A No-Bullsh*t Guide For Businesses Starting the Journey.
Written by Tania Armstrong, Co-founder/CEO, STATE3
I both love and revile routine. While my settled self yearns for predictability – the same café coffee each morning, ongoing study and routine meetings - my inner hell-raiser likes the opportunity to shake it up and try new things. It’s the latter that drove me to go skydiving, get a road bike and start a couple of businesses. Both ways of being bring different and valuable outcomes to my life. Embracing the joy of this continuum suits me down to the ground and perfectly positions me to love the time we are living in – one of change. But not all share my enthusiasm for change. What happens when previously predictable organisations are confronted with ongoing changes from external market forces, climate change, economic downturns, political volatility, and rampant technology change? It’s not that we have never faced these things before, but now we face these challenges continuously. We are living in the ‘everything, everywhere all at once’ era of work.
Our organisations need to become agile, nimble, and change-enabled. The ongoing dynamic of change needs to be built into the DNA of what we do. I mean everything - how we hire, our team culture, the development of our goods and the delivery of our services.
By focusing on enabling change we reduce wear and tear on individuals delivering change, develop an inherent problem-solving mentality to dealing with challenges, as well as increases in productivity and lower overheads. I also think it helps both people and organisations become more resilient and robust.
Individual Level: Personal Ownership and Adaptability
Acknowledging Feelings – it’s not as bullsh*t as it sounds!
Being a Gen X, I struggle with being touchy-feely and acknowledging emotions at work. I have gotten to less "candy floss butt" and more hard ass in this area over time. But being open and honest is cathartic.
Everyone responds differently to change. While some run toward it, embracing the ‘new’ with open arms, others run screaming from the room with their hair on fire! But most of us are somewhere in between.
None of these responses are wrong. However, overwhelmed individuals may need space to discuss their feelings. Access to external health care services, including mental health services, can be a useful addition to the relationships and resources we have at work.
(Have a listen here if you want to see what tech looks like when it goes rogue from the Business of Tech)
Personal Development
My research indicated that organisations should ‘encourage a growth mindset where individuals take ownership of their development….blah blah’. Yeah, but there is always a gap between accountability and responsibility. If you’re struggling, don’t just sit there—speak up! Managers aren’t mind readers.
Whether it’s asking for training, signing up for a course, hitting the gym during lunch, cutting back on caffeine, or just chatting with a mate, personal development is more than a work-oriented thing.
Own your growth.
Team Level: Collaboration and Empowerment
AI might help, but there is no substitute for effective communication
I’ve sat on a few advisory boards relating to technology training at various institutions. The number one request many industry folks like me continuously ask for is opportunities for students to learn how to communicate with each other, managers, and the wider business. One of my old managers talked about being a young white guy managing a group of older women in a retail business. In his late 20s, he learnt that his team were dealing with miscarriages, hysterectomies, families dealing with drug/alcohol/gambling addictions, relationship breakdowns, and death – and they were open about all of it with him. This must have been confronting, especially for a young manager, as he had not personally experienced (or would ever experience) some of these issues.
The point is that many of us are dealing with or have dealt with some of these issues or are/have supported friends who might be. Bringing authenticity to work sometimes means we are vulnerable. If we are dealing with high levels of change at work/home and the ongoing stress it can bring with it, can quickly make life feel insurmountable. Managers have a strong role to play here in supporting team members who have big things happening for them. Everyone has a part to play in bringing a little patience and compassion to every workday.
Empowerment through Ownership and Making Hard Decisions
The internet is full of people advocating involving ‘team members in decision-making, allowing them to take part in problem-solving and planning with a view of cultivating a sense of ownership, reducing resistance…’. While all of this is true, it is underwhelming when one person doesn’t pull their weight and lets the teams progress down. It’s even more underwhelming when the team/manager/business allows it to continue. I recently had two of my team request not to work with a particular contact. I rang the person in contention’s manager and was direct and honest with them. They heard the concerns and the resolution was to remove that person from the team, therefore removing a large obstacle from the team dynamics. It should be that easy.
Act decisively, don’t make things personal, keep it outcome and move on.
The utter bullsh*t of the solo ‘Change Champions’:
Research suggests that appointing ‘change champions’ within teams to serve as liaisons between management and staff, facilitating smoother transitions and ongoing support - was the way to go. I’m going to call ‘bullsh*t’ on this one. Being the only person pushing for change is doomed to fail and yet I see a lot of organisations consider this as a legitimate way to make change happen. Change initiatives are about engaging hearts and minds. Those leading the charge need must be enabled to make it happen. How many times has a team delivering a change initiative run into brick walls when the project goes into BAU?
Change enablement is not a solo sport - it’s a team play.
Business Level: Leadership and Change Culture
Old Tricks Won’t Work – Adapt!
Senior managers are often folk who have grown in the business or industry and have been promoted due to their expertise. However, the techniques that worked 10-15 years ago will likely not work in a rampantly changing, technology-driven world.
A good example is the adoption of agile delivery methods. Likewise, the Gen Z workers coming into the employment market require different working conditions, remuneration packages and work perks than us, Gen Xers.
The composition of the workforce, how and where they work, and everything in between has changed. This means managers need to stay current if they are to change the focus of their organisation to one that can embrace change. The upshot? – stay current, read widely, ask questions and don’t assume the game is the same. It’s not.
Use Your Levers
One thing that is squarely in the manager's wheelhouse is using the levers at your command to speed up or slow down the pace of change.
Before coming back to NZ I had two great managers I could look to and learn from. The thing they had in common was that they would take the fight upstairs, protect their teams and hold the line on delivering. Sounds easy on paper but those in management roles often find said position full of awful compromises.
In this sense, effective management is an art, not a science. While I don't have a lot of personal experience with what makes a good manager, one thing was evident with both managers I am referring to here – they were professional but also principled. If you are a principled person you manage with integrity. The worst managers I had were those whose decision-making was based on what was in it for them. How does that build trust?
Cultural Shift
The one thing I did agree with from the research was the need to reinforce a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.
Change should not be seen as a one-off event but an ongoing opportunity to evolve the organisation.
Don’t make this all about technology. Technology does its thing and constantly evolves.
Continuous improvement and change need to occur in people, management, process, data, and service. Every area of your organisation offers smouldering opportunities for innovation.
While tech might play a role, common sense might also. Be open to new ways of doing things. Working from home was not an option for most of us until Covid so why wait for a pandemic to have a crack at something? Experiment now.
Adopt Change Management / Enablement at an Org Level
There are heaps of ways to support agile and change enablement. Whatever the methodology, approaches, or frameworks you pick, it needs to be adopted and built into the foundations of your organisation.
Read, write, talk, do – it has to be a uniting thread through the fabric of work.
Board Level: Enabling a Change Org.
Is your board fit for the future?
I am a huge advocate for technologists and tech leaders getting governance experience through courses and getting on boards. IT / ITS / Tech and Project Teams live and breathe change and their members have a lot to offer here.
Diverse boards indeed bring a wealth of benefits but in a time of dynamic change where organisations are struggling to meet challenges successfully, businesses need the varied support, knowledge and expertise of those who have made the shifting sands of change their lives work.
Businesses need to get the composition of their boards right for the challenges the future holds.
Everything prior x2
The advice I propose for individuals and managers within an organisation needs to be doubly applied to any board member.
NZ tends to be a ‘bit behind and a bit nice’ when it comes to ensuring that boards are held accountable for organisational mistakes. While we are getting better at ensuring worker health and safety, data or privacy breaches are still not taken seriously. That will change if Australia and the EU are anything to go by. Are our boards ready for the change that will need to occur when legislation changes or reputation is impacted due to a technology-related issue?
Conclusion
Becoming a change-enabled, ass-kicking organisation is about staying curious, optimistic, open to ideas and willing to experiment. Which is not a stroll in the park.
I have a friend who talks about going to the gym as part of her ‘fit for work’ strategy. We need to take a similar approach to building Change Enabled Organisations.
If we took the temperature today across every aspect of what our organisations do – are they fit for purpose? Chances are probably not. And if this is the case – it's time to take steps at every level to change that.
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