Thoughts on Organizational Change Management - Setting Up Your Team

Now that you're an Organizational Change Manager (OCM), you're probably overseeing the entire organization on a national or even an international level, and of course, you can't do all the work yourself, so you'll need a few Change Managers (CMs) and even Project Managers (PMs). You will also need to have a mentoring program for those just out of college, so how do you manage this?

From the OCM position, you probably have at least 15 years of experience or more. The longer your career, the better at this you'll be. If your organization is national, most likely a one CM to three or four should be able to get things done, however, if you're global and have more than 50,000 staff, it isn't unusual to have 10 or more CMs with each supported by a few PMs. At this level, the CMs should have at least 10 years of experience and the PMs one to five. Of course, as nothing is set in stone, these can vary.

As part of recruitment, especially for those new to the field, a mentoring program can be of great benefit. Wherever the certification comes from for OCM, CM, or PM, the reality is going to be vastly different from the theories learned. Some people can be easily disillusioned when plans, behaviors, and timelines don't go as planned. Mentoring through a project or two can open their eyes to the real world while giving them much-needed experience.

Be sure to get to know each member of the OCM teams so you can lead by example, inspiration, motivation, and encouragement. As mentioned in some other articles, give recognition and praise in public either in a team setting or during company awards, or both, while keeping any difficulties or problems strictly confidential between you and that person, unless it is serious enough to warrant intervention.

Each new team member will need time to adjust, learn how things work, what strategies you use, and become coordinated with other members in addition to those from other departments for each project. Give an adequate amount of time for this to take place. Another element of leadership is patience, understanding, and empathy, both for your team, and those you are guiding through the change.

Don't be afraid to delegate as this builds confidence in your leadership and helps in trusting those around you. If someone needs to work on certain areas, guide them through or team them up with another member who excels at that particular task and can share pointers that will be beneficial to the team member in need. Where possible, try to place each team member in the area they do best at. One of my college professors advised that when the strengths are focused on, the weaknesses diminish and go away.

Be sure to keep your team incentivized, motivated, encouraged, and satisfied. Employee retention is very important these days, and even in spite of being in a good work environment, there will be those who leave for a great offer, career change, or other reasons, be sure to vet the new candidates to make sure your qualifications are met and exceeded.

With the right attitude and effort, you will construct a well-organized team that will get the job done and hopefully be a good source of knowledge for others in your organization seeking help from OCM as well as maintaining a good reputation for all in your department.