On October 14^th, 2011 Paradigm hosted a “Change Management and Benefits Realization” Executive Breakfast with presenter Faye Wankling. The Change Management subject matter proved to be a growing concern among clients, with over 60 customers attending.

Faye is a Senior Consultant with PCGI Consulting Services (Winnipeg) and a member of the Paradigm Group of Companies. She has 30 years of experience in a multitude of consulting roles. Beginning her career in IT and Finance roles, Faye is now a CMA, a PRINCE2 Practitioner, an IS Professional, an IT certified Professional, and an ISPI Professional in Performance Management. She is currently working at what she describes as her dream job: helping organizations develop their OCM competency. She has provided Organizational Change Management (OCM) best practices to various organizations, such as IBM, MTS Allstream, and Manitoba eHealth.

During the session Faye discussed a variety of topics, including but not limited to: barriers that inhibit successful change; reasons to invest in OCM; as well as different approaches one may take to integrate successful change management within their organization.

Faye listed many sources that cause IT projects deliveries to fail. Some of these obstacles include: competition for limited resources; strong functional boundaries; as well as limited change skills.

However, year after year, the most significant obstacle remains to be ineffective change sponsorship from senior leaders.

Faye also discussed reasons that are beneficial for an organization to invest in change management. Change Management creates strong leadership competencies within the organization; external funding depends on a robust change culture; and disastrous changes in the past may have occurred which organizations cannot afford to repeat.

Finally, Faye discussed approaches to successful Change Management, including a Change Cycle:

·         Vision and Commit

o   Lead, communicate and engage

o   Establish a sense of urgency

·         Plan, Align, and Implement

o   Develop capability and capacity

o   Empower others to act on the vision

o   Plan for and create short-term wins

·         Design and Implement

o   Design organization and governance

·         Enhance and Evolve

o   Align individuals and teams

o   Manage performance

o   Transform culture

o   Institutionalize new approaches

o   Reinforce the change

We would like to thank all of our customers who attended and made this session a success. If you are interested in more information about Organizational Change Management, please feel free to contact Paradigm by email at headoffice@paradigm.sk.ca or by phone at (306) 522-8588.