Transition notes
“It’s not the Change it is the Transition”
Agenda:
Transitions have a beginning, middle, and an end
· Losses and letting go
· Neutral zone
· Closure/ new beginning
Focusing on the behavior and keeping focus on what the people are going through allows leadership to feel and see what is really going on during transition periods and allows leaders to manage that transition effectively.
Key Points:
First: Identify the losses and learn to let go – power, status, access, office windows
From loss fear or resentment may arise, if loss is not compensated or if the loss is not changed to be viewed as an opportunity gain, then the individuals that are dealing with that loss will go through stages of grief that may hinder the organizations ability to manage the transition.
It is paramount that leaders show set an example of it being ok to “let Go” of what they have lost, if as a leader you can’t let go yourself it will be very difficult to expect your followers to do so as well.
Education, information, and reinforcement of the company vision is important.
Second: neutral zone – the middle is the neutral zone – work to be done
When the hype has subsided there is work to be done. Leaders must be seen to be working and must become the change they wish to see. Many uncertainties will be tested for leadership and the followers.
Upper management must expect and prepare for missed deadlines or quotas and must be actively involved in organizations learning process.
Those who have still not let go of the “old ways” must be identified, understood, and encouraged not singled out or become scapegoats.
· Intra-group relationships must be solidified or created if there has been a disassemblement of the old relationships.
· Provide boundaries to give strength in a time of uncertainty
· Leaders should draw on the creativity and innovation that is inherent within their organization, allowing flexibility for others to solve newly arisen problems
Third: closure/ new beginning –transitions do not stop at the end. Transitions are not a linear static process, it is dynamic and human. People have to adjust personally and uniquely to the organizational transition.
Closure does need to occur again and leaders must be aware of their followers and know if they are still dealing with any of the personal issues within the transition.
The 4 P’s
· Purpose
· Picture
· Plan
· Part
Is the purpose to the transition understood by all?
Is there a clear picture of where the organization is going and of its goals?
Is there a plan in place for people to look to for guidance during times of uncertainty?
Does everyone feel like they are part of the organization?
Agenda:
Transitions have a beginning, middle, and an end
· Losses and letting go
· Neutral zone
o Intra-group relationships
o Provide boundaries
o draw on the creativity and innovation
· Closure/ new beginning
o Purpose
o Picture
o Plan
o Part
Closing:
Finally when all this is made aware in the minds of an organization’s leaders and passed through the organization as it deals with the transition, leaders should not forget to celebrate what they and the people of their organization has gone through.
Personal Application:
The key to managing my own personal transitions that I have recently gone through are as follows:
· Organization
· Creativity
· Education
While the Purdue OLS curriculum that I have had experience with does a very good job at providing the education and creative opportunities, I feel that the Managing Transitions class missed out on an opportunity to provide a technical lesson that would improve the organization skills that we as future leaders will be expected to have.
· Organizational software
o We used 3 books
o Groove, Outlook, Visio, PDFs
o Google apps, workspaces, portals
It is my belief that OLS students should be required to learn more than how to create PowerPoint presentations and create single user papers using Word.
The creation of a class change to using a new software application could have allowed us classmates to undergo many of the transition phases and to apply what we learned in class to the transition issues of learning the new software. We would have also learned a new skill in application not just theory that we will be expected to know upon graduation.
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