Is your organization ready for change?

We all know that change is the only constant in life. It’s been a cliché since the time of the Ancient Greeks when Heraclitus noted that, “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.”

That doesn’t change the fact that we all crave stability, and fear change, especially in our work. That’s why, as a manager, before you look to lead change in an organization, you need to create trust.

“I think what's interesting in the work we've done in the past is that people just inherently believe that trust will exist before the change occurs,” says Augusto Romero, a senior partner with the cutting-edge company, Obliq3. “If an organization doesn't have a culture where trust already exists, they just say, ‘Okay, let's just get into the change. The trust will happen along the way,’" Romero says. "Of course, it doesn't just happen along the way.”

Obliq3 is working with the professional development group at the University of Calgary's Faculty of Social Work to help managers, leaders and future leaders to more effectively lead change within their organizations. More importantly, it's offering a vision of change management that focuses on supporting the people and culture in an organization so that it will come through change stronger than it was before.  

How people-centric approach can get lost

It's a lesson that you might think people-serving agencies and non-profits would instinctively know, but, Romero says, in his work, this is usually not the case.

“Sometimes that people-centric approach gets lost when a change comes up for agencies and non-profits, and they switch to more of a process approach," Romero says. "We believe that to do any change, if you lose that people aspect, then you start losing the process as well. And you must do them together for success to occur.”

UCalgary alum Romero, BKin'03, whose company has worked internationally with companies that range from small agencies and Silicon Valley startups to large organizations, brings Obliq3’s intensive Human-Centric Change Practices course to UCalgary Social Work starting Oct. 15, with a blend of in-person and online learning. 

The change-management course provides foundational pieces around how change happens through the levels of an organization and how to ensure a company, agency or organization is better prepared for change in the future. This means a focus on the human perspective — trust, empathy, and belonging — helping people to get into a place where they’re ready for change.

“It's a change of mindset, we believe, when you start doing change-management work,” says Romero. “So, let's really unpack what's involved with the trust piece and examine all those aspects first. When trust isn’t already in place, organizations mistakenly believe it will develop as change unfolds. In reality, skipping that step only increases resistance. 

“Think of it as preparing to build a boat before setting sail.  You have to be ready before you pack and start the voyage.”