Case Studies: New Boss | Merger | Reorganization

Case Studies

New Boss

See How Patti Helped These Organizations

case-studyAn agent is someone who produces an effect; an instrument by which a guiding intelligence achieves a result. The CHANGE AGENT’s extensive research and customization produce results. Patti Hathaway interviews your people to gain insider (intelligence) information which guides her in customizing the program content to meet your specific concerns.

Perspective is the capacity to view things in their true relative importance. When you’re so close to the situation, it is hard to have perspective. The CHANGE AGENT has worked with thousands of people across the United States. This provides us with an outside perspective that is credible and powerful. When we blend our outside perspective with your specific issues, the results speak for themselves.

The following real case demonstrate the results and recommendations of The CHANGE AGENT.

Meet Your New Boss

Audio Excerpts:

“Mourning the Past” (2.58 minutes)

“Patti’s Unique Approach to Change” (7.40 minutes)

 

Situation: When a new president comes on board, excitement and apprehension go hand in hand. The arrival of the new president to Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, was met with great excitement. As the new leader, he appointed all new Vice Presidents to his cabinet.

The Vice President selected for the Business and Fiscal Affairs division quickly implemented some changes in the way her division conducted business. Some of her expectations included: preparing trend analyses rather than just producing numbers on the fiscal reports, and the implementation of business process improvement for the paper flow in the entire division. Her main goal was to have people think for themselves rather than having someone give them step-by-step instructions of what to do as was the norm.

The new VP’s style was met with fear (for job security), mistrust of her motives, and frustration at having to change the way staff had done their job (have we done everything wrong all these years?). She tried to keep the communication channels open by writing a monthly division newsletter and hosting division-wide informal chats. These efforts were met with a lukewarm response.

Solution: After discussions with the Assistant Vice President for Human Resources, it was agreed to bring in Patti Hathaway, The CHANGE AGENT, to do some confidential focus groups in order to develop a full-day training program for the management team and a half day training session for the rest of the division’s staff (approximately 250 employees). As a result of the success of the programs delivered in the Business and Fiscal Affairs division, Patti Hathaway was asked to conduct a two-day retreat for the President and Deans to assist them in building more effective partnerships. She also worked with several other departments to facilitate team retreats.

 

“Thanks for an impactful series of programs on change for our entire division. Your programs made a difference from the President, Cabinet, and Deans to the maintenance workers! Because of your unique ability to understand our needs and customize your content to address those needs, we’re excited you are doing a series of management and professional development programs for the entire university staff.”

Recommendations for Similar New Leadership Situations

The CHANGE AGENT’s Recommendations for Management:

  1. Ease the number of changes being implemented simultaneously.
  2. Avoid making comparisons to previous organizations you have worked for and previous employees.
  3. Copy your staff on articles which discuss higher education trends and changes.
  4. Encourage management and line staff to attend higher education conferences and continue to upgrade their skills.
  5. Involve staff in providing input for reorganization recommendations.

The CHANGE AGENT’s Recommendations for Staff:

  1. Attend the Vice President’s chat sessions and ask questions and provide input.
  2. Keep upgrading your technical and non-technical skills. Professionals are committed to continual learning.
  3. Look for ways to get rid of reports or work that is no longer valuable to your institution.
  4. Volunteer to serve on committees which are dealing directly with the change process.
  5. Learn how to analyze problems, be creative, and find solutions. Do not become comfortable with status quo.

 

 

Case Studies: New Boss | Merger | Reorganization





Join Patti on Social Media!