Written by Sharri Margraves, Director for HR Organization and Professional Development

I invite you to take a fresh perspective on leading change by starting with yourself and how you lead change. We are experiencing unprecedented change on many levels, across many organizations and systems, which puts pressure on both you and your teams. Creating collaborative teams, internally and cross-functionally, will help you lead change in a new way. Start down the path by considering the following questions:

Are you treating the symptoms or tackling the root cause of the issues?

Bring your teams together to consider the root cause of problems or improvements. Connecting improvements throughout the organization to individuals can increase engagement and create value for your stakeholders.

Does everyone on your team understand expectations and how to participate in improvement?

Imagine empowering and unleashing the potential of your entire team by inviting them to work on what really matters in a way that is supported by trusting those who know the most about the issues and can make direct contributions that have a positive impact.

Do you expect continuous improvement in your daily work?

Consider ways to systematically improve even “small” thorny issues to enhance efficiency and your team’s experience in day-to-day processes. Don’t underestimate the power of recognizing your employees for excellent work even during the everyday—it’s a great way to boost engagement and maintain momentum!

Do you practice inclusion by having representatives of all of your key stakeholders?

Be holistic in solving problems and making improvements. Include representatives from each key area that may be involved in your project or process to ensure the best outcome for improvement and performance, which also builds rapport and trust—especially those that perform the actual work.

Lean into change regardless of the scope and create a path:

1. Define – Identify the problem, the desired state, the team to be involved in the process, and their roles. A RACI chart is helpful in determining who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed.
2. Do and Document – Kaizen means to take apart-“Kai” and put back together- “Zen.” Lead with intention and remember—there are no bad people or information. Focus on the facts of the problem and model problem-solving and enhancement of services. Document the process as you go, identify improvement areas, and communicate with stakeholders regularly.
3. Measure and Compare—verify improvement. Anything that does not add value (time, money, energy) should be eliminated wherever possible. Measuring improvement is an important step and promotes transparency, even during everyday processes.
4. Standardize the new process, system, and action. Use visual tools, dashboards, and posters to reinforce the processes. Promapp is a great system of record to do all of that.

Celebrate success! Be sure to monitor continuously as situations change and embark on improvements.

“Change leadership is the ability to influence and inspire action in another, and respond with vision and agility during periods of growth, disruption or uncertainty to bring about the needed change. “ Yvonne Ruke Akpoveta

Sources

Balzer, W., Francis, D., Krehbiel, T., Shea, N. A review and perspective on lean in higher education. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/William-Balzer/publication/308000035_A_review_and_perspective_on_Lean_in_higher_education/links/5ea32ac6299bf112560c188d/A-review-and-perspective-on-Lean-in-higher-education.pdf

Jenkins, Alison. Advancing lean leadership. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/advancing-lean-leadership#

Neumeyer, Adrian. Create a RACI chart so everyone knows their role. https://www.tacticalprojectmanager.com/raci-chart-explanation-with-example