What Came from Being a Communications Change Artist?

My Final Thoughts About My Capstone Project(AKA My final Paper)

Confessions of a Communications Change Artist

Introduction

There was a time where I blogged every day. I wrote advice columns and blogged for various websites. So when it came time to pick what to do for my Capstone Project, I quickly gravitated toward a blog. The question was, what to blog about? I had recently started a new job and I noticed communication was not exactly the organization’s strong suit. As a Professional Communication major, I thought, “Maybe I can change this.” With this in mind, the idea for my blog, “Confessions of a Communications Change Artist” was born. I would take on the challenge of changing how effective my office was in communicating with one another and I would increase productivity, then I would blog about it a few times a week to give updates on how it was going. I began this journey with high confidence, as I had been very effective with changing communication in past jobs, and I was very excited about the project. Unfortunately, things did not go as expected and, in the end, I would not say confidence was one of my best qualities.

The Good, The Bad, and The Not So Pleasant Parts of Being a Change Artist

The purpose of the Capstone Project was to learn something new about a topic you were already familiar with. Change is a part of life, as is communication, so it did not seem like putting the two together would be so tricky. 

 “For anything to change, someone has to start acting differently. Ultimately, all change efforts boil down to the same mission: Can you get people to start behaving in a new way?” (Heath & Heath 2010, p. 4)  

Now I knew that I could start acting differently, but I was not sure if I could get others to begin behaving in a new way. Although I was new to the job, I had already been volunteering there for a few months, so I sort of knew the people I would be dealing with. What I did not know is how unreceptive they would be to new ideas and how hard it would be to attempt to change their behavior.

One of my favorite books, Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard was one of my go-to sources for this project. When it came to changing the behavior of my coworkers, I took their advice to heart. 

“To change someone’s behavior you have to change the situation” (Heath & Heath, 2010, p. 16). 

Changing the situation did not seem like it would be too difficult, as it was clear to see what some of the problems were. One: Texting was not effective. I needed to change the situation in which we communicated to increase that effectiveness. Two: People were constantly yelling across the office to talk to one another. With an air conditioner right next to my desk, I could never hear what they were saying. I needed to create a situation in which we could communicate quickly and easily and be able to hear what the other had to say. Three: Coworkers did not speak their minds to the right people and thus things were not getting done. I needed to either convince them to communicate directly, or change the situation and step in myself to get things rolling. Four: Technology was out of date and people were wasting their time trying to communicate with one another by waiting minutes on end for their computer to even open a new window. I needed to change the situation and get an updated email service or even perhaps new computer equipment for my fellow coworkers. Five: I noticed that no one in the office knew what the other person was doing. I needed to change the situation so that we were all on the same page every day and could ask one another for help without having to wonder if they would even have the time to do it. That is a lot of situation changing. Wherein I thought I was up for this challenge, it proved to be more difficult than expected.

In an article in the Journal of Positive Management, Nicole Osentoski states that, 

“[the] identity of [an] internal change agent must be defined through her performances in the role of change agent; in other words, she must become the change.” (Osentoski, 2015). 

I was sure this was something I could do. I could become the change. I started with speaking to my director about texts not being answered and suggested we used phone calls instead. This change happened immediately and I felt even more confident about my journey. I could do this. I then introduced a new application wherein my colleagues and I could send each other messages via the program instead of yelling across the office. This change did not go as well. They did not like having to use an additional program to communicate. They would rather send numerous emails and/or scream across the office. I, however, pushed the issue and although I have not been completely successful, I am on the road to making this application the regular tool for communicating. Getting coworkers to speak their minds to one another proved to be even more difficult. Aside from trying to insert myself into the process, I have yet to change this situation. I am still working on it. Then things got even more difficult.

Email was an issue from day one. I was working off two computers because my email would not work on one computer, but it would work on the other. Coworkers complained they were not getting email I would send or others would say they had sent. I knew it was time for a big change there. This ended up being a disaster. I took on a project that was bigger than I was. (That is not saying much since I am a rather tiny person, but let us not go there.) After switching twice to different email programs I quickly realized three things; One: I am not an IT person. Two: People do not like when you make huge changes to there every day process. And Three: Changing emails is not a smooth process and there are many, many hiccups on the road to making everything right. Because of the changes I have left one employee unable to use any of his MS Office products and he still cannot figure out how to access his old emails. Which brings me to the next situation: we need new equipment. Yet another work in progress. Thus, said employee is not my biggest fan.

The only other real and effective change I have been able to make successfully was changing the situation in which no one knew what the other person was doing. This was a bigger problem than it might even sound, but it was a much easier one for me to solve. I introduced daily morning stand-up meetings wherein we all discuss what is on our plate for the day, ask others for help if needed and talk about how we can get it all done effectively. These meetings have been very productive and very helpful and thankfully they have met no resistance. In fact, my coworkers seem very happy about meeting in the mornings to tell each other what we have on our plates and whether or not we have time to help anyone out. I’m very pleased with the progress of this change.

Conclusion

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”

~ George Bernard Shaw

So why did I call myself a “Change Artist” and not a change agent for my blog title? Because there is an art behind getting people to be willing to change their behavior. What I thought was going to be a simple project with very little resistance turned out to be a bit of a mess if I am being honest. I had hoped for much better results, but I can also honestly say I am pleased at this point to have had any positive results now that I know how hard of a project I took on. Another thing I should have expected but did not is that the project does not end here. I took on something that will continue on as I work at this job. I will keep trying to improve communication as long as I am there, and because this is just the type of person I am, I expect I will do it at whatever job I work at next. This is the most important thing I learned. I am a change artist. It is just a part of being me. Even though it does not always go as I would like and the results are not always positive, I cannot help but want to make my workplaces better and more productive and effective. This is why I became a Professional Communication major and I am glad I had this project to help remind me of that.

 References

Heath, Chip & Heath, Dan. (2010). Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard. Broadway Books. New York

. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved August 18, 2017, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/g/georgebern386923.html

Osentoski, N. J. (2015). CHANGING FROM THE INSIDE OUT: LEADING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE AS AN INSIDER. Journal of Positive Management, 6(3), 41-66.