DCL Learning Series Webinar
JoAnn Hackos’ Getting Change to Happen
Data Conversion Laboratory and CIDM present:
Three Part Series
We are all devoted to our habits, good and bad. In fact, even recognizing them as habits is often difficult. Habits are simply the way we always do something, usually without having to actively think about what we are doing. Yet, our habits can easily get in the way of innovation and change.
Many managers face the challenge of instituting organizational change that requires that people recognize a behavior that has become a habit, understand that a new way of working is needed, and find a path to that new way of working so that it eventually becomes a new habit.
In Part 1 of this three-part webinar series, Dr. JoAnn Hackos will introduce the Power of Habit, the theme for the upcoming Best Practices conference (September 10-12, Monterey, CA). The theme is based on the New York Times bestseller, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, by Charles Duhigg.
First Session, “Making a Business Case for Change” —
Looking closely at your organization today, do you ask: How can we be more innovative, how can we better meet customer needs, how can we cut costs? Are you still relying on behaviors or habits that are no longer viable? You might, for example, assign people to individual projects when you know at heart that your entire team needs to be more collaborative.
If you believe there has to be a better way, you’re on the cusp of changing your organizational habits. In this presentation, Dr. JoAnn Hackos, president of Comtech Services, Inc., explains how you can review your current practices, evaluate inefficiencies and high costs, and look for opportunities for change.
Second Session, “Communicating the Need for Change” —
In Part 2, we will discuss how to communicate the need for change to your organization and to the larger corporation. Many changes require the support of senior management, especially the involvement of a high-level champion. Changes need to be communicated across a middle-management chain so that colleagues who you interact with know what is changing and why the change is necessary. Most importantly, your own team members need to understand the importance of the change, often discovering that their old habits of working are no longer appropriate.
Third Session, “A Series of Case Studies” —
In Part 3, you will meet managers who have successfully implemented major organizational changes and improved their business practices as a result. Learn from managers who have introduced new models of collaboration among team members and extended their content model into other parts of the organization (Xylem) and changed the way writers and information architects develop content and how they have reduced translation costs (Varian).
About Dr. JoAnn Hackos
Dr. JoAnn Hackos is President of Comtech Services, a content-management and information-design firm based in Denver, Colorado, which she founded in 1978. She is Director of the Center for Information-Development Management (CIDM), a membership organization focused on content-management and information-development best practices. Dr. Hackos and colleagues are called upon by corporate executives worldwide to consult on strategies for content management, development and organizational management, product interface design, customer studies, Web and traditional information architecture, and tools and technology selection.
For more than 33 years, Dr. Hackos has addressed audiences internationally on subjects ranging from content management, project management, effective interfaces and information, minimal information products, usability testing, and online and Web-based information, to managing the information design and development process. Her workshops are dedicated to enhancing the practices and products that will best promote customer satisfaction.