Change on the Run – Details, episodes & analysis

Phil is joined by communication and corporate affairs leader Saira Absar to discuss responding to praise during change.

Change initiatives can be gruelling and can feel like a succession of uphill battles characterized by tight deadlines, difficult challenges, stretched capabilities, and long hours. Giving and receiving recognition energizes individuals and teams and builds momentum to tackle the next tasks and activities. 

There is a lot of advice on how to acknowledge people’s efforts but little on how best to receive this recognition. It can be an opportunity to acknowledge those who give it, your contributing peers, and the strategy and tactics that led to the achievement.

So, how do you respond to praise in ways that leverage the compliment for you, others and the project?

You can reach Saira at: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sairanabsar/

Phil is joined by change and business transformation expert Cathy Brown to discuss negotiating deadlines during change.

Setting realistic project timelines requires a thorough understanding of the change and the context in which it is being made. The level of change complexity, resource availability, and operating environment are inputs into creating a fact-based calendar for the timing of deliverables. 

Negotiating deadlines requires aligning leader and project team expectations with your assessment of the transition work and the time needed to complete it.

So, how do you negotiate deadlines that enable you to complete tasks and activities to their specifications within dynamic operating environments?

You can reach Cathy at:

Email: bcathy188@gmail.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathybrown188/

Phil is joined by CFO/COO and change leader Matt Lloyd to discuss how to reward team members during change.

People have a need to be recognized for work that is meaningful and is necessary for success. From recognition to gifts, rewards play an important role in maintaining morale, focus, and performance. They acknowledge people’s hard work and give them confidence in their future contributions. 

Rewards also shape team members’ perceptions of how they were treated, appreciated, and valued, influencing their levels of engagement and commitment to future projects.

So, how do you reward team members to acknowledge their work and inspire future efforts and performance? 

Matt can be reached at:

Email: matt@collectively.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-lloyd-avfc/

Collectively Website: https://collectively.com/

Phil is joined by change management and not-for-profit leader Laura Oliver to discuss how to respond to adjustments during change.

Change initiatives typically involve continual revisions. New information emerges, stakeholder needs shift, and requirements change. Many people dive into accommodating the changes without assessing whether they help or hinder the projects and their success. Conversely, reacting quickly and taking action can be more important than extensively assessing options and determining the best response.

So, how do you respond to plan adjustments that accommodate necessary changes and keep resources focused on delivering your defined outcomes?

Laura and the Grindstone Award Foundation can be reached at:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauraoliver12/

Email: https://grindstoneaward.com/

Phil is joined by change and transformation expert Sarah Smith to discuss how to leverage your existing culture during change.

An organization’s culture describes how work gets done. It’s a collection of attitudes, beliefs, practices and behaviours that dictate how people treat each other. It is also a source of strength you can tap into because it’s familiar, deeply rooted and has emotional connections with people.

So, how do you leverage your existing culture and its strengths to adopt new ways of working?

Sarah can be reached at:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahlcsmith/

Email: sarah@hundredbrands.com

Phil is joined by change expert Brendon Baker to discuss how to identify and apply project lessons learned.

Managing the closing of a change project and capturing learnings is challenging because most leaders and project team members have mentally moved on to their next roles and challenges. 

A lessons-learned exercise is essential for building change capacity and skill in your organization. It documents which approaches and activities worked and should be repeated by other project teams, and which didn’t and shouldn’t.

So, how do you identify project lessons learned that are instructive, recorded, acknowledged and embedded in an organization's ways of working?

Brendon can be reached at:

Website: https://valuablechange.com/

Additional Resources: The Change Leader Weekly Newsletter: https://valuablechange.com/

Phil is joined by change management expert Yvonne Thevenot to discuss how to optimize your limited time during change.

Most people have fewer resources to fulfill their change role than they need. With full calendars and large to-do lists, they must choose the most important activities to spend their time on. Determining which activities offer the most value is one of the biggest personal and project success factors.

So, how do you optimize your time on a change initiative to maximize your contribution to achieve its outcomes?

Yvonne can be reached at:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yvonne-thevenot-she-her-64779a5/

Phil is joined by consultant, speaker, and leadership coach Søren Pedersen to discuss how to measure progress during change.

Measuring progress is an essential element of good project management. Consistent updates on progress remind leaders and colleagues of the work being done, the success achieved, and the benefits realized once the change is made. It also identifies areas falling short of the plan that need extra resources. 

The absence of consistent measurement encourages subjective assessments of gains, or exaggerations of risks that lead to inertia, knee-jerk responses, distraction, or additional cost.

So, how do you measure progress and setbacks to assess the status of a project accurately?

Søren can be reached at:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pedersen-on-software/

Website: https://www.buildingbettersoftware.com/

Phil is joined by learning and development and business management expert David Donaldson to discuss addressing an emergency during change.

Since there are many parts in motion during change, it makes sense that sometimes some of those parts just don’t work. Plans are made with the best available information, and many assumptions are created to fill in the unknowns, especially when time is short. In this environment, emergencies are inevitable. They also are risks that can determine the success of your change initiative. 

So, how do you address emergencies to minimize damage and quicken recovery? 

David can be reached at:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidgdonaldson/

Email: david@dragonsong.ca

Additional resources: David's TEDx talk: Resilience, The Upside of Down,

https://www.ted.com/talks/david_donaldson_resilience_the_up_side_of_down

Phil is joined by business and market development expert David Smyth to discuss how to create a Plan B during change.

Most change and transition plans don’t go as intended because there are too many variables to predict. Variances can cause delays, extra costs and compromise credibility, especially if you haven’t thought through responses to organizational shifts. 

So, how do you create a Plan B to avoid major disruptions from unanticipated events and to increase team agility? 

David can be reached at:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-smyth-b815a34/

Email: davidsmyth@greenprojectmanagement.com

Telephone: 01 647-980-5234

Additional resources: The Global Standard for Sustainable Project Management:

https://www.greenprojectmanagement.org/gpm-standards/the-p5-standard-for-sustainability-in-project-management/