My Top 5 Tips for Managing Change — Jessica Bills, Sales Engineer

Managing change is about managing expectations.

During these quickly evolving times, the concept of delivering information digitally has become more palatable to change-resistant organizations. Businesses around the globe are shifting their focus to remote work and learning opportunities.

Whether you’re implementing virtual classes or a work-from-home program, the goal is to create a new normal. Managing expectations will help you more seamlessly navigate these choppy waters of change.

For the past few years, I’ve worked with our customers to transition from print to digital within their organizations.

Here are my tips for managing expectations:

1. Define goals and milestones with stakeholders at the start of the project. Understand why you’re setting out on this journey and what you hope to achieve.
   
   
2. Communicate clearly and concisely throughout the entire initiative. Effectively managing change means you must accept that a one-time announcement will not be sufficient.
   
   
3. Highlight key benefits for the organization, individuals, customers and any other impacted parties. Focus on the positive outcomes that will be realized upon project completion.  
   
   
4. Expect and plan for backslides. You will encounter challenges (i.e., a department that is slow to get on board or a key element that doesn’t work as expected). Prepare in advance for how to get back on track.
   
   
5. Remember that technology can be challenging for some. Consider ways to ensure a smooth transition, such as providing multiple ways to absorb the information (i.e., hands-on, audio, and video instruction).

For many years, ViaTech has been successful in helping large organizations navigate the transition to an online environment. Our team achieves this through in-class learning and our e-delivery tool, Active Reader®. We are continuing to offer 45-day free trials of the platform to businesses impacted by COVID-19.

No matter if you’re managing change within your organization or your own household, remember that setting clear expectations is the key to success.

Jessica Bills has been with ViaTech since 2012. As Sales Engineer, Jessica pioneered the technical/functional leadership to support the onboarding of early adopters of the Active Reader® platform. She supports all pre-sales activity, which includes scoping client needs, drafting technical components for proposals and contracts, and providing guidance on sales strategy. She also serves as customer liaison to the product development team, helping to develop the product roadmap and identify product obstacles and gaps.