I care about people. I see their needs and desires in the workplace so I’ve chosen work where I can do something useful about that. I was born and raised in NZ so I have a fairly resourceful and creative approach to challenges. I’m a bit quirky and like to inject a healthy dose of fun into my work – some people would describe me as bubbly. I’m a thinker – like Winnie the Pooh I ‘sits and thinks’ … and imagine how people can make a better life for others and themselves. I’m adventurous, so I created my own business as a platform for conversations and activity that cultivates better workscapes.
Outside my own workscape I indulge in landscape design on my country property in the Macedon Ranges; I create works of art with the technique of origami; I record the family history; and I’ve been known to compose a poem or three – just like three generations of ancestors.
My path in change management has been a wandering one. My sense of how change, particularly technology change was impacting people, came from my very first job back in the mid 1980s. I was working at an Accounting firm that switched from mini-computers in a back room, to micro-computers on the Accountant’s desks. This was a hugh functional and cultural shock. And as the person who had just graduated high school in the first ‘Computer Studies’ class, I was expected to have the answers to help these people out.
My journey through managing change has traversed through doing training, designing training, doing business analysis, doing project management, leading people in teams and strategising what change to make and how to go about it. I now do my change management thing (it can be hard to scope and define) from my own business platform.
I recently became a member of the CMI Global Board responsible for the Thought Leadership portfolio. Actually think of that as the Thought and Practice Leadership portfolio. I have a vision that I’m turning into tangible action and outcomes about how to cultivate useful conversations and grow relevant competencies to tackle 21st change challenges. Some of this will have a research focus. Some of it will have an education learning focus.
Change savviness is the mindset and ability to be savvy in making and leading change. It’s responding to change with a “bring-it-on” attitude, rather than a “oh-no” attitude. And in a world and workscape with so much change happening with high stakes and costs – I think we’d all do well to get better and how we personally deal with change.
The course came about because I was often seeing individuals struggling in the workplace with each change project. The training and support in those projects was focused on the specifics of the project, but nobody was stepping back and addressing questions like: How can a person get better at doing change – so when the next project comes along they are more able to participate? I draw upon my own experience, insights, theory I’ve assimilated and techniques I’ve used to help individuals develop this change-savvy quality and to do it in the context of a team. It’s much easy to make these kinds of personal changes when those around you are also doing it, and some of the changes need the right kinds of conditions to become more natural, and the team leader can be the person to create those conditions.
Because you are ready to have a different experience next time there is change in your workplace! You’ve probably got stories about how it was ‘bad’ last time. Some things are outside your control; others aren’t. Change-savvy is a life-skill that will be good for you at work, and good for you in the rest of your life. Come along and learn some things that you can do to build your personal power and ability. If we can cultivate a collective of people with these skills and attitudes, something pretty amazing could happen in our workplaces.
The Change-Savvy Team Member is the latest course to be added to MetaPM’s Learning Catalogue. It is run in partnership with Questo. Constant change is the new norm for organisations. With the right skills, you and your team can embrace this reality, and become change-savvy! Individual or group responses to change don’t have to be left to chance. The Change-Savvy Team Member workshop is for motivated managers and teams looking to become more change-savvy.
For more information on the course, get into contact with MetaPM’s Director of Learning, Melanie Holland on 0418 770 395 or at mholland@metapm.com.au
We help organisations and businesses to consider their capacity and capability to plan and deliver effective change. We provide experienced and accredited practitioners in Change Management and Communication to enable the successful implementation of your strategic change initiatives. We specialise in innovative, agile approaches to leading and enabling people to transition through and embrace change. Design thinking, Empathy mapping, the latest research, and standards based on the Change Management Body of Knowledge (CMBOK) informs our thinking and practice. Passion to help you, and partnering with you, defines our approach.
For a discussion about how MetaPM could help your Change Management capabilities, give us a call on 1300 800 436 or email us at enquiries@metapm.com.au
