring or skimping on the process that would have helped people get through. Management always takes two sides – people need to be willing to move and listen. Staff have a role to play in making transition manageable. Making them a part of the process is key to overcoming the resistance to change. Talking with them objectively about where they are in the process is very helpful.
- While massive construction projects and complete administrative reorganizations won't happen to everyone in their careers much less the same year like it did for us, we can certainly see Covid as the universal example of transition management; a frame of reference that everyone in the world can understand. What have others done to move through this time? What can we learn? How are our communities changing and how can we meet them where they are NOW with and responsibility and grace? Service models workgroup – making what we do accessible. Planning for Test and try.
- MD Bridges shares a lot of tools and goals for managing transitions. Don’t feel like you need to use all of them! The tools you choose depend on where your culture is and what your culture needs. In Toledo, the culture we’re building needs: Commitment to regular communication Evolving forms and documents with reliable info Continual reassurance that “it’s going to be okay”and will be BETTER if you involve yourself in the meetings & discussions Right now, each of you can commit to making one change. What will it be? Go in to Q & A