Understanding and Leading an Organization Through Continual Growth and Change
Participant’s Guide
Association of Fundraising Professionals
Chicago Chapter
2015
BEGINNING OF SEGMENT ONE
Opening / Introductions, objectives, personal objectives / 15 min / 10:15AM - 10:30AM
Circle Exercise / Small, Middle, Large circles, connections with your organization. Also talk briefly about changes over the next two years. / 25 min / 10:30AM - 10:55AM
Eye Openers / Facts About Change / 10 min / 10:55AM - 11:05AM
Change Continuum / Superficial, incremental, continuous, transformational. / 10 min / 11:05AM - 11:15AM
Personal Identities / Personal values exercise / 25 min / 11:15AM - 11:40AM
END OF SEGMENT ONE
Break / Lunch Break / 75 min / 11:40AM - 12:55PM
BEGINNING OF SEGMENT TWO
Predictable Process of Change / Kubler-Ross Model. First part of the video. / 30 min / 12:55PM - 1:25PM
Circle of Influence / Overview / 15 min / 1:25PM - 1:40PM
Stress / Show the stress segment of video / 15 min / 1:40PM - 1:55PM
Break / 15 min / 1:55PM - 2:10PM
END OF SEGMENT TWO
BEGINNING OF SEGMENT THREE
Iceberg/Leader’s Role/Leadership / Analogy// Employee needs/leaders role// Leadership vs. Management / 25 min / 2:10PM - 2:35PM
Change Equation / Explain and exercise / 45 min / 2:35PM - 3:20PM
Closing / Use Word Association and/or Business Unusual exercises / 20 min / 3:20PM - 3:40PM
END OF SEGMENT THREE
Opening
Section Time:15 minutes
Running Time:10:15AM - 10:30AM
Personal Objectives
What personal objectives do you have?
Please write them below.
Circle Exercise
Section Time:25 minutes
Running Time:10:30AM - 10:55AM
Exercise
You will be divided into three smaller groups with each group at a different easel page set around the room.
- Function Group documents changes at the individual/department level (tools, jobs, teams, knowledge needed, technology, expectations, hours, titles).
- Organization Group documents organizational changes (leadership, colleagues, processes, members, donors).
- World Groupdocuments global changes economy, world events, telecommunications, technology).
When you are finished, hang the easel pages next to each other in this order: Professional, Organization, World. When asked, give a brief report and then as a group note connections among the pages. Draw lines connecting items on different pages.
What impressions do you have when you take in the whole picture?
Change Happens!What big changes are happening in your function?
What are the changes within your organization in the past three years?
What are the changes the world and your industry has seen (gone through) in the past three years?
Eye Openers
Section Time:10 minutes
Running Time:10:55AM - 11:05AM
Change Continuum
Section Time:10 minutes
Running Time:11:05AM - 11:15AM
THE CHANGE CONTINUUM
•What is low impact to one person, may be high impact to another.
•It is dangerous to assume you how an individual is affected.
•The most reliable way to find out how individuals are affected is to ask them.
Where am I on the Continuum in relation to a current change?
Change #1
Change #2
Personal Identities
Section Time:25 minutes
Running Time:11:15AM - 11:40AM
Exercise
You need 3 things: Paper, pen, and a partner. Work in pairs. Each person needs 10 small pieces of paper.
Each member of the pair takes a turn being the questioner; the other person is the responder. The questioner asks the responder, “Jane, who are you?” The responder replies with a noun, adjective, short phrase or whatever comes to mind. The questioner writes it on a piece of paper, turns the paper over, and repeats the question, always using the person’s name. The question is asked 10 times, yielding 10 “identities” on 10 pieces of paper. Then the pair reverses roles and completes a second set of responses.
Once everything is done, each of you should take you own responses and prioritize them in order of importance. Line up your words in front of you, with the least important identity closest to you. Also record them on the “Personal Identities & Change” page in your Participant’s Guide.
Look at your 10th or least important identity. Think for a moment what it means to be that. Now crumple it up and throw it away.
Repeat for 9. See if there is any resistance. Keep repeating until you see great resistance in the group to throwing away their identities.
Look at your remaining identities. If these go will the change be superficial or transformational? If you lose these, will you continue to be who you are, or will you lose yourself? Remember , the questions is about WHO you are, not WHAT you are. These are qualities and characteristics, not just what your job is.
How many of you in your top 5 have job-related identities? Chances are few if any. So what about changes at work? Are they transformational?
PERSONAL IDENTITIES & CHANGE
“Who are you?”
Prioritize from most important (#1) to least important (#10)
Flexibility comes from…
Lunch Break
Section Time:75 minutes
Running Time:11:40AM - 12:55PM
Predictable Process of Change
Section Time:30 minutes
Running Time:12:55PM - 1:25PM
Learnings
Consider a real change that you have experienced and record youanswers to the first two questions on the “Predictable Process of Change” page in their Participant’s Guide.
Record your learnings from the video at the bottom of that page.
.
PREDICTABLE PROCESS OF CHANGE
Reaction to change is an emotional process with
- A beginning and ending
- Identifiable stages
What feelings or behaviors are you seeing with this change?
How are you reacting to change in your work group?
What did you hear in “Managing Change and Transition”?
Circle of Influence
Section Time:15 minutes
Running Time: 1:25PM - 1:40PM
CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE
Questions to consider often:
→What is in my Circle of Concern?
→What is in my Circle of Influence?
→Where do I spend most of my time and energy?
✓Circle of Concern?
✓Circle of Influence?
Stress
Section Time:15 minutes
Running Time:1:40PM - 1:55PM
When asked, share your stress-management strategies.
Learnings
Record your learnings on the “Stress” page of the Participant’s Guide.
STRESS
Stress is a normal reaction to change.
Our response to stress is not always negative. It can:
Energize
Motivate
On the negative side it can:
Cause physical harm
Cause emotional harm
Limit productivity
Ways to manage the stress related to change:
Break
Section Time:15 minutes
Running Time:1:55PM - 2:10PM
Iceberg
Section Time:5 minutes
Running Time:2:10PM - 2:15PM
CHANGE - An Iceberg Analogy
RULES FOR MOVING ICEBERGS- Catalyst - an iceberg will tend not to make departures without some side force being applied. With 90% below “see” level, only by melting the bottom can there be movement forward.
- Connection - pushing only on the top risks flipping the berg over, causing potential harm. It will right itself to the original position.
- Constant Pressure - small steady force is necessary to keep the berg moving. Without it, it will float directionless for years.
Leader’s Role
Section Time:15 minutes
Running Time:2:15PM - 2:30PM
Exercise
Divide into two groups. Each group gets as easel.
Group 1 charts associate needs in times of rapid change.
Group 2 chart’s the leader’s role during these times.
After 10 minutes, hang the easel pages on the wall side-by-side and as a group give connections between the two.
Record your learnings on the “In Times of Change” page in theParticipant’s Guide.
In Times of Change
You’ve watched the pace of change accelerate over the past few years. You are expecting it to continue during the foreseeable future. Times like these put new demands on everybody in the organization.
“We can’t wait for the storm to blow over, we’ve got to learn to work in the rain.”
(Pete Silas, former Chairman of Phillips Petroleum)
EMPLOYEES NEED: / LEADERS/MANAGERS ROLE(S):Leadership
Section Time:5 minutes
Running Time:2:30PM - 2:35PM
Management vs. Leadership
When asked, look at the lists on “The Role of the Leader” page in the Participant’s Guide and discuss the differences.
THE ROLE OF THE LEADER
Managing Change / Leading ChangeTimelines / Behaviors
Milestones / Emotions
Projects / Involvement
Objects / People
Deadlines / Transitions
When managing change, leaders define what outcomes are expected and determine the plan for execution from that point backward.
When leading change, you start with where people ARE and develop a plan for moving from that point forward.
THEREFORE: LEADERS/MANAGERS need to:
Determine Readiness for Change
Plan for Movement
Gain a Critical Mass of Influencers
Discuss and Determine Threats and Opportunities
Consider Current Impact, Future Impact, and Time Frame
Anticipate and Prepare for Possible Resistance and Problems
Change Equation
Section Time:45 minutes
Running Time:2:35PM - 3:20PM
The Change Equation
Richard BeckhardExercise
Choose a change from the Organization circle (Circles exercise) or to consider a new one.
Divide into 4 subgroups with each one taking one element of the formula. Then list elements on an easel page. Something that might help is to note that you should list:
- D = Why is this change happening?
- V = What are the benefits of making this change?
- F = First steps to prepare the organization and its people for this change?
- R = What resistance to this change will you as a leader have to deal with?
After about 10 minutes, place your easel pages next to each other in the order of the formula. Make sure there is a six-inch space between each page. When asked review your easel for the other participants.
Learnings
Record their collective results on “The Change Equation” page in their Participant’s Guide.
The Change Equation
All elements of the formula must be present or the resistance to the change will not overcome.
Using a case study or a current change initiative define:
D:
V:
F:
Closing
Section Time:20 minutes
Running Time:3:20PM - 3:40PM
Business as “Un”usual
When asked, individually complete the “Business As ‘Un’Usual” checklist in yourParticipant’s Guide. Compare responses in small groups and then with the entire group.
BUSINESS AS “UN”USUAL
(From Pritchett & Pound booklet of same name:Guidelines for Times of Change and Transition:)
Check how you/your organization is doing in these 27 areas:
Doing WellNeeds to Improve Guideline s
* Be a Change Agent - flexible & adaptable
* Don’t Give Away Power - best defense is a good
Offense
* Keep a Positive Attitude - enthusiasm
* Give Clear-cut Marching Orders s- minimize ambiguity
with specifics
* Focus on Short-term Objectives/achievement
* Establish Clear Priorities - things that count
* Nail Down each Person’s Job Responsibilities
* Promise and Sell Change - straight forward
* Get Resistance in the Open - invite/explore it
* Raise the Bar - engineer success not failure
* Motivate to the Hilt - matched to the person
* Encourage Risk Taking - tolerate mistakes
* Don’t Try to Cover all the Bases - delegate
* Create a Supportive Work Environment - by
Encouraging and affirming people
* Ride “Close herd” - nip problems in the bud
* Re-Build Morale - celebrate meaning & value
* Provide Additional Job Know-how/new skills
* Pass out “Psychological Paychecks” - reward
* Beef-up Communications Efforts - listen, ?
* Go Looking for Bad News - expect trouble + don’t
shoot the messengers
* Protect Service & Quality - close to customers
* Re-recruit Good People - romance winners
* Take Care of “me” Issues - answer questions
* Conduct Organizational Therapy - venting
* Reduce Job Stress - humor/no surprises
* Be Supportive of Upper Management
* Be a Leader - seize the opportunities!
CONCLUSIONS
Focus on what you can control…
- Manage your own response
- Plan for the future
- Accept that change will happen
Let go of what you can’t control
- Others’ actions and reactions
THINGS TO REMEMBER
When people think differently, they act differently. Strategies, structures and cultural changes only occur AFTER mindsets are changed. These strategies are meant to help people frame the change in a more positive way, so that individual transitions may occur. After the individual has transitioned, they can use these strategies to lead others in the organization, as it moves forward.
INVOLVEMENTj– People support what they help create
Involving people early has the greatest impact
Personal goals must align with goals of the
institution to get the best commitment
COMMUNICATIONSj– Is 55% visual, 38% vocal and only 7% verbal
When you don’t answer the what, why, when
and how, the grapevine will
The more complex the subject or more
resistant the audience, the greater the need
for variety in your communication planning
EDUCATIONjjTRAININGj-jNeedsjto precede the change
Must be relevant, timely and transferable
Is an ongoing process, not an event
COACHINGjjSUPPORTj– Includes developing new skills, breaking
barriers to growth and confronting those
off track
REINFORCEMENTj– By being visible, patient, open and sincere in
your praise
AGENTS OF CHANGE
When leaders and managers think about reinventing their organizations, they think in terms of strategies, structures and cultures. What they often forget to do is realize that the very strategies, structures and cultures that they are trying to change are rooted in their own thinking.
“Executive reinvention is the first step toward real and fundamental change”
(Tracy Gross from “The Last Word on Power”)
Philosophy for MediocrityChange Agent Thinking
Be suspicious of any idea from below.Provide forums for new
(After all, if it were good the people atideas throughout the
the top would have thought of it first.)organization.
Insist people go thru multiple levels ofReduce red tape and
hierarchy to gain approval (no matter in what barriers to change.
direction. The point is to slow them down)
Have departments challenge + criticizeWe can get more done
each other’s proposals, then pick winners. by trialing new things
(This will guarantee they never collaborate and combining our
on anything again) learnings.
Withhold praise and express criticism freely.Look for what is going
(How else will they know we have standards.) well and reorganize it.
Change policies in secret. Reorganize oftenInvolve people in the
and unexpectedly. It keeps people off balance process + communicate
and on their toes. openly and often for
maximum effectiveness.
Be control conscious. Count everything oftenProvide information that
to keep people busy and loose change tied up. is needed and build
flexibility into the systems.
Keep doing what we’re doing.“You plant corn, you get corn!”
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change (1991) by William Bridges.
A Survival Guide to the Stress of Organizational Change (1995) by Price Pritchett and Ron Pound.
The Employee Handbook for Organizational Change: Facing the Problems, Finding the Opportunities (1990) by Price Pritchett and Ron Pound.
Leading Change(1996) by John P. Kotter.
Leading Change: The Argument for Values-Based Leadership (1996) by James O’Toole.
Change Masters(1985) by Rosabeth Moss Kanter
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard (2011) by Chip Heath & Dan Heath.
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