Eight Stage Process of Creating Major Change (Re-Run)

I like the process below for creating major change. It was taken from the book "Leading Change" by John P. Kotter (see source information at the end of the posting).

1. Establishing a Sense of Urgency
a. Examining the market and competitive realities
b. Identifying and discussing crises, potential crises, or major opportunities

2. Creating the Guiding Coalition
a. Putting together a group with enough power to lead the change
b. Getting the group to work together as a team

3. Developing a Vision and Strategy
a. Creating a vision to help direct the change effort
b. Developing strategies for achieving that vision

4. Communicating the Change Vision
a. Using every vehicle possible to constantly communicate the new vision and strategies
b. Having the guiding coalition role model the behavior expected of employees

5. Empowering Broad-Based Action
a. Getting rid of obstacles
b. Changing systems or structures that undermine the change vision
c. Encouraging risk taking and non-traditional ideas, activities, and actions

6. Generating Short-Term Wins
a. Planning for visible improvements in performance, or “wins”
b. Creating those wins
c. Visibly recognizing and rewarding people who made the wins possible

7. Consolidating Gains and Producing More Change
a. Using increased credibility to change all systems, structures, and policies that don’t fit together and don’t fit the transformation vision
b. Hiring, promoting, and developing people who can implement the change vision
c. Reinvigorating the process with new projects, themes, and change agents

8. Anchoring New Approaches in the Culture
a. Creating better performance through customer and productivity-oriented behavior, more an better leadership, and more effective management
b. Articulating the connections between new behaviors and organizational success
c. Developing means to ensure leadership development and succession

SOURCE: Adapted from John P. Kotter, “Leading Change,” Harvard Business School Press 1996

Project Management for Networking Geeks

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Another Project Goes Live

As many of you know I manage IT projects. While I don't work in an IT department, I still have to manage many of the issues that involve technology. One of the challenges I have had with my current project is getting everybody to agree on and put status updates to the Project Issues List.

A project issues list is key tool to track issues as they arise during and after implementation. If you aren't using one you are setting yourself up to fail.

The issues list should contain:

* A description of the issue

* The person responsible for resolving the issue

* When the issue was opened

* When the issues is expected to resolved

* Notes regarding the ongoing status of the issue

Remember in project management, "what is not in writing has not been said".

Keep and issues list and update it regularly. Finally, negotiate expected resolution dates with those that are responsible for resolving the issues.