This is the Change Management Newsletter of March 2009.

1. Editorial

Wow! These last five months were among the most exciting of my professional life, full of new activities, creativity and innovation. And from there, I have a lot of future projects that I want to share with you. In fact, I want to convince you to participate in one or the other project. This is what I am going to report on:

- Our new virtual platform for change practitioners and the options that it gives you to interact with the largest global community of people passionate about change.

- Our renewed real-life global network of change practitioners with new and very attractive admission conditions.

- A virtual experiment of mass collaboration : Real Time Virtual Collaboration Workshop on May 9, 2009: "What tools and what principles do we need to help change to unfold? Social and technological development as means for better organizations, and a better world. ". We need your participation in this great experience.

- A modular online training course on use of the new social media for organizations and consultants: Web 2.0 and Business

- An interesting proposal of our collaboration partner BMGI, offering a complimentary business process analysis of companies in trouble.

- For the many of you who live in South Africa, we also want to highlight a training course on Managing Change in the Project Environment.

And like in all newsletters there is a tool for change facilitators. Setting the tone for the rest of the newsletter, I will talk about a virtual tool that I have explored during the last months: Twitter as a communication instrument in change management is the tool of the month. Enjoy.

Holger Nauheimer
Change Facilitation s.r.o.
A Global Partner Who Makes Change Happen in Complex Environments.

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2. The Change Management Toolbook - The Change Management Community 

After two years of intensive work, which was not short of frustrations, we have finally gone live with our new version of the Change Management Toolbook website, which now also is the Change Management Community website (http://www.change-management-toolbook.com)

Just remember: I published the first version of the Change Management Toolbook back in 1997 - twelve years ago. For many years, it was a classical Web 1.0 site, i.e. providing useful information but not offering an opportunity to interact. Now with about 15,000 registered users, I believe this is the place to talk about our vision of Change Facilitation in the 21st century. The website is a place to meet, to dialogue, and to offer products and services. Please have a look at the introductory video that we have created athttp://www.change-management-toolbook.com/blog/index.php?postid=68.

The principle of the website is simple: the more you publish on this website - be it short blog articles, book reviews or contributions to the change management forum, the more your profile becomes visible. And the more your profile is visible, the more you can get in touch with like minded people or potential clients. We have about 1,000 visitors a day on this website, all interested in the same subject: change.

We would also like to encourage you to offer any tools or other related products through the website. As we have now integrated a shopping system, this website provides a unique opportunity for you if you have something for this specific market. And of course, we appreciate any tools that you provide free of charge to the community.

The website also offers a Wiki functionality for user groups and many more tools.

It is important to realize that this site is multilingual - so please choose whatever language you would like to publish in.

There are already a couple of user groups on the website, and today I would like to feature two of groups who are waiting for your participation:

South American Change Practitioners Group (initiated by Fernando Balarezo)

The South American Change Practitioners group was created just a few days ago. The main objective of this group is to integrate Spanish-speaking community members and other Latin America professionals interested in sharing Change Management experiences, practices and tools. We plan to do the following:

1) Strongly promote the Change Management Community in Latin America;

2) Share experiences about enterprises based in Latin America between group members and with members and groups of other countries.

3) Share existing material developed in Spanish;

4) Help Spanish-only speaking professionals to participate in our whole community.

http://www.change-management-toolbook.com/course/view.php?id=112

School and District Reform Group (initiated by Katrina Spencer)

This a newly formed group looking to attract members interested in sharing the issues, challenges and successes in leading large scale reform in school districts and systems. People involved in the education sector or in leading change in service or government agencies may find this group of interest. Please go tohttp://www.change-management-toolbook.com/course/view.php?id=114

And my friend and colleague Vesa Purokuru and I are currently writing a book using the Wiki functionality of this website. Our writing process will be disclosed soon. 
 

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3. Change Facilitation Associates Network

Become a Member in 2009

Those of you who have been following me for a while know about the network that I started 4 years ago: Change Facilitation Associates Network (CFAN) - Global Network for Exploring, Creating, and Celebrating Change. The network has matured over the years and we are now inviting new members in, at very favourable conditions. We have reduced membership fees significantly and also have further reduced rates for soft currency countries and for students. Have a look at our new membership brochure athttp://www.change-facilitation.org .  We are meeting end of April in Istanbul, under the motto: Change Management in a Crisis - "Are you crazy?" 
 

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4. Real Time Virtual Colaboration Workshop - Open Space Microblogging for a Better World

May 9, 2009

This is an experiment in virtual collaboration. On May 9, 2009, from 14.00-17.00 GMT (please check yourlocal time here), we will host the world's largest Real Time Virtual Collaboration Workshop. The workshop will be based on the self-organization principles of Large Systems Change Methods like Bar Camps, World Café, Open Space Technology, etc. and will be facilitated applying different collaboration technologies such as Voice-over-IP, messaging tools, micro blogs, in particular Twitter etc. All you need to do is to be there and join the discussion.

Our topic will be: 
What tools and principles do we need to help change to unfold? Social and technological development as means for better organizations, and a better world.

During the Real Time Virtual Collaboration Workshop,  the Change Management Toolbook website will be the central place where the agenda will be created. Also, this is the place for documentation. Please register here: http://www.change-management-toolbook.com/course/view.php?id=115

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5. Online Training: Web 2.0 for Business

Starting April 30, 2009

You are welcome to join a four part, interactive webinar series on Web 2.0 for Business. We have prepared a 20 minutes free video presentation which serves as the introduction to the topic. Have a look at:

http://www.change-management-toolbook.com/blog/index.php?postid=79 

In the beginners' webinar series, you will learn how to best use all the new social media that have now matured. We will talk about blogging, Wikis, creation of online communities, Twitter and much more you need to know to get social media application going for your business or that of your clients. All very practice oriented and interactive.

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6. BMGI Unveils 250,000 Euro Challenge for Cash-strapped European Businesses

Global consultancy guarantees savings of 250,000 Euro or more for companies with revenues in excess of 300 million Euro; offers no-fee, two-day diagnostic Leading global business consultancy

Breakthrough Management Group International (BMGI) is laying down a 250,000 Euro challenge to European businesses facing falling customer demand and declining credit availability. The company is guaranteeing that it will identify 250,000 Euro or more of business savings for companies with annual turnover of at least 300 million Euro - and that BMGI will identify those savings through a no-fee, two-day business evaluation .

"In this economic climate, there is no excuse for business waste," said Scott McAllister, European Managing Director and Senior Master Consultant at BMGI. "

A saving of 250,000 Euro can allow a firm to retain key personnel, invest in vital equipment or continue payments on a commercial lease. We are committed to helping clients not just survive the current downturn, but use it as a means to become leaner and more profitable."

You can learn more about this offer here http://www.bmgi.eu/OA/challenge/011g

or by contacting BMGI directly on +44 (0) 870 389 2221

Email: Europe@Bmgi.com or http://www.bmgi.eu

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7. Managing Change in the Project Environment

12 & 13 May 2009, Johannesburg, South Africa

This practical two day course is aimed at equipping change practitioners to position, manage and sustain change implemented in project environments.

Delegates learn the fundamentals and how to deal with more complex challenges by playing The Change Game (TM) - they encounter change-related events and challenges and have to provide solutions. While there are some elements of competition, there is a major focus on interaction and collaboration.

You will receive the theoretical content of the course and a basic but extensive toolkit (which compares very favourably to similar products available only at significant extra cost from other vendors) plus a royalty-free, perpetual non-transferable licence to use the tools.

For more information, visit www.changeability.co.za or email us at enquiries@changeability.co.za.

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Twitter (http://www.twitter.com) is currently the fastest growing online application. In few words, what is Twitter about?

a) Twitter is a kind of short messaging service which allows you to send messages of up to 140 characters to all people who subscribe to your message stream (your followers). At the same time, it enables you to read the message streams of people you subscribe to (your followings). Following and being followed does not need to be reciprocal. There are Twitter gurus who are followed by tens of thousands, who don't necessarily follow back everybody. However, in particular when you build up your Twitter network, it makes sense to follow back those people who have a sincere interest to exchange views with you.

b) The tool is already used for many different purposes, ranging from marketing, news alerts, job postings, discussions on specific topics, real-time search, customer care, conference documentation, one-to-one communication, emergency alerts, etc. The main advantage of Twitter versus other communication tools is the speed in which messages can go viral, i.e. go around the world in virtually a few seconds. It helps dispersed communities of practice to expand and to stay in touch.

c) There are a lot of third-party applications which make the life of a twitterer easier. I recommend Tweetdeck as so far the best application to make working with Twitter more effective and efficient. 

However, essentially, it is a few conventions that are accepted by all Twitter users (reminds me a lot of Dee Hock's Birth of the Chaordic Age where he described the foundations of Visa based on very few conventions):

- the symbol @ in front of a username (e.g. @barackobama) shows that a message is directly addressed to a specific user, if the username comes at the beginning of a "tweed" (i.e. a Twitter message).

- if the same (@username) is used in a different position in a tweed, it is usually a reference to a user without necessarily addressing them directly, for example to reference to them.

- RT @username stands for retweeting, i.e. the tweet of another user which is worth reading is quoted and sent to one's own networks. This is the viral component of Twitter, which make interesting news spread nearly at the speed of light.

- D username at the beginning of a tweet is a non-public, private message which only the specific user can receive (while all other tweets can be read by anybody, even if they are not subscribers). This is very useful and it has already replaced about 30% of my email communication.

- a hashtag is a keywork starting with the symbol # and serves as a search term for all tweets that people have written about a specific topic (e.g. look at the documentation of the GTD Summit in San Francisco, athttp://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23gtdsummit).

The potential of Twitter has just started to unfold, with now roughly 10 million people using the service. Twitter can and will be used as a communication tool in bottom up change management processes, e.g. when an organization wants to create a quick and open discussion on a certain topic. Let's look two examples:

a) A company XYZ launches a new product or service. Within a few minutes they can get many replies from their potential customers and adapt their strategies. One of the most successful corporate applications of Twitter is the web presence of Jetblue (http://twitter.com/Jetblue), an airline which communicates with hundreds of thousands of their customers via Twitter)

b) an NGO wants to create public pressure about a certain issue can use Twitter as a means of building up momentum (e.g. http://twitter.com/Greenpeace_Intl).

c) A Large Group Facilitation workshop can be prepared, documented and tied together by using Twitter (and other social media).

Twitter is particularly valuable if an organization wants to stay in touch with their outside stakeholders and other interested parties. I foresee that within a few months, Twitter will become a standard communication instrument like email, text messages, telephone, Skype and other established tools.

If you want to experience a dialogue using Twitter and other new virtual media, join our Real Time Virtual Collaboration Workshop at http://www.change-management-toolbook.com/course/view.php?id=115.

Follow me on Twitter if you want to read about my ideas on change management:http://twitter.com/hnauheimer.