The 2024 Microsoft outage is an unscheduled reminder to use best practices in technology change.

The repercussions of the CrowdStrike update have us shook. The 2024 Microsoft outage is a timely reminder that rushed or mismanaged system changes can lead to chaos. How can you avoid the pitfalls of poorly planned technology changes?

Invite folks to the table.

First, consider the scope and implications of your change. Then ensure the right people are involved in planning, testing, and adoption. Identify and engage every group who might be affected by the change; solicit their input, identify impacts, and make sure you’re aligned.

• System Interdependencies: What other systems are involved with the system that is changing? Consider both upstream and downstream applications.
• Stakeholder Impact: How will this change affect the lives of employees, partners, and customers? How will they react? Ask questions, investigate thoroughly, and avoid making assumptions.

Consider the scope and implications of your change.

Test early, often, and thoroughly.

Experimenting and evaluating are crucial components of any change implementation. Test early, when it’s less painful to fix things. Test often, so you catch errors at each stage. Test thoroughly, so there are no surprises. Here are some essential testing strategies:

• Functionality Tests: Ensure the program/system is functioning as designed within the Sandbox environment.
• Platform Tests: Verify that the published program/system operates correctly in various live environments.
• Blind Individual Tests: Have individuals outside of the project team test the program/system to ensure usability and functionality from an unbiased perspective. Studies show that the closer you are to something, the less objective you are. Your brain automatically sees it the “right” way rather than the way it actually is.
• Stress Tests: Conduct stress tests to catch any defects early and minimize their impact on the organization and other stakeholders.

These protocols help identify and rectify defects early, ensuring a smooth and reliable implementation with minimal disruptions to your operations..

Timing is everything.

There is a long-running adage in the programming world – “Don’t deploy on Friday.” Some view it as a joke, others a jinx, but many consider it a must.

Risk management exists for a reason; no system is perfect, no team is perfect, so it’s prudent to plan accordingly. Not only do Friday deployments reduce the margin for error to fix an issue, but key stakeholders are often less available. This has implications for your team, but also your stakeholders, who might not see any communications or troubleshooting materials you share on a Saturday. Finding the right time to launch your change mitigates risk and improves adoption.

By incorporating these practices, organizations can better manage changes and prevent the type of widespread issues that resulted from the recent CrowdStrike update.

How Government Agencies Use Storytelling in Change Management.

Change management is an essential function for any organization, but it’s especially important for federal government agencies. Change initiatives help drive the agency’s mission, which can impact millions of US citizens. Storytelling is fundamental to effective change management. Stories engage, inspire, and move people to action, making them a potent tool for leaders helping their agencies change and thrive.

Here are a few reasons government agencies should integrate storytelling into their change management approaches.

1.    Stories work.

Humans are naturally drawn to stories. Stories are how we make sense of the world and our place within it. In the context of federal agencies, stories can transform abstract concepts into tangible examples that employees can understand and relate to. When leaders share stories of successful change, they provide a narrative that helps people envision the positive outcomes of the transformation.

2.    Stories promote your change.

A compelling change narrative should be authentic, relatable, and aligned with the agency’s values and mission. It should illuminate the “why” behind the change, the vision for the future, and the role each employee plays. For instance, a story about how a new technology will improve citizen services can help employees see the importance of their contribution to the larger goal.

3.    Stories combat resistance.

Stories are also powerful learning tools. They can be used to illustrate best practices, common pitfalls, and lessons learned from past changes. By sharing stories from within the agency or similar organizations, leaders provide a roadmap for navigating the complexities of change; this tamps down resistance and builds confidence in the change.

4.    Stories engage employees.

Change can be daunting. But stories can create emotional connections that facts and figures alone cannot. They can motivate employees by describing the human impact of the change, such as how it improves the lives of the public or enhances the work environment for staff.

5.    Stories drive commitment.

Inclusivity should be a cornerstone of stories in change management. Diverse perspectives help the narrative resonate with a broad audience and make all stakeholders feel heard. Inclusive stories foster a sense of belonging and commitment to both the change process and the agency.

The power of story in change management cannot be overstated. For federal government agencies, where change can be particularly complex and impactful, stories unite, guide, and inspire employees. As agencies continue to evolve and adapt to new challenges, the stories they tell will shape their path forward.

Leading change management in your organization? These are signs you don’t want to see.

Any organization can go from Point A to Point B on a project, but if you want to get there in one piece and ready to reap the benefits, you need great change management. If your organization is on a change journey and you’re feeling uneasy, look for these signs you might be doing change management wrong.

1. People are telling different stories about what’s happening.

If there’s confusion surrounding the change, its progression, or the future state, it’s a clear indicator that something’s wrong. Clear and consistent communication is crucial at every stage of the change process to ensure that everyone understands what’s happening and why.

Make sure you have:

• A simple message framework that outlines why the change is happening, what the change is, how you’ll move forward, and what the result will be.
• Executives aligned on that framework, so they don’t need emails or PowerPoint decks to speak authentically on the change.
• A change network of key people embedded in stakeholder groups.
• Communication assets and channels to arm your change network as they spread the right information.

2. Employees are avoiding project activities.

Resistance often arises because employees simply fear what they don’t understand. They might worry about job security, lack of confidence in new skills or behaviors, or how their roles might change.

• First, be as transparent as possible. If you don’t tell people what’s happening, they will fill those gaps on their own.
• Second, allay those fears by building the right comparisons into your communications. Creating connections between your change and other experiences makes people feel it’s familiar, which turns off fear, makes the change feel valuable, and helps people remember it.

3. Employees are less happy.

A decline in employee morale and productivity is a big red flag that your change management approach is not hitting home with your staff. They might feel that they have no control over what’s happening, and they won’t be able to perform. Those in managerial positions might resist a change that takes away responsibilities or decisions.

Even a big, challenging project shouldn’t leave people down in the dumps. One cure for the slump is to create a sense of optimism for the future. That means two things: success and control.

• Engineer small wins early in the project. Look for ways to make stakeholders think “I was successful with that. I can do something like this again.”
• Then let them take the wheel for a bit. Involve stakeholders in decisions, mapping out the journey, and framing the new possibilities for their teams. Give them choices between solutions, locations, timeframes, etc. Having input into one’s future is a powerful boost. Adding choice, structure, and predictability makes a big difference.

4. Employees are saying it’s not right for their team.

If everything about your project just feels wrong to employees, or worse, directly conflicts with how employees work and succeed day to day, you’ll fail.

• First, seek to understand your organizational or team culture. If you haven’t already, put it into words. List the unwritten rules for success in your workplace – things like values, norms, and communication styles.
• Then, intentionally build them into the change management strategy and activities. If project communications and activities just feel right to people, you’ll foster acceptance and adoption.

5. You’re getting déjà vu.

Are you seeing or hearing about some of the same problems over and over throughout your project? Or are they similar to issues you faced during other projects? Maybe you’re not getting enough intelligence to act on. You need ways to capture and address feedback and lessons learned.

• Early in the project, assess your change readiness in key areas. That will give you a chance to get ahead of issues.
• During the project and after implementation, conduct pulse checks and gather stakeholder feedback through your change agent network.
• Document lessons learned from the project team and stakeholder groups at the end of the project. Then make sure you store, share, and socialize them. Better yet, build “change history check” into your organization’s methodology.

Change is hard…

An organization’s change journey can make everyone feel uneasy, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Look for the signs discussed in this post to avoid doing change management wrong. If (and more realistically, when) problems pop up, turn them into opportunities. See these valuable signs for what they are, correct course and get your change management right.

Use your organizational values as a compass in an automated world.

Imagine walking into a workplace where decisions are made at the speed of light, tasks are completed with superhuman precision, and innovation is not just a buzzword but a daily reality.

This is the vision many organizations are chasing as they adopt artificial intelligence (AI). But as the AI landscape continues to evolve, some organizations are simply running to keep up, with no clear destination.

How do you know if you’re headed in the right direction? Our tip — check each milestone against your organizational values.

Why Values Matter in the Age of Automation

Without a strong set of values guiding AI, organizations find themselves in a maze of ethical difficulties and impersonal interactions.

For instance, what if an organization deployed AI chatbots for customer service without adequately addressing their limitations? This could frustrate customers and badly damage the brand.

Don’t automate processes without considering the implications and checking them against your values. Automation should enhance, not replace, the human touch. Every outcome should be aligned with the organization’s mission, vision, and values.

Without a strong set of values guiding AI, organizations find themselves in a maze of ethical difficulties and impersonal interactions.

The Role of Values in Decision-Making

Just because we can, does it mean we should? What guides our organizational decisions?

AI systems learn from historical data, which can contain biases. If the data are biased, the AI model might spread those biases. Imagine an AI-powered hiring tool that inadvertently discriminates against certain demographics due to biased historical hiring data. This could lead to unfair employment practices and even legal repercussions.

If, instead, the organization embeds its values into decision-making, it creates a culture of consistency and trust. Employees and other stakeholders understand that company actions are founded on those values.

Values and ethical rules should guide our decisions, not software features. Values ensure that as we delegate tasks to machines, we’re not also outsourcing our ethical responsibilities.

Just because we can, does it mean we should?

Protecting the Human Heart in a Digital World

As we embrace the incredible potential of advanced automation, let’s not forget the human heart beating at the core of our organizations. It’s the passion of the people, guided by clear and compassionate values, that will ensure technology enhances our work rather than defines it.

For instance, a hospital may have AI-driven diagnostic tools that are incredibly accurate, even revolutionary. But healthcare workers know that delivering a diagnosis without empathy will cause patients anxiety and distress. The most successful organizations will be those that harness the power of automation without discarding human insight.

Automation should enhance, not replace, the human touch.

So, let’s program our future with not only intelligence, but with wisdom and foresight. As our capabilities grow, so can our humanity.

Three Takeaways for Optimizing AI

Values are the compass. In a world steered by automation, clear organizational values provide direction and purpose, ensuring that every technological advancement serves the greater mission.

Ethics determine the heading. As automation becomes more prevalent, the temptation to prioritize efficiency over ethics can grow. Maintaining clear values helps resist this temptation and fosters a culture of integrity.

Advanced automation is a crew member, not the captain. While automation can greatly enhance efficiency and decision-making, it should not inhibit the passion and judgment of the people that make up the organization.

As the lines between human intuition and AI are blurring, clear organizational values have never been more crucial. As we sail into the uncharted waters of AI, these values are the stars by which we navigate, ensuring we don’t get distracted by shiny new software and lose sight of our humanity.

Tips for success when collaborating with a consultant.

A sure way to guarantee failure on a project is misalignment. Setting expectations and agreeing on the work is critical to getting the outcomes you want from your consulting relationship.

Speak and listen.

Alignment begins at the beginning. Make sure your consultants understand what the problem is and how you want to them to help. Answer questions and give them access to the information or people they need to understand the situation. Ask your consultant questions about who they are, how they work, and what you can expect. And if they start speaking “Consultantese,” stop and ask them to clarify.

Agree on the work.

Once you’ve decided on the path forward, agree on the statement of work. Be sure it includes everything you want consultants to do to help solve your problem. The statement of work should describe the deliverables the consultants will create for you. Ask to see samples of those deliverables.

Ask your consultant questions about who they are, how they work, and what you can expect.

As you review those samples, ask yourself, “Will these deliverables help to solve this problem for my company?” If the answer is no, then speak up. Work with the consultant to customize the deliverables to fit you and your company. Once you are aligned, sign the statement of work and begin the engagement.

Sync your work styles.

Expectations are not just for the “what” but the “how.” So talk about working styles and boundaries. Do you prefer to have meetings in the mornings or afternoons? Are Fridays off-limits? Are you ok with working through lunch? If your consultant is flying in, is there a certain time you want them to arrive on Mondays…or leave on Thursdays or Fridays? Should consultants send meeting invites directly to you and your team, or go through an assistant? What communication channels do you prefer – email, phone, or a messaging platform like Teams? How should you share documents? Should business calls go to business numbers or are cell phones ok too? What are the “unwritten rules” of working with your company or team?

Kick it off.

Conduct a kick-off meeting the first week of the engagement. Invite the project sponsor, the project team, and any other key stakeholders. During this initial meeting, have your consultant explain to the team why they are there…what they plan to do and how they will work with the team.

Talk about working styles and boundaries.

Share the timeline that was included in the statement of work. Does it jive with the project’s timeline? Do you need to make adjustments? Agree on when deliverables will be submitted and how they’ll be submitted. How many days before a formal deliverable review should deliverables be sent? Who will sign off on deliverables? Who will act as the consultant’s main point of contact?

Communicate systematically.

Continued communication is the key to maintaining this alignment. Check in on a weekly basis. Set up status meetings. Decide who should facilitate those meetings and who should attend those meetings, and how they will be run. Agree on the format of the status report. What information will be most helpful to you as the project progresses? What are your deal breakers for project management? Any lessons learned from previous projects? Milestones, templates, and rules should guide your communications.

Avoid surprises.

As the project moves forward, keep your consultant abreast of any changes in scope, timing and/or budget. Last-minute changes aren’t good…but they are better than not communicating at all – that can really sink your effort.

Continued communication is key to maintaining alignment.

If something changes, sit down and speak with your consultant. Sometimes a fix can be as simple as creating a change order to reset expectations and get realigned.

What else should you talk about when starting and maintaining a great working relationship with your consultants? HINT: Anything that helps you to have a smooth working relationship and a successful project.

How Knowledge Management and Change Management Make Beautiful Music Together

Let’s explore the powerful duo of knowledge management (KM) and change management – partners in a symphony of organizational success. Knowledge management is the process an organization uses to collect, retain, sustain, and share information. You might think of it as the key to the vault. If you have something valuable, but you can’t get to it, it’s useless. That’s what happens with poor knowledge management. So, the first step is a strong knowledge management system.

The role of change management is, as always, to engage the people in an organization to get the benefits you expect from some investment – in this case, knowledge management.

Knowledge Management is the orchestra.

• Capture: Use KM as your archivist, collecting insights from employees, internal documentation, and external sources. Make sure you capture explicit, implicit, and tacit knowledge.
• Organize: Establish taxonomies and efficient search tools and processes.
• Collaborate: Create an environment for synergy with wikis, knowledge repositories, and discussion spaces.

Change Management Is the conductor.

• Lead: Let leaders actively model KM and set the tone.
• Communicate: Invite employees into the power of KM through transparency and timely information.
• Engage: Invite employees to give feedback and really own KM.

What do you get from this performance?

• Savings: Organizations without good KM reinvent the wheel, over and over, wasting precious time and resources.
• Speed: KM gives employees a running start on new projects.
• Decision-Making: KM-driven insights form the foundation for strategic decisions.
• Relationships: Access to data on customer needs, stakeholder groups, and the workforce produces stronger relationships and better solutions.
• Empowerment: Enriched and informed employees get smarter and want to grow; they perform better and they’re more likely to embrace change.
• Evolution: Reflecting on documented successes and lessons learned informs planning and improves execution of future change initiatives.

This isn’t just academic for me. When I joined my client, IT information was scattered and decentralized. Since then, we used KM and change management to make big changes.

We established a centralized knowledge base to consolidate valuable content, implemented lifecycle management practices to ensure ongoing relevance and accuracy, and established a robust governance structure. We rolled it out right, using change management to engage and empower employees with the new KM ecosystem. Employees now have seamless access to a single platform with all the information they need, located in a single, easily accessible platform.

Embrace this partnership. Knowledge management and change management create a crescendo of achievement and help your organization navigate change with poise.

Our government is apparently not a fan of TikTok, but they seem to love other innovative technology — especially AI. US federal agencies are starting to harness the power of generative artificial intelligence (AI) to improve efficiency, decision-making, and service delivery.

For instance, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) could use generative AI to model complex public health scenarios, helping them form policies and response strategies. Similarly, the Department of Defense (DoD) is exploring generative AI for simulation and training purposes, to give personnel realistic and varied practice scenarios.

AI promises big benefits, but beware — there are three pitfalls government teams should consider as they approach AI projects.

Consider ethics and policy.

As federal agencies adopt generative AI, they must keep ethics and policy implications at the forefront. They need clear guidelines on data usage, privacy, and security. They must also ensure that AI-generated content is unbiased and equitable; government decisions based on AI outputs can have significant impacts on the lives of US citizens.

As federal agencies adopt generative AI, they must keep ethics and policy implications at the forefront.

Hire and train for the AI-enabled agency.

Generative AI will change the work performed within federal agencies. This is a good thing; AI can take over repetitive tasks, freeing up human workers for more complex and creative work. But that workforce must be prepared to get all the benefits of AI. Agencies should consider AI technology skills as they recruit and hire. They must also invest in training to help employees perform in an AI-augmented workplace.

Generative AI will change the work performed within federal agencies. This is a good thing.

Manage it like any other change.

Integrating AI technology into federal agencies is an organizational change, like any other. Agencies will not see the workforce adoption they need – and the benefits they expect – without effective change management. Dedicated change management teams help federal organizations navigate the complexities of the new technology, address resistance, and promote employee engagement and adoption. The right communication, training, and support minimizes disruption and maximizes the benefits of generative AI, fostering an environment where innovative tools like AI enhance employee performance and service delivery.

Dedicated change management teams help federal organizations navigate the complexities of new technology.

Generative AI offers federal agencies exciting opportunities to innovate and improve their operations. But each opportunity comes with the responsibility to implement AI ethically and support the workforce. As generative AI continues to evolve, it will be fascinating to see how federal agencies leverage this technology to serve the public better.

HR professionals must think of themselves as change agents.

Perhaps no role is shifting faster than the HR professional. If the pandemic showed us anything, it was that the employee experience is essential to survival. HR is not only helping navigate choppy post-pandemic waters, but also evolving into a true strategic partner.

This is not just about external catalysts or inclusion in strategic decisions. It’s about mindset. HR professionals must start thinking of themselves as change agents.

For example, a global company wanted to launch a development program to change the behaviors of its leaders, world-wide. Other initiatives like this had flopped, but this one was a smashing success. Why? In part, it was because HR itself made some significant behavior changes of its own.

1. From understanding business needs to forecasting them.

Having ears to the ground, HR could see early on that the business model was shifting from individual contribution to team performance. Soon, leaders would have to work with multiple global cross-functional project teams and get them to collaborate quickly to drive business outcomes. Because HR anticipated this need, the program was not merely a reaction to a problem; it was a proactive solution.

How they did it:  HR claimed a “seat at the table” and participated in business decisions. They held regular meetings with employees and managers and asked the right questions. They also conducted frequent pulse surveys to gauge the mood of the employee base and respond.

2. From tracking metrics to owning Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

The HR team committed to employee engagement (a company KPI) instead of focusing on tactical metrics like total training hours or training feedback scores.

How they did it: They kept organizational goals front-and-center during every conversation and work session. They brainstormed with their internal clients to identify the right HR success metrics to achieve employee engagement and to drive the desired employee behaviors. For example, training didn’t end in the classroom but was followed by simulations and mentoring to ensure that the learning stuck and leaders managed their teams optimally.

3. From understanding diversity to fostering inclusion.

Even though corporate headquarters was in the U.S., the move to team performance was global. HR knew many typical elements of training and communication didn’t resonate globally, so they paid special attention to that.

How they did it: HR crunched the numbers to identify real data on diversity. Then, they used the quantitative results to make the program culturally inclusive. For example, they knew that employees in other countries might be alienated if the company continued to use U.S. baseball metaphors. So they asked their geo stakeholders to share their stories and metaphors, then applied the lens of local culture to all experiences.

4. From following HR trends to focusing and executing the most relevant trends.

The HR team had a good sense of multi-generational workplace and digital revolution, but they decided to thoroughly examine how these trends impacted the company and how best to manage them.

How they did it: HR read the research and reached out to networks and business stakeholders to get their input. They investigated trends and analyzed impacts. These findings guided all relevant HR actions. They made sure the communications, training, and tools they rolled out resonated with the target audiences. For example, they used the latest technology platform to engage digitally savvy millennials who were primed to be future leaders.

As HR became more involved with company strategy and their stakeholders, they better understood their pivotal role in all organizational change. HR is responsible for promoting employee behavior change. That starts with changing their own behaviors.

Executive Facilitation

Part 6: Signs your executive session was a success.

You facilitated an executive working session and you think it went well! You think… How can you know?

Here’s what you might hear and observe after a solid session.

“This was great.”

It’s not the most rigorous test of your facilitation, but it matters. How people feel coming out of the room is important. It means they feel it was a good use of their time, and they’ll approach your next session with enthusiasm.

What to do when you hear this: Conduct a pulse survey to drill down on why people liked the session. And consider one-on-one check-ins with a few participants to get more detail: what they liked and what improvements you could make.

“This is the new way of doing it.”

Sometimes a session or activity feels so effective that leadership wants to adopt it as a standard practice. That’s a great sign that your session worked.

What to do when you hear this: Document your facilitation process and tools. Post them in a shared folder and let people know where they can find your files.

How people feel coming out of the room is important. If they feel it was a good use of their time, they’ll approach your next session with enthusiasm.

“Remember what we said during our meeting?”

When participants reference the ideas, skills, or decisions you made during the session, that means your session is resonating and making an impact.

What to do when you hear this: Capture those things that are resonating and make sure everyone has access to them.

“I’m following up on my action item.”

At the end of a good executive session, you define next steps and responsibilities. When you see those things happening, the session is making a difference. You’ve taken the value out of the room and into the organization.

What to do when you hear this: Celebrate and normalize. Share who’s moving the ball forward; this will nudge others with to-dos to do the same.

“We’re kicking off the project.”

Many strategic working sessions are convened to make strategic decisions. Those decisions turn into strategic projects. You can feel good if the rubber is hitting the road, with projects funded and underway.

What to do when you hear this: Keep an eye on the project born during your session. Document your success story: you gathered the right people and they produced something impactful!

“Here are the numbers.”

Strategic decisions are intended to make an observable, positive impact. Hopefully, the actions and initiatives born in your session end up showing those results. That’s the ultimate sign that you made a difference.

“Let’s do this every year.”

If your executive session felt right to leadership, produced sound ideas and decisions, and generated positive outcomes, it had obvious value. Leadership might feel so good about it that it becomes an essential tool for your organization. Well done, facilitator!

ICYMI: Executive Facilitation Series Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 & Part 5

Launching AI? This is what your Change Lead wakes up thinking about.

Every day, I talk to people leading technology projects for our clients and the Emerson change leads who support them. No surprise that the coolest projects are in the Artificial Intelligence space.

Organizations are modeling operational scenarios on production lines and making data-driven decisions using AI. They are using AI to better schedule their truck fleet routes and drivers, getting products to customers faster and at a lower cost. They are improving their employees’ digital experience through AI-enabled chatbots that solve their problems in the moment of need.

As IT project teams are focused on seamless delivery of AI to the business, here’s what a project’s change management leads wake up in the morning thinking about.

Are the Executives on this AI initiative all on the same page?

This typically happens when they’re trying to document the messages that should go to the impacted audiences. When this happens, the change lead often hits the “pause” button to ensure that sponsors and change agents are communicating clearly and consistently. They get key leaders aligned on the problem we are solving, the way we describe the solution, the approach, and the results we will achieve.

Have we identified all the impacted audiences for this AI project?

Will an unidentified audience “come out of the woodwork?” Ideally, key leaders participate in the current-state and future-state workshops at the start of the AI project. The change lead documents all the audiences and captures the new ways of working for each audience. They identify what each group will gain and lose with the introduction of AI, how best to communicate with them, what they need to know-learn-do to be successful. This detailed impact “topography” is the basis of every change intervention that comes after, so it’s important to get it right. So, after they think they have identified all the impacts, change leads follow up with each audience to validate their understanding. What they’re asking is, “Are these all the stakeholder impacts? Is there anyone we‘ve missed?”

What’s the best way to reduce fear and engage stakeholders?

Change leads try to figure out what makes each impacted audience tick; they use that to engineer an AI change strategy. A good change team uses what motivates each stakeholder group to help them engage in a positive way with the impending changes. Change leads also use that knowledge to come up with creative ways to focus attention on the change. For example, Emerson change leads engineer adoption by pulling three levers: they use what feels familiar to stakeholders, they give impacted audiences a sense of control, and create successes during the project so that employees feel safe and confident moving forward.

Change leads try to figure out what makes each impacted audience tick; they use that to engineer an AI change strategy.

AI is transformational. The nature of AI is that it gets smarter the more people use it. A change lead is the only member of your AI project with a laser focus on getting people to use your new, fantastical AI technology. The success of your AI initiatives, and the ROI of the investment, hinges on your ability to ready the workforce and customers to ensure they embrace the transformation.

For more information on the right way to engage the workforce in AI initiatives, read Artificial intelligence and your workforce: Three tips for leaders.