Some of you may know about the Pinta Island tortoise, who was the last known individual of the subspecies. In his last years, he was recognized as one of the rarest creatures in the world. You may be aware that he was a symbol for the conservation efforts in the Galapagos Islands and was known as “Lonesome George”. George was well recognized all over the world and unexpectedly died at the age 100.
While I was attending a business conference earlier this year a businessman by the name of Dave Martin spoke into the lives of many of us about the importance of adaptability and change in all areas of our lives. He shared a quote from a noted writer, Leon C. Megginson “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but rather the one most adaptable to change.” He goes onto say that the likely cause for the extinction of the giant Galapagos tortoise was its’ inability to adapt to a changing environment.
Many of our great leaders throughout history have had challenges in supporting their teams through change in the business arena. In a recent Forbes article it states “One of the most daunting things about being a leader is implementing change – especially when it’s not your idea. For one thing, it’s hard to know how your folks are going to respond when you tell them about change.” Here are some core ways to encourage people to thrive during change:
- Empathy – When you’re thinking about talking to your team about change, remember your own initial reaction can help you be more supportive of their challenges with the new ideas.
- What’s going away? – Before you share the change with your team, think about what will be ending for them. That is, what things within their current tasks, that they are comfortable with, are they going to have to let go of doing.
- What’s starting? It’s also useful to think about what’s new: what are your folks going to have to start doing that they haven’t done before?
- How can you smooth the shift? You can focus on actions you can take to make it easier for your team to move through those changes. Four things to keep in mind:
- You want to do things that will increase their understanding of the change.
- Clarify and reinforce for them the new priorities, so they know what’s expected.
- Give them as much control as possible.
- Give them the support they need to make the change successfully.
The Remedi Executive leadership team and its staff are always looking for ways to improve our internal processes, which in some instances requires change and embracing new ideas. This empowers us to stay on the leading edge of Integration and EDI, B2B and MFT as well as improve the experiences our customers have with the core areas of our business.
Do your current B2Bi integration capabilities support your business requirements? As you considering changing and modernizing your B2B Integration Architecture? This is the time of year that quite a few of our clients are putting together new project plans and budgets for 2017. If you are looking for a firm that has a proven track record in assisting clients gain full visibility, monitoring and reporting of EDI, we would welcome the opportunity to hear your story and discuss some of your challenges that you are experiencing.
