Management of Change pt 6 – Communicate the Vision

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Equipping, Management of Change
Last week, we continued our overview of ‘Kotter’s 8 Step Process for Leading Change’. As an overlay to a Strategic Planning Process, these steps can be highly effective, and can take place concurrently, depending on the nature of the programme. We are now moving onto the first step in ‘Engaging and Enabling The Whole Organisation’ which Kotter describes as: Step 4 – ‘Communicate The Vision for Buy-In’ Irrespective of who defined the change vision the need to communicate it is a critical next step in engaging and enrolling people at all levels and in all areas across the organisation. Unfortunately, many leaders outsource communications to the ‘comms person’ or ‘comms team’ and then wonder why people ‘don’t get it’. Ownership of the communication process by the leaders is vital. Devote…
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Management of Change pt 5 – Guiding Coalition and Developing a Change Vision

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Equipping, Management of Change
Last week, we started to look at ‘Kotter’s 8 Step Process for Leading Change’. Importantly, we touched on the need to use these steps as an overlay to a Strategic Planning Process. It’s also worth reiterating that although Kotter’s steps can appear linear, effective application often involves concurrent and parallel activity aligned with the Strategic Plan. We will now look at the next 2 steps in ‘Creating a Climate for Change’ which Kotter describes as: Step 2: ‘Create The Guiding Coalition’ Step 3: ‘Develop a Change Vision’ Step 2 – ‘Create The Guiding Coalition’ [caption id="attachment_5849" align="alignright" width="316"] Commission's Guiding Coalition in a Q/A session during the recent Prayer Days[/caption] A Guiding Coalition is a group or team of people with enough influence, capability and credibility to lead a change…
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Management of Change pt 4 – A sense of Urgency

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Equipping, Management of Change
‘Kotter’s 8 Step Process for Leading Change’ was introduced last week as a helpful model for understanding and managing change, particularly when used in conjunction with a Strategic Planning Process and associated Strategic Plan. It’s important to reiterate that while Kotter’s steps appear linear, there needs to be concurrent/parallel activity which is overlaid and aligned with the Strategic Plan. Kotter’s model is not, in my opinion, a strategy in itself, but rather a very good overlay to optimise the likelihood of success. The steps are shown in the diagram below: We will now look at the first step in ‘Creating a Climate for Change’ which Kotter describes as: Step 1 – ‘Establish a Sense of Urgency’ Change is difficult, transformation is very difficult. Without a genuine sense of urgency, minor…
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Management of Change pt 3 – Strategic Planning

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Equipping, Management of Change
Where are you going? A successful change or transformation programme has many components. However, unless leadership provides clarity on what a programme seeks to achieve, there is unlikely ever to be more than loose directional alignment and half-hearted commitment. Many organisations, including churches, have no clear framework within which they dream or deliver, preferring to describe their strategy in terms of the collection of (often good) activities that they undertake. But these may not flow from a clearly articulated vision, supported by a top level strategy, through to a set of plans, delivered by highly motivated, enrolled and equipped people. Be specific, succinct and clear Vision statements (the ‘where’) should be future-based and inspire, and give direction to members of the organisation, rather than necessarily to the external community. They…
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Management of Change pt 2 – Leadership Foundations

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Equipping, Management of Change
I continue the series on Management of Change by guest writer Gary Borland. Enthusiasm and Optimism are not enough Like change management, the bookshelves, libraries and online resources offer so much (at times apparently conflicting) material and advice that many simply don’t use any of it. Combine that with coaches, mentors and consultancy firms promising you things they can’t always deliver, and you could be forgiven for thinking that only the particularly gifted can manage or lead. That said, combinations of all of these are required if we are to develop into effective, high performing leaders and managers, rather than simply assuming that osmosis, appointment to a leadership role, experience and a liberal dose of enthusiasm and optimism will win the day. Leadership and management are both vital components of…
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Important Conferences – 1. Administration 2. The Poor

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Jubilee+, Poor
Bookings have recently opened for two very important conferences. Please book now to get the benefit of discounted rates Mastering Kingdom Administration Sept 25th - 28th 2017 Milton Keynes, UK This is a special event: three days of equipping for those involved in any aspect of administration and the final day for them to attend the conference with members of the leadership of their churches to learn about working in teams. Paul Manwaring is the Main speaker who will take many of the sessions. Monday 25 September 2017 – Administration's Time Has Come Administration's time is now. Revival, reformation and renaissance require the gift in the hands of Spirit-filled administrators, leaders and managers. Come and be equipped, inspired and empowered. Tuesday 26 September 2017 – Divine Order Often we meet tension…
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