Securing broad, consistent adoption of new technology that disrupts or completely replaces familiar workflows is hard. Addressing people-focused change management in conjunction with a technology project increases the likelihood that organizations will achieve expected results. People-focused change management will be most effective when the change team establishes a clear vision and strategy.

• Vision answers the questions why? and why now?
• Strategy articulates how the organization will achieve change.

Developing the vision and strategy occurs in the Preparing for Change phase of the Prosci change management process. Together, the vision and strategy determine a set of tactics, which define what actions will be taken to achieve and sustain the change. Creating and executing tactics begins in the Managing Change phase and continues throughout the Reinforcing Change phase. 

Taking the time to craft and document a strong change vision, execution strategy, and set of tactics enables managers across the organization to drive change, rather than react to how new technology impacts their teams.

Preparing for Change

During this phase, the change champion works closely with the executive sponsor to create a vision that defines the need for change using a people-oriented perspective. In subsequent phases, the executive sponsor will introduce and repeat the vision in regular communications about the purpose and urgency for change. 

After the vision is established, the change team creates the change strategy. The strategy assists the change champion in identifying the specific people (managers and supervisors) who will be responsible for shepherding the change among individuals. Leadership uses the change strategy to identify and proactively influence any known resistance challenges before they impact the implementation phase.

Managing Change

As soon as the new technology is deployed, the Managing Change phase begins. Prosci defines 5 tactical plans needed to drive change. Once the tactical plans are complete, the change champion integrates change management activities into the technology project plan and follows up with managers to execute them in concert with key project milestones.

Synchronizing tactical, people-focused change-management activities with the technology project implementation activities helps ensure that individuals are ready, willing, and able to embrace the new technology as soon as it is available—shortening the time to value. 

Managers can influence the positive perception of new workflows so that individuals look forward to change. Individuals can embrace the vision of the future and make the choice to implement the change.

Reinforcing Change

For a change to become permanent, individuals must know their new workflows are supported. During this phase, the change champion assesses progress by seeking feedback from impacted individuals and managers. The feedback determines if tactics need to be adjusted to improve the success of the project.

Prioritization is usually a challenge during this phase. Most teams must accomplish their mission with the least amount of resources, which causes a flurry of activity for individuals all day long.

During these busy times, managers can lean on the change strategy and tactics to communicate with impacted individuals and ensure they receive effective training and coaching.

When everyday activities start to intrude on the change effort, individuals can pause, remember the vision, and reorient their actions to stay aligned with the purpose of the change.

When executed effectively, people-focused change management reduces the time that individuals take to embrace a change, adopt new workflows, and use new technology to make an impactful difference at their organization.   

As a change management practitioner, I meet with staff filling a variety of roles at organizations that use Esri’s geospatial technology. Recently, I was in a meeting with a team that included a CIO, a system architect, and a business analyst. When I asked how they defined “change management,” they all had different answers.

The reason is that change management is a catch-all term that has many different applications. While there are some similarities, technology change management, as defined by Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), is different from organizational change management, as defined by Dr. John Kotter, Prosci, and other change management experts. (Image source: BMC, Inc. and Prosci, Inc.)

Technology change management is focused on procedures and policies for managing updates and or changes to technology. This procedure can vary by organization but below is a general flow of how this could work: (Image source: Cisco Change Managment Best Practices)

Organizational change management is focused on the people side of the change that is occurring. As such, most of the planning in an organizational change management approach is centered around the human capital of the organization. The business objective is to help people at all levels of the organization transition from the “as-is” to the “to-be.”

When leaders ask, “Which approach should we take?” the answer is almost always both.  

The comprehensive approach helps ensure that technology-driven changes are adopted by the people who are impacted. This process of change tends to be highly cyclical in nature as business requirements and priorities evolve. Using a two-pronged process enables IT to have a more structured approach to managing technology updates while enabling the business side of your organization to minimize disruption by preparing the workforce, at all levels, for changes.

In the current technology landscape of rapid releases that deliver new capabilities, achieving technological and organizational agility is a competitive edge. Addressing the people side of change helps government organizations be more efficient stewards of technology investments by realizing more business benefits.

Plan for GIS success and visit us at UC Expo

It takes preparation to envision and realize the full benefits of the ArcGIS platform – whether you’re implementing for one department or an entire organization. You must define a location strategy that identifies where location (maps, spatial analysis, and more) will add value and determine what is the best approach for adopting new capabilities.

During the Esri User Conference Expo, visit the Esri Services area to talk to Esri experts, get inspired by a lightning talk, and take part in several different activities designed to provide you actionable results to take back to your organization. Try one or all three:

Cloud Readiness Activity– meet with a cloud and GIS expert and review your current GIS implementation.

• Review organizational readiness, logistics/integration, application development, and architecture.
• Receive a recommendation for cloud adoption and areas where you can make adjustments to ease the transition.
• Takeaway: A single-sheet assessment and a recommendation on next steps if considering cloud adoption
• What to bring: a working knowledge of your current environment, but no need to have the technical specs memorized.

Location Strategy Review – an Esri expert will provide you with some key points to consider to start planning for your business.

• Review current location strategy (if one exists)
• Discuss business areas/needs to support or grow
• Discuss your organization’s planned location/GIS profile
• High-level review of as-is state & inventory (business, data, applications, infrastructure, people)
• Takeaway: Personalized initial recommendations plus an electronic copy of Esri’s “Launching Your Location Platform Guide.”
• Optional: bring a copy of your business or solution architecture, strategic plan, organizational chart and your business goals.

Architecture Maturity Activity- Address performance issues, or prepare for expanded use of your enterprise GIS.

• Bring your current Architecture (if one is present)
• List out some high-level requirements
• An Esri Architect will perform a high-level review of your GIS Platform
• Define preparatory steps and activities to be performed to achieve high-level requirements
• Takeaway: List of steps to accomplish the requirements, high-level tasks to be performed to achieve successful GIS Architecture

The Esri Services team is presenting focused lightning talks every half hour, and technical workshops on important topics are scheduled throughout the UC. Strategy and planning are integral components of many sessions at the UC. Here are a few to consider for more information:

• Defining and Driving Location Strategy
• Discover the Location Dimension of Your Business Lightning Talk
• Designing a Web GIS Security Strategy
• Patterns and Practices for Large Scale Upgrades: Lessons from EEAP
• What Makes A Successful GIS Project Implementation?

Visit the Services area site for a list of all the activities offered there.

Configuring Esri's foundational maps, apps, and templates helps to engage users with your platform.  These capabilities can be enriched through integration with other business systems.

At the 2017 UC Expo, July 11-13, visit the Esri Services area to talk about your experiences configuring and integrating Esri software in your organization and discuss best practices with Esri Experts. Also, take part in a free expert-led, one-on-one Web GIS resources assessment.

Each session takes about 15 minutes and includes:

• A discussion of your organizational goals, user base, and Web GIS workflows you are using
• A review of your available content and resources

For the best results, bring:

• Your mission statement and description of your organization
• Examples of maps or information products you produce now
• A list of data and content you have available to you

After the session, you’ll receive a list of information products you can make with your available resources to make quick impacts at your organization.

At the Esri Services area, take advantage of the half-hourly lightning talks to learn more, and throughout the UC, numerous technical workshops cover configuration and integration topics. Here are some to consider: 

• App Configuration, Customization or Development
• Leveraging Esri's Managed Cloud Services to Help Your Organization
• ArcGIS Enterprise: Architecture Best Practices Lightning Talk
• How to Put the User First In Your Web Application Lightning Talk
• Web GIS: Unlock the Power of Maps Across Your Organization Lightning Talk
• Easy Ways to Bring 3D to your Data Lightning Talk
• Maximize Value using ArcGIS Web App Templates Lightning Talk
• Get More From the Cloud with Esri Managed Cloud Services Lightning Talk
• Best Practices: Implementing Hub Lightning Talk
• How to Know when you are Cloud Ready Lightning Talk

See what else is happening at the Esri Services area.

Check out an insightful session today at Esri UC "From Wow to How: 5 Steps to Launch Your WebGIS" presented by Brian Cross, Director of Esri Professional Services.

Organizations around the world are doing some pretty amazing things with GIS; you have seen it all week. Wouldn’t it be great if you could learn more of their secrets, too?

After years of helping organizations transform their organizations with GIS, Esri’s Brian Cross is ready to share their secrets with you. In this Wednesday Technical Keynote, Esri’s Director of Professional Services will walk you through five essential steps to modernize your organization and the way you use GIS. No matter your mission, or your market, you’ll hear proven guidance that can drive your GIS strategy, and your organization, forward.

http://arcg.is/29d7w8Y

I spent about 5 minutes on the topic of configuration vs.customization vs. development in my presentation this morning. To really learn about this in depth make sure you go to the App Configuration, Customization, or Development at 3:15 today in room 17A. Ben Schaub and Justin Turco will provide valuable insights on what method is appropriate for you based on the your needs.

Please join me tomorrow at 8:30am in Room 7A/B to hear about some of the best practices Esri uses to help users achieve initial operating capability. You'll hear about all the steps at a high level and I'll also point you towards other session, expo areas, and Esri publications where you can learn more.

After the session come by the platform enablement area at the expo to talk to some of the same experts that created these best practices.