My expertise in Change Management comes from both trainings and practical experience. Over time, these skills have become second nature for me. Which is why I recently found myself applying the theory and guidelines of Change Management to navigate a personal transition.
A while ago, our family had the opportunity to move from India to Egypt. To help manage this huge shift, I decided to use the Change Management principles I’ve utilized in my own career, from sound planning to practical solutions.
More specifically, I turned to Dr. John Kotter’s 8-Step Process for Leading Change, which offers a more detailed approach than Lewin’s 3-Step Theory. Kotter’s model is especially helpful for large, complex changes.
Take a look at how I applied Kotter’s model to our family relocation:
To start with, we sat down as a family to discuss the relocation and its potential benefits. Open communication helped us realize why leaving was timely and focused our attention on the potential opportunities – for each of us and collectively for our family. This helped us commit to the change.
For the family relocation, my husband, daughter and I became the guiding coalition for one another. We would check in regularly to address stress and fatigue and to re-build motivation.
During our relocation planning phase, I set a clear vision: to complete the move smoothly and ensure a strong start in Egypt. I then strategically identified initiatives to achieve this vision, including reaching out to Egypt-based members in my personal network and leveraging my contacts to identify others willing to share their knowledge.
For our relocation, too, I identified stakeholders who could become volunteers in supporting our project. The most important among these were members of the Parent-Teacher Association of the school my daughter planned to attend in Cairo.
I realized that the coordinator helping us with our India-to-Egypt move needed to make many small but important decisions. We gave her all the required information, along with delegating the authority she needed to represent us efficiently.
So, I ensured that we celebrated the little wins along the way, such as the day we received our visas. This helped us keep a positive mindset, since relocation can be a lengthy and complicated process.
Following the above advice, I continued to drive the change and address lingering challenges. After receiving the visa, we turned our attention to the school application. We also prepared ourselves by reading up on our new home and its culture.
There will be permanent changes during our stay in our new host country. Individually and as a family, we will anchor new ways of living so we can fully adapt to our new context.
By applying the principles of Change Management, I was able to proactively address potential challenges, support our family, and ultimately ensure a successful transition to our new location. Strong communication, empathy and consistent support were crucial throughout the entire process.
A very useful tool for my projects came in handy here, even though it was at a smaller scale than usual: the Gantt Chart. It helped me to clarify responsibilities, milestones, needed actions, resources and people, and dependencies between the different tasks. Using such a tool helps to reduce anxiety, reinforce ownership and fuel excitement for the entire journey of change!
]]>To this end, the World Bank is financing a project aiming at digitalizing and decentralizing public finance in the Central African Republic (CAR). Earlier this year, I joined the 2AC team in charge of supporting the project and launching its change management aspect.
2AC is an accounting firm with extensive experience in auditing and public finance. For this project, 2AC partnered with consulting firm Afrika Consult, whose manager’s expertise was instrumental to efficiently engage with local contacts and authorities. In parallel, 2AC’s technical team evaluated the performance of the digitalization software by conducting a thorough assessment of its equipment and usage.
Providing a solid software and required trainings are a prerequisite for any successful digitalization project. However, by themselves, they may not be enough.
Going digital is a big change — and any big change inevitably meets with resistance. There is a feeling of uncertainty and hesitation, which is completely natural. Raising awareness about change and overcoming resistance among key users is vital to creating engagement and bringing the digitalization dream to life.
This is where my role as a coach became relevant. As part of the change management team, I was on mission in Bangui (the capital of the CAR) for two weeks this summer. During this time, I coached the digitalization project team, including the project manager and coordinator, to identify key stakeholders across ministries, departments and agencies as well as with oversight entities. We also explored and analysed the best strategies to approach and engage with these stakeholders.
Following this, I had several group coaching engagements with the stakeholders, including ministry officials, civil servants and executives. My goal here was to support them in adapting to the big changes on the horizon. Coaching helped them identify potential roadblocks, non-technical drivers — and feasible beneficiary centric solutions .
As we gathered detailed feedback, they felt heard and knew their concerns were being taken into account. Crucially, we learned that some of the resistance to change was being triggered by obstacles encountered during software implementation. To overcome these obstacles, mainly non-technical drivers, we discussed and identified a set of strategies, including the creation of software “quick guides” and more targeted trainings.
Additionally, I asked stakeholders targeted open questions and guided them through conversations about what is positive and possible. Together, we explored upcoming milestones to get excited about. We also decided on immediate actions to anchor the project and ensure its success.
On a personal level, I was thrilled to experience, once again, the deep and versatile value of coaching. This project re-confirmed to me that coaching is beneficial to any organization, including the public sector and development projects.
As my challenging yet rewarding mission in the CAR came to an end, I felt a brimming sense of optimism. I am hopeful that the digitalization project will yield various benefits such as increased efficiency, speed and transparency in public finance.
]]>Working pro bono with Women Palante, I had the chance to support team members as well as beneficiaries. As a coach, as well as a woman, this was extremely rewarding for me. My contribution created yielded tangible results on the ground — which is the dream for anyone in my profession!
One of the team members who felt isolated started feeling more involved. As he better understood the CEO’s vision, he became eager to contribute. Another team member began engaging with her role more actively, finding fulfilment in the social impact she was able to create. Furthermore, the CEO gained clarity around the demands involved in developing the NGO and its profit activity at the same pace and in parallel.
After moving to Delhi, I was eager to see if I could lend my expertise to another worthwhile organization. That is when I heard about TARA, an NGO working with underprivileged children and their families in Delhi. I reached out to them to explore collaboration opportunities and was delighted when they decided to bring me on board as a volunteer coach and consultant.
After assessing the NGO’s aims and functioning, I decided to focus my coaching effort towards their team members, particularly those in operations and support services. I felt they would benefit the most from my experience, which is mainly acquired in the private sector and international development banks, and is complemented by a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
I was especially excited to work with the talented and driven young women at TARA. Our coaching sessions covered many facets of their activities, from identifying SMART* KPIs* to showcasing results effectively to donors.
Together, we worked on vital leadership skills like optimizing tasks, managing through delegation, and leading without micro-managing. We also co-created an engaging training program for a group of staff members with widely varied priorities and perspectives.
Along with coaching staff members, I also took on responsibilities in areas like evaluation, partnerships, operations and communication. My focus here was to enhance effectiveness and ensure that functions were aligned with the mission of the organization.
My time at TARA was filled with thrilling exchanges, brimming with new ideas, visible growth, and an optimism for the future. The dialogue I had with team members was honest, transparent and meaningful. Every moment we shared was filled with hope and a genuine desire for improvement.
The project also offered a valuable learning for me. I realized that even though the structure of a social NGO like TARA was small-scale, local and unique, some of the issues that I coached its management team on were comparable to what I have witnessed and addressed in international organizations and private sector companies. In these overlapping areas, I was able to contribute in ways that I hadn’t thought possible! In fact, I was able to leverage several valuable lessons from my 25-year career as a strategic communicator and project manager.
I believe my humble contribution yielded strong results. Through my coaching, the team was able to form a blended approach that relied both on strategic communication and project management. Applying this new approach, they identified SMART KPIs, customized training for staff members, and developed a clear, confident and fruitful message delivery.
Ultimately, my pro bono work helped to empower TARA’s leaders, increase their efficiency, and support their journey to becoming successful thought leaders. It was an honor for me to aid such a worthy cause! This project also served as an important reminder for me about the immense value of coaching for NGOs.