Change Management Success: It Starts with You!
By Laura James, Process Improvement Intern
August 21, 2018
Initiative
In June 2015 Kathi Lyon, Central Program Survey and Right of Way (ROW) Plans Coordinator, and then ROW Manager Wes Loetz were both embarking on new supervisory positions. With many CDOTers retiring, acquired knowledge was not documented for continuity and workloads were distributed among teams while new employees transitioned onto the team.
Kathi Lyon
Lyon (pictured right) and Loetz shared a common vision: To fill critical vacancies by adding or reassigning positions, thereby providing an excellent return on taxpayer investment and enhancing employee satisfaction. With the objective to effectively address the needs of the work unit and enhance employee satisfaction, Lyon and Loetz brought their project to the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) (Prosci) Change Management for Project Managers and Change Managers course/workshop.
Integrating Change Management
Change management is a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future state. Applying this methodology to their project, Lyon and Loetz identified several key benefits to take away from the course:
Identify key project supporters in the CDOT Leadership Team
Identify the main obstacle to success
Identify small wins that could be achieved considering current limitations
An ADKAR Approach
Understanding that successful change is a process created by building awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement, Lyon incorporated the ADKAR approach into her management style. Establishing open channels of communication, clarifying goals, and celebrating successes Lyon stated, “I needed to work on [incorporating the ADKAR process] as a supervisor and a person. I knew I could do this!”
The Current State
In 2018, the ROW team has celebrated the reallocation of three staff members, four promotions, five new hires, created a path for Engineering Physical Science Technician’s advancement, considering creating a new data management position, and are currently addressing hiring salaries to incentivize talented applicants. Thanks to the positive impact of change management integration in 2015, current projects continue to benefit today. The May 2018 Region 1/ Headquarters relocation required the ROW team to apply change management once again. With prior change management experience, open channels of two-way communication were needed to tackle changes to Projectwise, document storage, and data management. Furthermore, the team worked to identify procedure obstacles and communicate the improvement ideas to leadership to streamline processes.
Conclusion
With the demands of a public agency as large as CDOT, change is the only constant. Integrating Change Management positively impacted Lyon and Loetz’s efforts to improve employee satisfaction and it continues to be used today. By incorporating the ADKAR methodology to fulfill their leadership roles during change (as Communicators, Liaisons, Advocates, Resistance Managers, and Coaches), supervisors can focus on the people-side of change impacting their teams. The best place to start is with oneself, moving forward to be the change.
Want to learn more about Change Management at CDOT? Check out our improvement efforts at the Office of Process Improvement’s website!