Members mingling at Change Chat

On February 23, we had the first “Happy Hour” edition of our popular Change Chats. Kelli Fitzmaurice and Val Johnson, ACMP Vancouver board members, co-chaired the inaugural event at Gotham’s steak house. Special thanks to ACMP members Julie Kothlow and Leslie Fast for assisting with the facilitation.

Eighteen participants had the opportunity to discuss the changing landscape we face in both the Change Management discipline and in our Vancouver marketplace. Discussion also centered on how we as practitioners need to evolve our thinking and practices in order to continue to add value to projects and organizations as they move along the CM maturity journey.

Some of the key themes and opportunities discussed were:
  • Leadership development. Organizations are in perpetual change and typically have low CM maturity (Prosci maturity model level 1 or 2) particularly within leadership relying on natural abilities vs. building capabilities. CM practitioners can help to focus organizations on change resilience, building coalitions and training/coaching leaders so they understand and are prepared for their role. This type of training can, and should be, embedded in Leadership development.
  • Metrics. There is a lack of clear metrics for change success. Practitioners can push to ensure change metrics are embedded in project status reports to gauge progress and success.
  • Organizational competency. Constant presence of change speaks to the need to build organizational CM competency in order to manage change as part of operations and not always as part of a project. CM practitioners can help mentor organizational roles to build capability among employees.

Participants enjoyed the warm, inviting atmosphere of this new venue which fostered a lively discussion and provided time to relax and get to know fellow ACMP Members.

If you are interested in hosting a future change chat or have ideas for future topics please email acmpvan@gmail.com.