This month’s topic is Lead Change, which focuses on championing change in the workplace. In November, focus on empowering team members to feel comfortable and confident with change.

Change in the workplace is inevitable. In fact, most businesses and organizations experience some type of change every few years, both expected and unexpected. Whether you come out successful on the other side of change is dependent on how you manage the change throughout the process. Some best practices for managing organizational change successfully are:

1. Understanding the Change - Clearly articulate current circumstances and what the end goal is. Determining who is needed to move the organization or initiative from beginning to end, and everything in between, is critical for successful change.
2. Understanding What Drives Change - Given the circumstances of the change you are facilitating, why is it happening? We cannot adequately address change without first asking this question. One way to do this well is to follow the 5 Whys Method, conveniently available in MO Learning!
3. Making an Action Plan - A critical step in successful change is making an action plan. Determine who is needed, and what they need to do (similarly to articulating the problem as in step one). Work to create a roadmap that clearly explains how to get from the beginning to the end of the process. Define the strategies, stakeholders, and goals early on to keep better momentum later on.
4. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate - In the beginning stages of making your action plan, make sure you are also crafting communication materials to your peers, team members, and stakeholders. Effective change is facilitated by trust and transparent communication is a great way to do this!
5. Anticipate Obstacles - Listen to your peers, team members, and stakeholders early on. They might alert you to some anticipated obstacles and provide insight on how to navigate them. If you have a large enough team, try designating working groups to determine ways around obstacles. As a change agent, you will need to work towards removing as many obstacles as possible for the team to ensure success.

Change is not restricted to supervisors and managers. Everyone can affect change in their workplace. Start small with the things that impact you alone, and branch out. Utilize ENGAGE conversations with your supervisor to brainstorm ways to incorporate change into the workplace. We are so excited to see what exciting changes are on the horizon for our State team members!

In November, consider an ENGAGE conversation about prior, current, and anticipated change. Some topics you might discuss are:

• What went well?

• Were there any areas for improvement?

• What made you nervous about that change? Or, what was exciting about it?

• Do you have any ideas for change that you can implement or lead?

While participation is optional, our goal is to provide just the right amount of education so supervisors can meet their LDR goals, and all team members can meet their individual educational goals.