We’re proud to be added to Feedspots top 50 Agile Blogs. We’re excited to continue to share our thoughts, advice, and opinions with the greater Agile community.
Regardless of whether you are new to Agile or an old master, the blogs on this list are invaluable. As you scroll through the list, you’ll see names like Ryan Ripley, Lisa Crispin, and Mike Cohn to name a few.
As always, you can check out here at belithe.com. 🙂
Chris
After all these years, there is a sentence that keeps banging around in my head. The sentence is as follows: “An idiot with a tool is still an idiot!” If someone else has already been quoted on this, I will gladly give them credit.
Regardless of whether it is an original thought or not, it parallels our personal and corporate lives. I can’t tell you the number of times I have bought some gadget or software that I thought was cool, but wasn’t sure how I was going to use it. I have tools that I don’t know how to use. Having a table saw or a router does not make me a carpenter.
How many of us have bought treadmills and other exercise equipment thinking it would help us lose weight? Yet did we bother to change our lifestyle? Did we cut back on cookies, potato chips, and McDonald’s? Just because you have exercise equipment does not instantly help you lose weight or be able to run a marathon.
We buy self-help books telling us how to deal with difficult bosses, how to budget our way to a million dollars, and how to succeed in management. Unless we make changes in ourselves, we will never achieve our original goals. We are an idiot with a tool.
Corporations are much the same way. We buy software products from vendors like Atlassian, Microsoft, Oracle, Amazon, and IBM to name a few. The vendors tell us that their latest/greatest tool will be the silver bullet the customer is looking for, making the company lots of money, and our work lives better. What most of us fail to realize is that to achieve those benefits, we need to change our culture. We may need to change our team, department, or even corporate culture. Every corporation has a virtual boneyard of stuff they have purchased based on someone’s recommendation that ends up not being accepted by the company. Even worse are those tools and processes that get implemented without much thought for what has to change and end up costing more than the original benefits. How many projects start off with someone saying “This software doesn’t do what we need. We need to make changes”?
How do you avoid being an idiot? Start by embracing the concept that change is difficult for most folks. VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity) are difficult for most folks to get through. In other words, start thinking about personal and organizational change management.
There you go. Another silver bullet. Of course, it’s not that easy.
Tools (software and processes) don’t solve problems. People solve problems. Tools merely speed up the change. Don’t buy the tool unless you know how to invoke the change to get it accepted.
Thanks for coming in today.
Chris
Change is a huge part of growth for any company, but unfortunately, changes don’t always go as planned.
Whether obstacles are keeping your vision from coming to life, or employee resistance is making the change stressful, change is difficult to achieve. If you find yourself trying to make changes but struggling, it may be time to re-evaluate your strategy.
Maybe you need to take a second look at your plan of change, or maybe you need to take a look at how you’re going about the change with your team. Whatever your struggles are, there’s a solution for overcoming them.
This is where change management best practices come in.
To effectively make change happen, you’ll need to educate yourself about change management. To learn more about the best ways to implement change, keep reading!
If your organization is going to grow, you’re going to need to make changes at some point.
While not everyone loves change or reacts to it positively, it’s an essential part of evolving your business or company. Change can be hard for everyone involved, but luckily, there are ways you can make this change a little bit easier on everyone!
Here are 10 ways to make a change a little bit easier…
When it comes to change, you’re going to want to focus on the top.
Get executives on board with the change and establish a way to make it easier for them. How the most powerful leaders in the company react to the change will impact everyone else and have a trickle effect on other employees.
Plus, if the executives aren’t informed of the changes or aren’t on board, the other employees will catch onto this. This can cause disorganization and chaos as the change moves forward.
Before you can move forward with any kind of change, you’ll need to have a plan for what you want out of the change.
When you want the change to happen, how you’re going to go about it, and what you’ll need from each person in the company is important to know. The better you have the change planned and organized the smoother the transition will be for everyone!
As you embark on the change you want to make for your company, don’t forget about the stakeholders.
While it’s important to remember all the employees in your company as you make your change, the change will impact the stakeholders as well. They’re investing their time and money in helping your business thrive, so it’s important to keep them in the loop as well as hear their opinions.
Some of the employees will go with the flow when it comes to change, while others may have a more difficult time adjusting.
To avoid tensions running high, create an environment in which everyone can openly talk about their feelings regarding the change. If your employees feel heard, they’ll have an easier time adjusting.
After you’ve got the executives on board, it’s important to get the managers involved in the change.
When it comes to change management best practices, it’s important to lean on all the leaders in your company for support. Just as you spent time introducing the change to executives, managers should also be involved.
The better your managers understand the change, the better prepared they’ll be to make the transition easier for your employees.
As we mentioned earlier, everyone is going to react to change and handle it differently.
Unfortunately, this means that some of your team may resist the change at first. While it can be easy to get frustrated with this reaction, it’s important to approach resistance with patience.
Create a safe space for employees to voice their concerns and train managers and executives to ease their minds. Create a plan for making the change easier with them, and work to find a solution for their concerns.
As you work towards a change or a goal, any win no matter how big or small is a win!
Don’t be afraid to celebrate the wins with your team. Acknowledging the positivity will boost your team’s morale and get them excited to move forward with change.
Pay very close attention to the way everyone talks to each other surrounding the change.
Dialogue should be open and respectful. When dialogue becomes hostile or negative, it’s going to make the change much more difficult for everyone involved.
The most important part of any change is making sure you have a clear plan of what you want out of it.
This includes planning out specific dates you want the change to happen, as well as the steps it will take to get to this point. Keep in mind that there may be roadblocks or setbacks, so plan for this accordingly.
While roadblocks or setbacks aren’t fun to experience, it will be much easier to deal with them if you’ve prepared for them!
Now that you’ve created a plan and a goal for the change your company or organization is going to make, keep track of your progress!
When you document where you’re at in the process it can help you plan moving forward. Keep notes of what’s worked and what hasn’t as well as which strategies have made the change easier.
Having access to this information is going to make the transition smoother as you’ll already have an idea of what you need to get effective results!
Change can be a daunting and difficult thing for any company or organization.
While change can be a challenge, change management best practices are going to make everything easier for all who are involved.
If you’re looking for help with making a change in your company, reach out to us today to learn about our coaching services!
In 2018, I wrote a post (also known as a rant) I asked the question “Are you too busy?” I didn’t get much response. That told me all I needed to know.  I didn’t do anything with that response, but it struck a chord. The image of the caveman pushing a square wheeled cart containing round wheels has been branded into my brain.
Over the last couple of years, I have found myself to be that caveman. I have been too busy to do the tasks that need to be done. Geoff Endris mentioned to me about a year ago that “You’re too busy being the business to run the business. Run the business.” Over the last few years, Geoff has provided some great advice and he was right. I have been the business. Why haven’t I been able to quit being the business? BTW, Geoff isn’t the only one who has given me that advice.
I have been self-sabatoging myself. I delegated critical strategic activities that are life threatening to the success of beLithe to third parties. When the tasks didn’t get done or the outcomes weren’t what I expected, I rationalized to prevent from facing the singular fact: I need to be engaged in the critical aspects of this business.
As I have been reflecting on Geoff’s words of wisdom over the last couple of months, I have realized that some changes are in order. While we are starting our third year, beLithe is not the company I want it to be. That started changing about a month ago.
Moving forward, I will be sharing, where possible, what I have learned from a business standpoint. My aim is to share stories and provide perspective to others who are struggling with being an entrepaneur. Stay tuned.
Chris
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