Land Records Leadership Series: Change Management...Again?!?

You might remember that we started our series with Change Management where Kendis Scharenbroich of ProWest gave us her top ten tips for guiding change in your organization.  So why are we addressing it again?

Because things never stop changing, especially in our line of work.  New technology to implement, reorganized licensing structures to shuffle, new legislation to fulfill needs for - I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks that just when things settle down, a whole new challenge comes along that doesn’t just affect you.  It might affect your staff, your organization, even our whole statewide community.  And often it is up to us to bring everyone on board whether they like it or not.

There's that word again...

Sometimes small things can make the difference between success and failure when significant change comes to your organization.  It comes to no surprise that the word “communication” comes up often.  Kelly Felton suggests communication to employees or stakeholders throughout every step, and being forthcoming as new information becomes available.  In other words, being the gatekeeper of secrets often backfires.  It breaks any trust you had from people looking up to you to guide them through the change.  That animosity will make it even harder to communicate with them in the future.

When Jon Schwictenberg’s organization went through a period of rapid growth, top down communication was key in making sure everyone felt comfortable with the quickly evolving structure changes that come with new leadership and uncertainty about everyone’s roles.  Make sure others are also given the opportunity to grow during these challenges and you’ll have a stronger team for the future.

Jeremiah Erickson further suggests we practice being agile.  Sometimes we’re tasked with something that we can’t fully control.  

Recognize something is not going according to plan before it becomes a bigger failure.  Be willing to adjust for a more successful outcome, even if it may not be what you wanted in the first place.

Being flexible and open-minded is also helpful when the change you’re facing wasn’t in your crystal ball at all.  Unplanned change can throw us into a tizzy but the right attitude can help.  Jeremiah’s take on change is to “hope for the best and plan for the worst.”  On the surface, that may sound a little pessimistic, but he explains that if you plan for what you can and be flexible about the rest you can wrest some control out of the situation.  (Or as a wise person once told me, you can’t control everyone else, but you can control your reaction to them.)  And once again that word “communication” comes up.  Kelly reminds us that for unplanned change, you might have to do that communication and planning in a hurry at the front, but it’s worth that time before you react.  Jon further reminds us that communication can make change less stressful on those affected and can go a long way to tamp down chaos.

Ask the Right Question

Mike Koutnik, formerly of Esri, thinks “planned vs unplanned change” isn’t even the right question:

Change is happening always. If you think the situation or environment is static, look closer, deeper. You don't need to spend a lot of "extra" time to do that. Tune your eyes and ears to see things you might not otherwise be looking for, or are aware of. And consider options - if a decision maker leaves, the budget gets cut, a staff person leaves. What is going on in "the world"-- at your place of employment, your community, state, nation, etc., that will or could affect you or your work? As for change itself, don't wallow in the details. In almost every change there is bad news, most often mostly just from the disruption itself. But there are often good things that come out of change. Do your best to manage the downside. Do the best you can reasonably do in the situation. That's all a supervisor can ask. Meanwhile, seize the opportunity to leverage the upside.

Contributors to this article include:

• Kelly Felton - GIS Specialist/LIO at Sauk County

• Jeremiah Erickson – GIS Coordinator/ Land Information Officer with the Monroe County Land Information Office

• Jon Schwichtenberg - Minneapolis Office Manager at GRAEF

• Mike Koutnik - Owner at Michael A. Koutnik Consulting

Image Credits:

Sms question exclamation by Michelle Lukezic from Noun Project (CC BY 3.0)

Yoga by Prashanth Rapolu, Noun Project (CC BY 3.0)