One instance of change that I remember quite often was when I was a safety lead at a chemical plant,
and we needed to get employees onboard to change the way they reported safety incidents and alerting
for potential ones. We ended up having meetings to communicating this change, trainings on how to
put these safety measurements in the system and following up with concerns employees may have
had. Based on the skills covered in this course I would have chosen to collect more data on how
employees were reporting these safety issues and be able to present the findings better along with
getting more people to participate in the change. I believe using data, following up, and really
communicating why changes need to happen is skills that I will be using in my personal and
professional life. I will be applying these by learning new ways to collect data and communicate
efficiently without wasting words that are not necessary. This class helped a lot to shape the way I
write emails to my co-workers and looking forward to applying more of what I learned in this class to
my life!
This class has definitely taught me a lot about organizational change and how much goes into making
it successful. Over the course of teiterm I was given a promotion at work and it forced me to use a lot
of the concepts that we covered here to make some much needed changes in my department.
Although I am nowhere near done, I've found that communication and transparancy have been my
biggest go to's. I would in a union shop which in itself is a unique situation because employees are
paid and incentivized based on a negotiated contract I have found ways to motivate my team and
enstill a sense of pride for what they do despite the money tied to their jobs,
a company commander for roughly 120 Soldiers and had been dealt with massive changes within the
leadership. Practically everyone that was in a leadership role had only been in position for a few
months, many of the leaders left as it was their time. Luckily, many of the Soldiers did not like the
previous leadership style so we were able to enact new changes quickly. One of our biggest concerns
was our attrition, many Soldiers wanted to leave the organization due to their experience at this unit.
We quickly took time to talk with the Soldiers, conducting sensing sessions and surveys. We were
lucky that many Soldiers were open and honest on their feedback.
Though we couldn’t get everyone to stay, we were able to convince many that their experience at this
unit was specific and that other units are not the same. Many of my subordinate leaders were able to
teach and mentor their Soldiers for promotion and advancement. Looking back, the different approach
I would have used is to include more people (from other organizations) to assist. This would have
helped communicate to the Soldiers their capabilities and possibly get them interested in other areas.
The most memorable skill I found was implementing and understanding the Five Practices of
Exemplary Leadership (Lewis, et al., 2021). I think these practices are important for self-development
in personal and professional life. At times, it is a challenge to enable and encourage others to act as
opposed to getting the job done myself, I have realized as I move up, my role is to think strategically
and help impact change on subordinate leaders.
z I have thoroughly enjoyed this class and learning how to initiate change in an organization. this class
has shown me how important it is to have strong leadership personnel in charge of change. This leads
to a large growth in employees and the organization. One major takeaway that I got from the class is
how important change can be when it affects employees. The use of employees in change management
is crucial in how well the changes can be implemented.
z z z z z z z z z z z z I worked for an organization that started to implement a new inventory tracking system that
is used to order, manage, and develop shopping patterns based on the demographic. When the
company started to implement the change, my department was the initial start and the organization
wanted to see how well it worked. This initial start leads to resistance from my team due to the
changes being drastic and a new process as a whole. My initial thought was to start and learn as much
as I could so that I can assist and help others in my area to incorporate the new changes. For the next
couple of months, my team started to learn the process as I became a leader in the system and helped
develop the rest of the area. this slow progression allowed our organization to start and maintain the
system and incorporate it into all departments. This later became normal and was later developed into
a more functional system.
z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z Reviewing the impact that I had on my department from course examples, I would say that I
wouldn’t change the way that I was able to impact the change. I first learned the system so that I
would be able to help and inform employees of how the system worked. This led to employees asking
questions so that they can learn by example or explanation. This was a morale booster once they
started to understand the system and progressed to getting easier as time went on. I found that change
management is mainly about having the right people for the job instead of the best system in place.
Having a leader that can improve morale and gain confidence will allow employees to think outside
the box and become more involved in the process. I will always try to improve employee concerns and
make sure they are given adequate feedback.
One situation where I had to experience change but also was responsible for managing change was
when I was a department manager at a Nike retail store post-pandemic. There were many things we
had to do differently and having to figure out how each employee reacts to change was a challenge.
We had to operate differently as a large retail store. Daily procedures were adjusted to specific
guidelines that had to be followed, and there was more responsibility put on employees’ daily tasks.
Looking back, I would have done a different approach with the way change was communicated along
with the delivery of what is changing and why. We saw a huge increase in our turnover rate due to
employees feeling overworked, not apricated or rewarded. I personally mentored 10 employees and a
couple of times it was shared that the communication from management was not clear or transparent
enough. Being a part of the leadership team there were numerous times that our monthly meeting was
pushed back or postponed. During this course, I learned that being in a leadership role for the
organization to be successful the way change is managed and delivered is huge. z
Over the last 8 years, I have gained a lot of career experience with change management. Taking this
course helped me identify how I can be a better leader during uncertainty. The change management
skills that I found most relevant to my professional life are communication with team members and
change implementation. I learned that the way change is implemented and how fast can either have a
positive or negative effect. Overall, this course made me think a little deeper into the effect change can
have on leaders and team members. Going forward I will focus on creating and maintaining the vision
for change for my team members. It is important to keep employees motivated through change and
have them understand how it will benefit them in their roles.
There was a time at the beginning of COVID that our part of the hospital did not have the acuity that
we were use to because pediatrics was not being affected the way that adults were. We did not have
enough patients to keep everyone working clinically, so our manager decided to change our
assignments to work on community out reach COVID prevention plans. This was a large change for
our department because we all work at the bedside in ICU's and have not made public health plans.
We were all hesitant about the change as it was something completely new in a situation that the
whole world was having a hard time managing. Our manager though was great when delivering the
news and provided us with clear directions and resources to use. She called a staff meeting that was
mandatory for everyone announced the news, was transparent on why this was happening, and
introduced everything briefly. Then she told all of us not to worry that things would work out and
there were more details and directions to come. She listened to every ones responses and concerns,
making everyone feel heard. She was patient when showing us how to do the plans and was always
available for questions when we were working on it. She printed and laminated the instructions so they
were easy to reference. Overall she made this a quick and easy change that was met with a fair amount
of resistance that she sorted through and alleviated.
I think our manager did a great job with her approach to change. I would not have changed anything.
As for change management skills that I found useful was planning out change. Identifying who the
change would affect, what was going to change for them, and when. This is something I would benefit
in using in my personal life because I agree to help a lot of people but don't always account for what
helping them might entail or change in my life.
An example of a previous situation where I experienced change was when my company decided to
combine the two instances of Salesforce we used for our two product lines. The IT team created the
new system without input from any of the departments that were actually using the system and it was
a disaster. We were previously told the new system was coming but did not receive a lot of formal
training before the go live date. When we started using the new system it was completely chaotic,
when we would ask questions of why this was missing or that wasn’t there, we would receive answers
like “we didn’t think about that” or “its not important” (even when it was). After about a month or two
of complaining, we finally were able to schedule weekly meetings with IT to go over what our pain
points were and what needed to added/adjusted. Progress was slow at first but these meetings were
mutually beneficial to both my team and the IT team because we learned a lot about each other’s jobs
which gave us better understanding for the issues we were facing. z
I think initial approach taken by both teams were wrong. The IT team should have consulted with my
team when creating the new system to understand what was needed for us to do our jobs and probably
could have given more formal trainings before going live with the new system. Me and my team could
have been more embracing of the change and less frustrated every time something went wrong. The
main disconnect was the fact that IT did not understand our jobs and we did not understand what went
into their jobs. After months of having meetings and communicating with each other things did get
better and almost all of our issues were resolved.
z z I am transitioning from my current role on the accounts payable team to a staff accountant role.
The change management skills that I will I have found most relevant in this class that I plan to apply
include approaching this position with an open mind, effectively communicating questions and
comments during training and actively listening.
Throughout my experience in the engineering world thus far, I have been exposed to many dynamic
situations. In terms of specific examples of change in my professional career, I will touch on the
implementation of design templates at a previous employer. This particular organization was a
machinery OEM for wire & cable equipment, which often grew into large systems, taking over a year
to engineer. Having started as an intern, I was exposed to many of the internal engineering practices
from front to back, often learning how clumsy things were. While I was there, a staffing slump took
place, where degreed engineers were hard to come by. In an effort to maximize the utilization of the
engineering team, I was tasked with developing & implementing design templates. These templates
were created as a combination of all machinery types, where different configurations could be added,
deleted, or modified to tailor the project. Once compiled, the automated reporting of AutoCAD would
like the applicable sheet cross-references, creating reports and critical information for the user. These
reports were used in conjunction with new-hire designers, in place of degreed engineers, to reduce the
level of critical thinking & calculations required to complete the projects. In the end, these templates
reduced engineering time & mistakes by over 30%, greatly expediting project lead times and
completion dates from the engineering perspective. Looking back, I think I would’ve approached
things a bit differently. Having originally created the templates myself, without the input or
collaboration of others (partially due to a lack of colleagues), it would have been valuable to integrate
the feedback of others to ensure things were as “user-friendly” as possible. Granted, I knew how the
templates worked and they were tailored to my style of work, but not everyone operates the same way.
Skills such as clear, concise communication are key, and something that has been reinforced
throughout this course. There are times when I need to slow down, observe the situation, then move
on, rather than shooting from the hip. This course has reinforced my obsession with being organized,
especially when coordinating change / communication with others. Moving forward, taking the time to
slow down, while remaining critically organized will lead to successful interactions and opportunities.
Thank you all for a nice term, and best of luck in your future courses.
There are a multitude of instances, both personal and professional, that I could reference for this post.
I think of managing life changes when returning from deployment, starting a family, or undergoing
any major life change. A major life instance is subjective, and we handle change differently. This
course has helped lay the groundwork for change relating to planning, prioritization, organization, and
execution. A specific instance was when I stepped into a leadership role and inherited a team. It took
time, patience, and persistence to instill in the team the true direction of the organization. This was in
a retail setting, but by determining what motivated each employee, I was able to successfully execute
the change in operations to reflect company initiatives. This included hiring new employees,
promoting others, and having honest conversations about resistance.
z z z The change management skills covered in this course would have been useful when integrating
the changes. I had a core support staff that were the change leaders, but it would have been more
effective to delegate initiatives, instead of attempting to the manage the change individually. The most
important take away from this class has been the importance of clearly communicating the overall
direction of an organization, Presenting the why to every stakeholder. Although this doesn’t
necessarily impact their daily responsibilities, it clarifies the reasoning and logic behind the change. A
change management skill I will apply moving forward is transparency. Within an organization, there
needs to be full transparency. I find myself more rewarded and fulfilled when I can trust that my
colleagues are on the same page as me. This also opens the door for input and feedback. This will
ensure the initiatives are supported, creates a collaborative team, and allows change to be achieved by
and organization, not an individual.
At the medical clinic where I work, there are a few of my co-workers that are upset about a new MHS
Genesis software program that will be taking over our current system. Change is essential for growth,
but I think the resistance comes from not knowing how to navigate and the current system works for
the tasks required. However, the new system will include more features such as reports, cross-
functional communication, less errors and full medical history for the patients. Organizations need to
adapt to the markets changing needs and managers/supervisors can help to prepare for these changes
by listening to concerns and explaining the benefits.
Based on the change management skills covered in this course, I would not have used a different
approach. Team leaders have a very important role when implementing change in an organization and
communication is key. Being transparent and honest builds trust in the manager and the organization
through inclusion and understanding. This also helps to reduce resistance to change.
The change management skills that I found most relevant to my personal and professional life are to
be able to listen and understand the needs of the stakeholders and to be able to communicate
effectively. Have good problem-solving skills. As a leader, there are multiple types of issues that can
happen daily such as technical, inter-personal and performance-based problems; it is up to a good
leader to have the characteristics and experience to be able to remedy these issues or be able to
network and find the information to help solve the problem for the stakeholder or the organization.
The team leader’s skills help to deplete resistance and improve performance innovations.
Immediately after graduating from undergraduate school, I accepted a position as a Lean Manager for
a company that manufactures battery cans for Energizer. One of my responsibilities was to improve
the appearance and efficiency of several production areas by incorporating a lean manufacturing
method called 5S. This is an acronym for Sort, Set, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain (Taneja, 2020). I
divided the plant into 16 key areas, created evaluation criteria for each location, and assigned a weekly
auditor to assess a particular area. I noticed that month after month, the employees performed fewer
and fewer5S audits.
z z z I handled this situation by explaining to the employees how the data was making us look bad
when I reported it to senior management, which was effective because most of the employees feared
that their performance reviews or raise would be impacted. However, after learning a multitude of
change management approaches in this class, I know that I should have explained the organizational
benefits of 5S and how it improves employees’ ability to focus on performing more value-added
activities, instead of dealing with problems associated with having an unorganized work environment.
One change management skill that I found interesting was performing a stakeholder analysis
prior to implementing a change. The purpose of doing this is to help determine the most effective level
of communication for each stakeholder and anticipate any resistance, so that you can counter it (Lucid
Content Team, 2021). I believe I will apply this in the future when I am marketing for trying to
persuade a customer to replace their old equipment with my company’s product(s).
Currently my organization is undergoing some major changes. A lot of changes in leadership have
been going on, with leaders being demoted, or even let go entirely. The organization was clear about
their new initiative about making sure the right people were in the right seats but they didn't exactly
prepare us for all of the seat changes they would be making, if it was communicated it wasn't
communicated well. Communication is one thing within my organization I feel they need to work on.
There is a lot of talk happening surrounding what's going on and what their end game really is and
there is a lot of unrest considering a lot of people have been let go, people are nervous and some are
even looking into different companies. After this course I really understand the need for
communication and how it can help to appease some of the fears in a situation like the one my
organization is facing currently. They're all very hush hush and that isn't doing anything for employee
morale which is wrong. Communication in general lacks within my organization at times and I think a
communication plan such as the one we developed for our project could be helpful. I know that
communication is something I am definitely going to place an emphasis on when it comes to my plan
for professional development. I strive to always be curious and I try to ask the questions that others
might be afraid to ask or questions that others may not think to ask. My direct leaders pride me on the
way I ask questions but I know other leaders in the organization in different departments don't really
feel the same way and I think that's a problem in and of itself and I do think that's kind of what the
organization is trying to address but they're not being as open-book about it as they could be.
An example of a situation where I have experience change in an organization is actually my entire
career with Toyota North America. In 2017, Toyota moved their corporate headquarters from
Torrance California to Plano Texas. This new move was called “One-Toyota” and was combining
Engineering, Finance, Marketing, Sales, and many more departments for both Toyota and Lexus under
one roof. At the same time, our global president Akio Toyoda announced that we would be
transitioning from a vehicle company to a mobility company. These two MASSIVE changes left a lot
of departments, leaders, and employees wondering how these would take place and how long it would
take. Well, 5 years later and the changes are still developing as the understanding gets more concrete
and as we figure out how to apply the new principles in our daily work.
What I learned from this experience along with what I have learned in this course is that,
There is no “one-size fits all” approach. Organizations differ in size and the reasons for change are
different company to company.
A company does not have to be failing to introduce change
Companies that constantly encourage change, transformation, and improvement will adapt more
quickly to large changes. One of Toyota’s philosophies is called “kaizen” or “continuous
improvement” and this is baked into every process at Toyota.
Change happens both at the large macro level, as well as the micro level (small teams of 3-10 people)
all of it is important.
After what I have learned I don’t think I could recommend a different approach from what my
company is doing, my biggest sign of this massive change being successful is that I still love my work,
I love what the company stands for, and I love the teams and projects I work on, on a daily basis. I
would consider that a successful change on Toyota’s end.
In general, organizational change is very important for the business and company to alter a major
component of the organization. It could include technologies, infrastructure, internal processes,
culture, and many others (Arsith & Tanase, 2020). Here, I would like to share one of my professional
life experiences that were responsible for managing change. When I was working in my previous
organization, I found that all the employees had a fear of the boss, and they were hesitant to give their
point of view in terms of achieving the organizational goal. Here, it was essential to bring changes in
the work culture. Since I was appointed as a manager in the organization, I have tried to reduce the gap
between the employer and the employees by providing enough training to the employees to encourage
and boost their confidence to talk in front of the boss. Also, it is essential to maintain a work-friendly
environment so that better productivity can be derived from the organization. For this, I have worked
hard to communicate effectively with all the employees and the employer.
In the organizational setting, it is essential for an individual to have some important change
management skills like active listening, better communication, strategic thinking, research knowledge,
measurement and analysis, and leadership quality. While working in the previous organization, I have
already developed some of my skills that am good at listening, good at communicating with others,
doing proper research before telling some changes in the organization, as well as I also have a good
quality of a leadership that has helped me a lot to bring changes in the work culture (Arsith & Tanase,
2020). I think I could have better managed the organizational change by using a different approach.
Here, I could have used measurement and analysis to provide better reasoning for the organizational
change. As organizational culture is not static and it is dynamic, it was quite helpful for me to bring
changes to the work culture.
I have found some of the change management skills are already present in me that are more relevant
to my professional as well as personal life. Usually, I used to be very good at engaging with people in
my personal as well as professional life, which has helped me a lot to bring changes in the
organizational culture. Another quality that I have acquired is an excellent communication skill that
makes people listen to my points very carefully. Further, these change management skills will be very
helpful for me in the future to grow better in managing the changes in the organizational settings.
An example of when I previously experienced change was when I was a Team Captain at a Fintech
organization in their call center. It was both personal and professional, as it was me living through a
change in my career. There were about 12 Team Captains that supported different team. We were in
charge of coaching, training, more of the growth while the Leader assisted with the performance and
areas needed to focus on, we would help the team members with those areas and increasing their
skills, not the Leader. One day without any notice, we were pulled into a meeting with our VP of the
call center and a few of our Leader (they had the Team Captains as their Team). We were advised our
roles were no longer needed and that we would go back on the phones, take a slight pay cut, changed
schedules starting that Monday. It was Thursday. No transparency was provided. It was what it was
basically.
Based on the change management skills covered in this course, there 100% should have been a
different approach. There was no transparency, there was no trust, there was no support from
leadership or them advising why it needed to be that way. The ADKAR change management model
could have been used but there was no awareness, as well as zero reinforcement. The McKinsey 7-S
model also could have been used, unfortunately I did not see either in play. These skills could have
helped us as a team navigate this change and understand more of the why, other than it was a business
decision.
It is interesting taking this course because I recently joined a new organization and was aligned with a
brand new team in Talent Development with Onboarding and Performance Management. The
organization I am with has been around for 100 years and the team members have a pretty lengthy
tenure, I spoke with someone who has been there for 32 years! That is not uncommon, you're either
new within the pandemic or have been around for at least 10 plus years. What I am getting at is, fresh
eyes do not always perceive the same things that someone with eyes on that ONE specific
organization has had for 15 years. Change management is a very tough road to navigate, and I am
living through it, and have been since starting this course. This course has helped me really understand
the dynamics of change management and provided me tools and resources I can use in my day-to-day.
I really appreciated Kotter's view and his theory that was more focused on the challenge which really
was "...changing people's beahviour and not strategy, systems or culture" (Hee & Shanmugam, 2019).
I really am learning that now, focusing on the behavioral changes and practicing the tools we have
been provided through this course to address those changes. I am really focusing on the short term
wins right now as there are a lot of directions that we are being pulled with processing change within
Performance Management and Onboarding. I think when the more tenured team members see the
short term wins, they will start to trust us as a team and help that much more throughout this process.
References:
Hee, Ong & Shanmugam, Nanthinee. (2019). A Review of Human Resource Change Management
Strategies in the Digital Era. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social
Sciences. 9. 10.6007/IJARBSS/v9-i3/5713
Arsith, M., & Tanase Popa, D. A. (2020). Sign, Language, Significance and Communication. Acta
Universitatis Danubius. Communicatio, 13(2).
Taneja, H. (2020). “What Is 5S?” Quality info.
https://qcin.org/nbqp/knowledge_bank/uploads/2020/09/1600506696_205-Quality-Info-Journal-
15Jan20.pdf
Lucid Content Team. (2021). “How to Perform a Stakeholder Analysis.” How to Do a
Stakeholder Analysis | Lucidchart Blog.
https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/how-to-do-a-stakeholder-
analysis#:~:text=A%20stakeholder%20analysis%20allows%20you,for%20the%20opposition%20you
%20anticipate.
Kalenda, M, Hyna, P, Rossi, B. Scaling agile in large organizations: Practices, challenges, and success
factors. J Softw Evol Proc. 2018; 30:e1954. https://doi.org/10.1002/smr.1954
Lewis, L., Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2021). Leading Organizational Change for Southern New
Hampshire University. Wiley Global Education.
https://wileyplus.vitalsource.com/books/9781119832591
Lewis, L., Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2021). Leading Organizational Change for Southern New
Hampshire University. Wiley Global Education US.
