Successful Change Management from Transportation to Health and Human Services: Laura Rutz
By Kailyn Haskovec, Process Improvement and Change Management Intern
May 18, 2020
As one of the Colorado Department of Transportation’s (CDOT)’s first participants in the Prosci Change Management course in 2014, the tools and lessons learned have stuck with Laura Rutz.
At the time, Laura was a Process Improvement Intern for CDOT in the Office of Process Improvement (OPI) when she participated in the three-day long training program. With her was a mix of state employees from other departments as well as other interns from OPI. Gary Vansuch, the Manager of OPI, led the training and has since earned the accreditation of Prosci Advanced Instructor.
Laura Rutz during her internship in 2015
The opportunity to learn more about process improvement and change management had always interested Laura, so she decided to sign up for the training. Being new to CDOT, she was also intrigued with learning more about the department and working with other interns stating, “having that fresh perspective by not really being a part of the organization for too long, and hearing about how others were struggling with change or these other big projects that were going on, it was just really interesting to me.”
During the class, she worked on a project focused on maintenance work orders for the Division of Maintenance and Operations (DMO). The goal for this project was to better understand the processes and track what was going on in the field. Previously, there had been a 25% error rate in reporting. With help from OPI, DMO was working on increasing the accuracy of the data and reducing the time for a work order and the time it took to review. Because this was a large project that affected a whole division, she mentioned that communication was the most important aspect of change management; making sure employees understand the “why” behind the project.
With the help from Laura and the OPI team, the DMO regularly uses change management to continue to help the project succeed. She mentioned fear of change and general reluctance to change as one of the more challenging aspects of change management. Overall she was very glad that she attended the training.
Laura is now a Continuous Improvement Specialist and Lean Coach from the City and County of Denver in the Human Services Department where she continues to utilize the skills she learned over six years ago. “What’s helped me the most is understanding the importance of having the appropriate sponsor, finding a sponsor at the correct level, and making sure that the sponsor is visible and really actively engaged with the change. That's something that I try to incorporate into all of my projects now, in order for them to be successful,” Laura explains.
As for others interested in the change management course that CDOT offers, she states that theory is easier than practice. She emphasizes the importance of “Just having patience and really trying these concepts out, and not getting frustrated. Just keeping at it.”
Want to learn more about Change Management at CDOT? Check out our improvement efforts at the Office of Process Improvement’s website!