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A potential client asked me the other day, “what is the process to engage you”. It caught me off guard since I spend so much time trying to engage potential clients. Another current client told me a story of how he says he is an external consultant (rather than a high level leader) at seminars and industry events- because he wants to avoid the inevitable sales pitch and the arduous politeness he must repeat again and again. You, as the owner of the change, should have the head start in this relationship. And you
Continue reading Engaging a consultant
Dandelions and the sequel, were for awhile, my most popular posts.
And so the triquel.
Let’s say there is absolutely no hope for a change entity in the future. Corporate Change Management is an impossibility. Functional CM isn’t looking so pretty either. Where is an energetic worker to go to get things done, to find end states and to change? The answer is that you do many of the things the external consultants do; you are actually in a scenario that is typical of most change management engagements (the silly 70% failure “stat” goes here blinking in bright
Continue reading Organic Change Management- the Triquel
Pre recession I saw 10+ roles advertised with large firms for employment roles as leaders of internal change functions. In the last 6 months I have seen another five (3 in the same firm, a previous client no less). All of these roles were Director level. One was “Head of Global Change Management” which is better.
I will throw the warning out right away. If you do this in your organization without external influence (that does not mean the person hired bringing in contractors to report to them) you are hiring status quo to support status quo.
There is an
Continue reading Status Quo Internal Director roles and a warning
This environment again… Is this almost over?
Cost savings to the extreme. Some examples I have seen in the last year+:
Chinzing on initial comp- let’s try to get them for 25% less Using third parties to, arguably, get someone in and out fast with no overhead Squeezing the third parties which squeezed all the way through that supply chain “Reorganizing” as a way to cull Reshaping the bell curve to push salaries down Eliminating anything extra- raises, bonuses, options etc. Redoing budgets and carrying them over to the next year
Some of these make sense (the last
Continue reading The Recession, cost cutting, short term fixes … is this almost over?
I am disappointed in web search lately. We are supposed to have all the information we need at our fingertips and yet I can never find what I need (maybe its not there?). I played the distraction game (focus on something else so you can refocus with clarity) with Google’s new search tools. I found the wonder wheel! A fun change (although I am not sure how useful yet). Of course I had to do the vanity search. Go ahead you know you want to try too…
Now my goal is to see how many bubbles I can get
Continue reading some changes are just plain fun
Our business communication has flattened. There are few uses of 3D space to deliver content, gain understanding and add depth to our communication. First my flatness list:
White Boards Less in person interaction Lecterns Lack of Gesturing Confined inside spaces Many more I am sure
This, admittedly, strange topic came to me as I was explaining gestures to a client. I tell people to imagine a TV set on your shoulders that stretches to the sides as far as you can reach and above as high as you can reach. Anything in that area is fair game for
Continue reading The Flatness of Business Communication
Awareness
Most venues for understanding communication- coaches, training firms, books, and speaking forums (like Toastmasters) focus on the speaker. They will talk about listening skills, who to look at, how well you include the audience, but always with an underlying speaker focus.
If you begin the communication development process with the perspective and assumption that all communication is an exchange and good communication is dialogic you have a chance to be a communicator. Communicators are always speakers; the inverse is not necessarily so. With this perspective you will also have the opportunity to become a good listener. Having a
Continue reading Four steps to Effective Communication
High level change management can be an expensive proposition. Rather than be confronted with an all or nothing retainer an option you have as the change owner is to contract communication sessions with a CM wrapper. I started my consulting career as a presentation skills coach and then executive communications consultant. The recession has been an excellent time to experiment with using that foundation as an entry point and a chance to build trust with stakeholders.
I have a series of exercises I use to help individuals focus on communication delivery skills (posture, eye communication, gestures, movement and voice). The
Continue reading Communication skills and Change Management
http://tinyurl.com/22pvx3q a Bersin link that describes one companies approach to working with at risk employees- pinpoint crucial positions in the company and make sure they stay intact:
“Individuals in the "at risk" group are identified by the company’s operating committee of senior-level leaders. Selection for the group is based on the impact to the company’s revenue, customers, and/or operations in the event of the individual’s departure. The group will ultimately be comprised of 20 to 30 key individuals who hold one of three types of positions:
Senior leaders running parts of the business; Sales people responsible for key clients
Continue reading Adjusting for at risk employees (and then adjusting to the adjustment)
There is a backlash happening at the individual level to the stagnation of the recession. Positions were eliminated and growth stopped. This had the effect of scaring employees and closing off opportunities to advance after they made “the cut” (or cuts). The fight response has become the first choice for dealing with this. As the economy improves flight is also an option.
Here is how I am seeing this reflected in organizations, meetings and the comments of individuals-
Where overlap of roles and responsibilities may have been a collaborative-sharing pre-recession it is now a grab of extra work for visibility
Continue reading The recessions backlash and its effect on change management
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