Europe & CIS

 

Pithy sayings all, but I think we can agree with them and the heart of their messages:  change, and how we manage it.

 

After all, is change not at the heart of capacity development? National counterparts developing their own capacities to chart their own development course is underpinned by constant change.

 

Change was the topic of the second day of the CoP that was kicked off by Jens and Agi bringing the participants up to speed on the idea of change managers and change management in the public sector. We all know the impacts that change can have on an organization and all of us in the community of practice are experiencing our own change with the departure of the Practice Leader for the Armenia office soon (bon voyage Dafina!).

 

But from the point of view of the government partners we work with across the region I think of what they are faced with when they receive support from international organizations whose interventions demand serious change in the way their organization works and how it is structured. How can these organizations actually follow through on our recommendations, especially those in public services that have a long history and pattern of doing business in another fashion? This is a change management problem. Jens focused on the change manager – this key person in an organization that plans the necessary business change and ensures effective implementation of it so that the changes actually bring about the benefits that they were intended to introduce.  Agi walked us through an eight step process to structured change, and even managed to get in a Monty Python skit that illustrated how important it is for organizations to communicate the change to both its staff and those that benefit from its services. 

 

Intuitively, I think as practitioners we know from our experience that we need to think in a more structured way about change and how to support our counterparts in managing it. This session was the first step in developing this area more thoroughly.  And as I finish writing this, I can only help sing along to Bob Dylan…

 

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