Organizational issues and Challenges in implementing 2nd generation GIS
Lora J. Williams
JEA
21 West Church St.
Jacksonville, FL 32202
Changing the way we change
Not only is everything changing, but the rate of change is accelerating. The
management of change has become another critical responsibility of leaders in today™s
dynamic organizations.
Corporate priorities can change overnight, especially with new leadership. The
role of company leaders is to manage people through these changes and transitions while
maintaining productivity and avoiding chaos. This challenge of experiencing the
instability of change and still performing at optimum levels is facing all leaders is
dynamic organizations. The notion of steady or predictable sales, customers, forecasts,
etc., is being replaced by responding to the unexpected. It will be your role as a leader to
provide a stabilizing influence as changes occur.
Flexibility is a key in leading and participating in change cycles and providing
support and direction for colleagues and employees. Leaders are continually moving
toward the vision of the company business group or team as they respond to customer
needs in a changing marketplace.
The need for change
Abstract:
This presentation discusses the organization™s struggle with the human factors
around selecting a GIS environment that meets the overall needs or the user, the issues
and challenges or user support and buy, management of the transition, integration
planning, and data migration issues. The programs will be compared with a similar
technology implementation programs at JEA that had a totally different outcome. The
factors affecting the outcomes of each will be discussed to determine the critical issues
affecting a successful technology implementation program involving competitive
technologies.
The impact of change
Managing the transition:
Some of the earmarks of the transition period are:
- High stress levels
- Conflict increases
- Decrease in productivity
Much of the negative effects of change is due to individual resistance to the change. This
may be caused by a lack of understanding of the change or their comfort level with the
status quo. Your job as a leader will be to overcome resistance and ensure a smooth
transition to your vision or desired goal.
Rebuilding the team
How to function as a team:
"Nothing new that is really interesting comes without collaboration."
James Watson, Nobel Prize Winner (codiscoverer of the double helix)
Creating a team does not
make a team. It must be remembered that a team is
still a group of individuals, all with their own thoughts, perceptions and tastes. It is this
individuality that brings about the solutions to organizational issues. To make a team
function, the organization must help the members realize five key elements that will help
form a collaborative unit. (Johnson, Johnson and Holubec 1994)
The first element,
positive interdepedence, gears each team member to
believe that the task cannot be complete without his/her efforts. A commitment must be
established from everyone that not only must he/she be individually successful, but also
the solution to the team™s task is dependent on everyone™s success. A collaborative team
believes they ihsink or swim togetherlt. Each member should be committed to each other
successes. There is no room for egos here-everyone succeeds or everyone fails.
