{"id":1618,"date":"2013-10-31T04:33:07","date_gmt":"2013-10-31T08:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/facilitativeleadership.wordpress.com\/?p=1618"},"modified":"2026-04-21T13:58:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:58:35","slug":"managing-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/managing-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven Skills for Managing Change in an Enterprise or Organization"},"content":{"rendered":"

To improve or enhance your personal skills and to help you understand the skills to seek in others that support effective change, you will find seven top skills for managing change.<\/h2>\n
\"Change<\/a>

Change Management<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

These skills are those most frequently identified by employers according to Syracuse University public affairs professor Bill Coplin, author of \u201c10 Things Employers Want You To Learn In College.<\/i>\u201d With our focus on change and business process improvement, we have modified them and listed them in order of priority as they apply to facilitating and managing change:<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Integrity<\/strong>\u2014<\/h3>\n

\u201cDo what you say you are going to do.\u201d Without integrity and work ethic, all the other skills could be dangerous. Coplin includes self-motivation and time management.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Communications<\/strong>\u2014<\/h3>\n

Because the greatest and most innovative ideas are impotent if they are not adequately explained to others. Coplin separates verbal or oral communications from written ones and also emphasizes editing and proofing one\u2019s work.<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Team Work<\/strong>\u2014<\/h3>\n

Because change never occurs in a vacuum and effective change relies on distributed ownership. Stakeholders need to embrace the change or it will fail. Coplin mentions one-on-one, relationship building, and influencing people through leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Infomediary<\/strong>\u2014<\/h3>\n

Because effectively receiving, archiving, and distributing information that each stakeholder needs to plan, operate, and control the change effort to their level of satisfaction. Colin refers to gathering information and keeping it organized.<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Measurement<\/strong>\u2014<\/h3>\n

\u201cIf you can\u2019t measure it, you can\u2019t manage it\u201d so become adept with quantitative tools, statistics, graphs, and spreadsheets. Know how to objectively measure why something is important.<\/span><\/p>\n

6. Questioning<\/strong>\u2014<\/h3>\n

Few skills are harder to teach and yet as important as knowing the right question to ask. Subject matter experts abound in most organizations, they need to be stimulated by the right question in the proper context, and they can deliver.<\/span><\/p>\n

7. Problem Solving<\/strong>\u2014<\/h3>\n

While Coplin emphasizes identifying problems, developing possible solutions, and launching solutions, we would add the importance of properly analyzing the problems as well. Do not leap from identification to solution without a thorough understanding of the implications of the problem.<\/span><\/p>\n

______<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Don\u2019t ruin your career by hosting bad meetings<\/a>. Sign up for a workshop<\/a> or send this to someone who should. MGRUSH<\/span><\/a><\/em> workshops focus on meeting design and practice. Each person practices tools, methods, and activities every day during the week. Therefore, while some call this immersion, we call it the road to building high-value facilitation skills.<\/span><\/p>\n

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