Leading Change to Embed Impact Measurement
Leading and managing change is part of life for any senior staff in organisations today. For an impact leader, however, it is likely to be a key skill as they need to support organisations to adopt new and ever changing monitoring, evaluation and impact tools, and to implement the changes the data collected shows are necessary to improve practice.
Theory
Our worlds are ever-changing, both in our professional and personal lives. Many theorists explain the nature of change as ‘VUCA’ – volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. Read more about our VUCA context here:
READ AND WATCH: https://www.vuca-world.org/
TASK: Map out all the ways in which your work in your organization is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. What does that mean for how you manage your work and lead impact?
This classic video show how fast the pace of change has been within our life-times:
WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u06BXgWbGvA
Here is a guide to Lewin’s three step change management model:
READ AND WATCH: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_94.htm
Kotter’s own website is the best guide to his eight step change management model:
EXPLORE: https://www.kotterinc.com/methodology/8-steps/
TASK: Consider whether Lewin’s three step model or Kotter’s eight step model is most useful to you. How could you use this model to support your work improving the impact evaluation in your organization?
For a more lighthearted guide to change management try these:
Who moved my cheese? WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvYCLxqkfvY
Our iceberg is melting: WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB-c3pJR0qU
TASK: If you made a cartoon to explain your organisations work on impact measurement, what would the setting be? What and who would the key characters be? And what events would unfold? What does this tell you about your organisational context?
Tools and tips
This article gives tips on how to lead in a VUCA world:
READ: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/managing-vuca-world.htm
TASK: How do these ideas compare to those you generated yourself?
Kotter’s website outlines the skills needed by leaders to achieve his eight steps of change management:
READ: https://www.kotterinc.com/methodology/8-steps/
TASK: Consider which of these skills you think you have and which you need to develop. Write a plan for how to develop thm.
This PDF is a guide to Michael Fullen’s model of educational change:
READ: http://michaelfullan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/2008SixSecretsofChangeKeynoteA4.pdf
TASK: Evaluate whether this educational model of change is better aligned to youth provision than the corporate models from Lewin and Kotter. If you do prefer it, how would you use it in your leadership practice?
This toolkit by Berkely University offers a comprehensive guide:
DOWNLOAD: https://hr.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/change_management_toolkit.pdf
And here is a UK version from the LGA: http://www.changetoolkit.org.uk/
TASK: What are the most useful tools in these packs and how will you implement them in your workplace?
This checklist might help you to reflect on your change leadership skills: https://leap.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2018/02/Dr.-Hanson-self-assessment.pdf