Gaining Buy In - Strategies for IT Leadership to influence key Stakeholders in projects.

Summary

In this insightful webinar, Cassandra Hatton, a seasoned leader in the non-profit sector, shares her expertise on gaining buy-in for IT leadership and influencing key stakeholders in organizational change. She emphasizes that digital transformation is as much about people and culture as it is about technology. Cassandra outlines five key strategies: starting with people, not technology; building and maintaining trust; becoming brilliant storytellers to articulate the problem and benefits; fostering inclusion and collaboration; and celebrating wins to build credibility and morale. Her approach is grounded in the understanding that every stakeholder's perspective is valid and essential to the success of any major project. She encourages the audience to engage with these principles to ensure their digital transformation initiatives are not only successful but also sustainable and beneficial for all involved.

Takeaways

• 🎤 **Start with People, Not Technology**: Focus on the stakeholders and their needs rather than the technology itself as the core of any digital transformation project.
• 🔄 **Understand Stakeholder Impact**: Identify who will be affected by the project and what their stake is, to tailor engagement approaches that resonate with each group.
• 📈 **Earn and Keep Trust**: Building trust is a continuous process that should start well before a project begins. It's crucial for gaining buy-in and ensuring a smooth implementation.
• 📖 **Become a Storyteller**: Effectively communicate the problem you're solving and the benefits of the solution to different stakeholders in a compelling narrative.
• 🤝 **Foster Inclusion and Collaboration**: Seek diverse perspectives by including a range of voices in the decision-making process, which can lead to more innovative and comprehensive solutions.
• 🎉 **Celebrate Wins**: Recognize and celebrate milestones and achievements to build morale, motivate the team, and establish credibility within the organization.
• 📊 **Use Data and Metrics**: When building a business case, use tangible data to forecast potential outcomes and demonstrate the return on investment of the proposed solution.
• 🔍 **Walk Around the Dice**: Gain multiple perspectives on the project by considering how it appears from different viewpoints within the organization.
• 🌟 **Highlight the Intangible Benefits**: Go beyond the financial and operational benefits to illustrate the positive impact on staff, volunteers, and organizational culture.
• 👥 **Seek Unusual Voices**: Invite input from those not typically included in discussions to bring fresh insights and experiences to the table.
• 📚 **Continuous Learning**: Engage in continuous professional development, such as storytelling courses, to enhance the ability to communicate effectively and persuasively.

Q & A

What is the primary focus of Connecting Up and TechSoup New Zealand in terms of technology?

Connecting Up and TechSoup New Zealand are part of the Info Exchange group, a for-profit social enterprise that focuses on addressing significant social challenges through the smart and creative use of technology.

What does Cassandra Hatton's leadership philosophy revolve around?

Cassandra Hatton's leadership philosophy is centered on the belief that people are the heart of any organization's success, with her qualifications in advanced HR and psychology forming the cornerstone of this approach.

What is the significance of the change curve in the context of a technology project?

The change curve is a framework that helps guide the right conversations and considerations at each stage of a technology project. It assists in understanding where stakeholders are in relation to the change and where they need to be for the project to be successful.

Why is trust so crucial in the process of implementing technology projects?

Trust is essential because it allows for higher speeds in project implementation. High trust between team members and stakeholders leads to smoother and faster progress, as it forms the foundation for effective collaboration and reduces resistance to change.

How can storytelling be beneficial in gaining buy-in for a technology project?

Storytelling helps to create a compelling case for the project by articulating the problem it aims to solve, the benefits it will bring, and how these benefits resonate with different stakeholders. It makes the project more relatable and persuasive.

What is the importance of fostering inclusion and collaboration during a digital transformation?

Fostering inclusion and collaboration ensures that multiple perspectives are considered, leading to a more holistic understanding of the project's impact. It helps to build trust, prevent groupthink, and can uncover innovative solutions by involving diverse voices.

Why is it important to celebrate wins during a technology project?

Celebrating wins is crucial for building morale, motivating the team, and acknowledging the contributions of all stakeholders. It also helps to build credibility within the organization, which can lead to higher trust and the ability to move faster in subsequent projects.

What is the role of a leader in implementing a successful digital transformation?

A leader plays multiple roles in implementing a successful digital transformation, including being an excellent planner, relationship builder, storyteller, facilitator, and culture builder. They guide the process by focusing on people, building trust, creating compelling narratives, fostering collaboration, and celebrating achievements.

How can understanding the stakeholders' perspectives, or 'walking around the dice,' contribute to a technology project?

Understanding the stakeholders' perspectives allows for a more comprehensive view of the project's impact and potential solutions. It ensures that all valid viewpoints are considered, leading to better decision-making and a more effective implementation.

What is the role of unusual voices in fostering innovation during a technology project?

Unusual voices, or those not typically included in decision-making processes, can provide unique insights and experiences that may lead to innovative solutions. Seeking out and including these perspectives can prevent stagnation and enhance the project's outcomes.

What is the recommended approach for dealing with stakeholders who only see the negatives of a technology project?

The recommended approach is to invest time in relationship building, understanding their concerns, and tailoring communications to address their specific fears or concerns. It's about empathizing with their perspective and working to bring them on board through persistent and patient engagement.

Outlines

00:00

🎤 Introduction and Welcome

Kira, the digital events manager at Connecting Up and TechSoup New Zealand, welcomes the attendees to a webinar on gaining buy-in strategies for IT leadership. She introduces the guest speaker, Cassandra Hatton, highlighting her extensive experience and accomplishments in the non-profit sector. Kira outlines the format of the webinar, including a Q&A session, and provides technical advice for participants.

05:02

🌐 The Importance of Technology in the Non-Profit Sector

Cassandra emphasizes the complexity and challenges of working in the non-profit sector, where the need often exceeds resources. She acknowledges the participants' commitment to the sector and discusses the impact of technology on personal and professional lives. Cassandra also addresses the rapid digital transformation accelerated by the pandemic and the importance of keeping up with technological advancements and regulations.

10:05

🍞 The Banana Bread Analogy for Technology Projects

Using a personal anecdote about baking banana bread, Cassandra illustrates the importance of including all necessary components in a project, drawing a parallel to the key stakeholder buy-in for successful technology implementations. She stresses that even the best-laid plans can fail without considering people and gaining their support.

15:05

🤝 Starting with People, Not Technology

Cassandra advises starting with understanding the stakeholders and their influence and impact rather than jumping into technology solutions. She suggests creating a matrix to assess stakeholders' influence and impact, and then developing an engagement approach for each group. The change curve is introduced as a tool to guide stakeholders through the different stages of a project.

20:06

💼 Earning and Maintaining Trust

Trust is identified as a crucial element in technology projects. Cassandra explains that trust-building should be an ongoing process, like having 'credit in the bank,' which can be drawn upon when undertaking projects. She shares the concept of 'Speed of Trust,' where high trust allows for higher speed in project execution.

25:07

📈 Storytelling for Technology Adoption

Cassandra emphasizes the importance of storytelling in conveying the rationale and benefits of technology projects. She provides an example of how to quantify the benefits of a new learning management system in terms of reduced employee turnover and cost savings, thus creating a compelling case for investment.

30:09

🤝 Fostering Inclusion and Collaboration

The principle of fostering inclusion and collaboration is discussed, with Cassandra advocating for involving a diverse set of voices in the decision-making process. She uses the metaphor of 'walking around the dice' to illustrate the value of multiple perspectives and shares a story about a hospital that sought advice from a Formula One racing team to improve patient transfer processes.

35:10

🏅 Celebrating Wins to Build Trust and Morale

Cassandra speaks about the importance of celebrating achievements to motivate teams and build credibility within the organization. She relates her experience of running a marathon and the sense of accomplishment she felt upon completion, suggesting that recognizing and celebrating milestones can foster a strong team culture and enhance trust.

40:11

📝 Wrapping Up and Q&A

The session concludes with an invitation for questions from the audience. Cassandra addresses how to deal with stakeholders who focus on negatives and provides tips for creating compelling business cases. She encourages participants to engage with her on LinkedIn for further advice and shares her contact information.

Keywords

💡Digital Transformation

Digital transformation refers to the integration of digital technology into all areas of an organization, fundamentally changing how an organization operates and delivers value to its stakeholders. In the video, Cassandra Hatton discusses the importance of digital transformation in the non-profit sector, emphasizing that it's not just about technology but also about people, processes, and culture.

💡Stakeholder Engagement

Stakeholder engagement is the process of involving all relevant parties in a project or decision-making process. It is crucial for gaining buy-in and ensuring the success of initiatives. In the script, Cassandra emphasizes the importance of understanding stakeholders' influence and impact, and tailoring engagement approaches to move them through the change curve effectively.

💡Change Curve

The change curve is a concept used to illustrate how individuals or groups pass through different emotional stages when undergoing change. It is a tool for understanding and managing the transition process. Cassandra uses the change curve to map out the stages stakeholders are at and to plan how to guide them through the change process for successful technology implementation.

💡Trust Building

Trust building is the process of establishing confidence and reliability between parties. It is a fundamental aspect of leadership and is essential for the successful implementation of any project. Cassandra discusses the concept of 'speed of trust,' where high trust allows for higher speed in project execution, and the importance of building this trust through relationship building and consistent delivery.

💡Storytelling

Storytelling is the art of telling a story to convey information in a compelling and memorable way. In the context of the video, Cassandra highlights the importance of storytelling in creating a compelling case for technology projects. Leaders need to be able to articulate the 'why' behind the project, the problem it solves, and the benefits it brings to different stakeholders.

💡Inclusion and Collaboration

Inclusion and collaboration involve creating an environment where diverse perspectives are welcomed and integrated into the decision-making process. Cassandra stresses the importance of fostering these qualities to gain a holistic view of the impact of technology projects and to bring the best solutions to the table. She uses the metaphor of 'walking around the dice' to illustrate the need for multiple perspectives.

💡Celebrating Wins

Celebrating wins is the act of acknowledging and appreciating achievements or milestones along a project's journey. It is a morale-boosting practice that helps build trust and credibility within an organization. Cassandra shares her personal experience of running a marathon and relates it to the importance of recognizing and celebrating the completion of each phase of a project to maintain motivation and stakeholder engagement.

💡Non-Profit Sector

The non-profit sector consists of organizations that primarily focus on furthering a particular social cause or advocating for a shared point of interest rather than generating profits for stakeholders. In the video, Cassandra acknowledges the complexity and importance of working in the non-profit sector, where there is often more need than resources, requiring creative and talented individuals to address societal challenges.

💡Leadership Philosophy

Leadership philosophy refers to a set of principles or beliefs that guide a leader's behavior and decision-making. Cassandra's leadership philosophy, as mentioned in the script, is grounded in the belief that people are central to an organization's success. This philosophy shapes her approach to technology projects, focusing on the human elements of change and transformation.

💡Buy-In Strategies

Buy-in strategies are methods used to gain the support and commitment of stakeholders for a particular course of action or project. The video discusses various strategies such as understanding stakeholders, building trust, storytelling, and celebrating wins as essential for gaining buy-in for IT leadership and influencing key stakeholders within an organization.

💡Organizational Culture

Organizational culture refers to the shared values, beliefs, behaviors, and practices that characterize an organization. Cassandra emphasizes the importance of cultivating a positive organizational culture through the commitment to inclusivity, collaboration, and the recognition of achievements. This is seen as a key component in the successful implementation of technology projects.

Highlights

Kira, the digital events manager at Connecting Up and TechSoup New Zealand, introduces the webinar on gaining buy-in strategies for IT leadership.

Cassandra Hatton, a dynamic leader in the non-profit sector with over 15 years of experience, is welcomed as the key speaker.

Cassandra emphasizes the importance of people being the heart of any organization's success and her commitment to cultivating a positive organizational culture.

The webinar encourages audience interaction through the chat feature for questions and comments to enhance the session's dynamism.

Cassandra discusses the accelerated digital transformation due to the pandemic and its impact on organizations' readiness.

The importance of gaining buy-in from key stakeholders for successful IT projects is compared to the meticulous process of baking banana bread.

Cassandra shares a practical matrix for assessing stakeholders' influence and impact, guiding engagement approaches throughout IT projects.

The concept of 'walking around the dice' is introduced as a metaphor for understanding different perspectives to foster inclusion and collaboration.

Unusual voices, such as the Formula One Ferrari racing team's involvement in hospital process improvement, are highlighted as a source of innovation.

Celebrating wins is emphasized as a crucial principle for building trust, credibility, and team morale in transformational work.

Cassandra provides advice on dealing with stakeholders who focus on negatives by spending time understanding their perspective.

The importance of storytelling in creating compelling business cases, especially for technology leaders, is discussed.

Cassandra recommends taking a storytelling course to enhance the ability to convey facts and figures in a compelling manner.

The session concludes with an invitation for participants to reach out to Cassandra via LinkedIn for further advice and connections.

The webinar is recorded, and the recording along with Cassandra's slides will be sent to all participants.

Transcripts

hi everyone and welcome and thank you

for joining us today my name is Kira and

I'm the digital events manager at

connecting up and techsoup New Zealand

connecting up a taxi New Zealand are

part of the info exchange group an

up-for-profit social Enterprise that

tackles the biggest Social Challenges to

the smart and creative use of Technology

for those of you who haven't attended a

webinar session with us before

connecting up in techsoup facilitate an

annual training calendar of online

webinars workshops boot camps and

webcams to help the social sector

upscale in altering things digital

you should check out our training and

education menu on our website for more

events coming up online

enough about that I'm excited to welcome

you today to gaining buy-in strategies

for it leadership to influence key

stakeholders in organizational products

with Cassandra Hatton Cassandra is a

dynamic and accomplished leader in the

non-profit sector with a career spanning

over 15 years

she has a diverse leadership portfolio

that encompasses Human Resources

strategy Service delivery and Technology

Sandra's qualification an advanced HR

and psychology form the Cornerstone of

her leadership philosophy that people

are the heart of any organization's

success

Cassandra is renowned for her ability to

drive transformative change and create

tangible impact a champion of exclusive

activity and safety Cassandra was a

finest for the 2018 human Australian

Human Resources Institute Jay valdrick

HR leader of the Year award highlighting

her profound industry impact

Cassandra's commitment to cultivating

positive organization culture makes her

a captivating speaker and inspiring

leader

some housekeeping for everyone all your

lines are muted so if any technical

issues please type it into the questions

box on the webinar panel and I'll be

able to assist you if you have any

questions throughout the session please

also type these in the questions box and

Cassandra will answer them either during

the session or when possible and at the

end of the webinar we really encourage

you to ask as many questions as you

think Tourette's session to make this as

Dynamic and interactive as possible

no question is too silly but also know

your comments or questions will not

appear to the entire group

if you're on a Wi-Fi connection and have

multiple programs open this can

sometimes affect the quality of the

audio and video of the webinar and if

possible please close all other programs

to help you have the best experience

today

note that the webinar is being recorded

and a link to the recording and the

slides will be sent to you as soon as we

can after this webinar ends

before we start I've also like to

mention that there is a short survey at

the end of the webinar and if you could

take the time to complete this we really

would appreciate it thanks for attending

today and I'll hand you over to

Cassandra

thank you so much good morning everyone

so pleased to be with you

on this sunny uh Wednesday morning I

don't know if it's sunny where you are

it's actually rainy where I am I'm

joining you from Sydney this morning uh

and I would love you know one of the

things at conferences that is so great

is that we can eyeball each other and I

can see your faces and I can see what's

landing and I can see what isn't landing

and so you need to help me out on a

webinar and just pop in the chat just as

you were just um Kiara just said if you

just pop in the chat if you've got

questions pop in the chat if something's

resonated with you I'm going to ask you

questions throughout the next 55 minutes

that we have together and I would love

for you to join me in this discussion I

can I can't see you so um just be

present to me in the chat that would be

incredible

um uh now I was just told a bunch of the

organizations that were joining this

morning and it's honestly just the

biggest Delight to get to share some of

the lessons and wisdom that I have

gained over a short period of time and I

hope that this is in service I know that

that's my intention this morning is to

bring as much value as I can a limited

amount of time that we have together

and so

um

I think your mic's still on

on the other end there

yes got it

thank you

um

so thank you for joining thank you for

jumping online uh and I never miss a

chance when I'm in a forum like this to

say thank you for being in the

not-for-profit space So You Are My

People I absolutely love this space and

um I just want to say thank you for

bringing your experience and your talent

and your wisdom into this sector because

it's an incredibly important sector for

our world and it needs talented and

capable people and I've got to say I

think there's an incorrect idea out

there that it's a cruisy place to work

in right has anyone else could you tell

me in the chat if you've ever heard

people say you know I really want to go

into the not-for-profit sector to

um you know just to finish out my career

or just to cruise a little bit or just

you know have a nice time it's a nice

place to be but you and I know that it's

actually one of the most complicated

complex difficult places to work because

there is always more need and aspiration

then there is resource and it needs

incredibly creative and talented people

to solve Wicked world problems in this

sector so I just want to acknowledge

that and say thank you uh to all of you

for being in this space

so

um I would like to before we kick off as

always

acknowledge that we are gathered on

Country this morning and so actually I

have lived and worked on warungary lands

of the cooler nation in Victoria uh for

the last 13 years but today as I said I

am joining you from Sydney so I would

like to acknowledge the gadagol lands

and peoples and acknowledge Elders past

present and emerging as part of the

acknowledgment this morning and if you'd

like to join me in making this

acknowledgment you can just tell me

where you're joining from today in the

chat I was told that we've actually got

a few people joining from New Zealand

this morning as well

so welcome to all of you

so technology you are technology people

we're talking about implementing major

digital transformation across our

organizations

and we all know that technology has been

Transforming Our World and uh more so

than ever before over the last just few

years actually

um not only in our organizations and in

fact if you didn't already have major

technology roadmaps on the agenda in

your organization there is no doubt that

it is on your agenda today or going to

be very soon

doesn't just affect our workplaces it

affects our home places as well so I

wonder uh does anyone I just want to do

a quick poll does anyone have an Apple

Watch you can pop in there you know this

is how have our lives change with

technology even personally over the last

decade maybe you've got an Apple watch

maybe you have a Google home or a Alexis

if that's the if you're an Android

player in the room maybe you have a

robot vacuum cleaner maybe you have a

smart fridge uh the world has changed

significantly over the last 10 years

even at our homes and the pandemic

actually put the power of digital and

Technology on full display

um when we all went home to work in 2020

and in fact they said that it was

estimated that digital transformation

was Advanced by up to seven years just

as a direct result of the impacts of the

pandemic in Year One

what people have also said is that

despite that advancement happening that

acceleration happening up to seven years

in one year 43 of organizations said

they weren't ready for it and now

they're actually in catch-up mode

so with that having taken place and just

with the normal uh emergence of new

technology that was already at play

before the pandemic there's a number of

external forces pressuring our

organizations to

transform digitally transform with

technology there's new heightened

expectations from staff about the

expectation about the technology they

would have at their fingertips when they

join our organizations there is new

expectations from our external Community

about the transparency of how we're

using funds and how we're what type of

Technology we're investing in

there's a change in how clients want to

access our services and for some

organizations that is

that needs to be handled more carefully

than others because what we don't want

to do is Advance in a way that doesn't

bring people along and increase that

digital divide that has been talked

about for a number of years already for

disadvantaged communities

and on top of all of the normal

technology technology advancement we

have seen just in the last seven months

the emergence of artificial intelligence

chat GPT has anyone already implementing

and embedding and using chat GPT in your

personal life and in your workplace I am

it's a game changer in the best of ways

and also in a very scary way that I

think is still unknown uh with every new

technology comes a new burden of

responsibility I've heard someone say

that very recently I thought that's so

true and we're now going to be keeping

up or racing to keep up with regulations

and understanding what are the

implications of implementing technology

like this over the next couple of years

so with so much happening the future of

work and uh the world of work our

workplace is the world our home places

are all looking very different and

there's new pressure for our teams to be

implementing technology in a way that

actually sticks and transforms our

organizations so

uh what I what I want to ask you uh

is given that I've already mentioned the

pandemic is I just want you to stretch

your mind back to a number of the trends

that were taking place during that time

this is relevant so stay with me

um I think I hope that some of you

remember the banana bread baking Trend

does anyone remember that I'm going to

need some I'm gonna need some

interaction here tell me if you remember

the banana bread baking Trend now I've

done a lot of things and I think I'm

secure enough to say that I've got

strengths in a number of areas but one

thing that I am not one area that I do

not have strength is baking I'm not a

baker not very good in the kitchen don't

judge me I've got strengths in other

areas

but when that Trend took off of course

like everybody else

I jumped into the kitchen and I wanted

to fill my house with the fumes of

banana bread and I am a planner I'm a

detailed person so I got the recipe out

of my phone I followed every step I did

everything I was meant to do I mean this

sounds very straightforward to many of

you so please once again don't judge me

um but when I pulled it out of the oven

and I flipped the tin and I put it onto

the plate my banana bread was just this

high

so I did everything so well but I missed

one ingredient

and all it took after meticulous

planning after following all the steps

and doing the very best I could with a

smile on my face with great positive

anticipation all I did was Miss one step

and the banana bread came out like this

I hope someone else can resonate with me

about this

um the reason I'm telling that story is

that uh you might not know this but

baking banana bread is very similar to

implementing major technology projects

across your organization

you can have the best plan a great

recipe you can know all the steps

required you can follow them in

meticulous detail but if you miss one

step one important ingredient it can

come out flat it can the whole thing can

fall flat and that one very important

ingredient is actually gaining the

buy-in from your key stakeholders

all it takes you can be the best planned

team you can have the most talented

people you can be offering the greatest

solution at the end of the project

that's going to add loads and loads of

value but if you miss that one step if

you don't have that one ingredient in

place the whole thing can come out flat

so the things that I want to take you

through today are the five lessons five

things that I think are crucial to

gaining buy-in from your key

stakeholders in your organization to

make sure that your projects come out

full perfectly as possible

so are you ready for that

so digital transformation is a people

business

so the first thing I want to say to you

is

start with people not technology

start with people not technology

technology projects are actually less

about technology than we think

technology is just the vehicle it's just

the thing that we're putting in place

but actually what technology projects

are about is people it's about

culture it's about processes that people

use it's about behaviors that we're

seeking to shift or embed across teams

across Services across program delivery

toward our clients towards our customers

so at St Vincent de Paul Society I

actually just finished up as the chief

operating officer at St Vincent de Paul

Society fantastic organization

um we actually changed our language to

reflect there so we had a team that was

called Our IT projects team and what we

did was we changed it from IT projects

to our digital transformation team

because we wanted to reflect that we

were not just talking about it we were

actually talking about people and we're

talking about transformation it's all

about people processes culture

so we reflected that with our name

change and uh so I wonder is there is

there a reframe in your organization is

there a way that you can start to shift

the mindset and the approach toward

technology projects that helps you to

focus on the right thing

I've actually gotten technology projects

wrong so many times I have treated them

like technology projects and I have put

projects in place project plans in place

worked with teams to do an

implementation process and tacked on the

people bit right at the end I've tacked

on a training program at the end I've

tracked on a comms plan just in time

before we got to implementation and

people started using it mode has anyone

else done that has anyone else treated

IT projects like it only and not

actually put the people component in

there so here are some things that we

started to do

very practical

but incredibly effective

so rather than start with technology

plans we started with people so who are

our stakeholders who are the people that

are going to be impacted by this project

at each stage of the project so he who

needs to know before the project who

needs to know

at the discovery stage who needs to be

involved at the deployment stage et

cetera et cetera who are the

stakeholders what is their stake in this

so do we understand what the impact of

this actually is for the people in our

organization

who are the stakeholders what is their

stake in this and what engagement

approach does each stakeholder need so

on the right hand side of this slide is

a really basic Matrix that we have used

and essentially it's assessing each

stakeholders influence in the process

and each stakeholders impact

so in a spreadsheet really practical

here

we listed all of the stakeholders across

our organization and we had a column

that measured their influence how

influential are these people at each

stage of the decision-making process and

what is the impact on them at each stage

and then depending on where they landed

in The Matrix we put in place a

engagement approach for each stakeholder

group so that's a practical step that we

started to use that really helped us and

I'm sure will help you so starting right

at the beginning of the project a truly

understanding your stakeholders and the

impact of the work that you're about to

implement on all of your stakeholders

because technology projects are people a

people business

oh let me go back here

something else is we used the change

curve now this is not our intellectual

property there's a lot of change

uh Frameworks that you can look up and

use and I encourage you not to overthink

it you don't need to have the most

sophisticated thing just get a framework

that will help guide you think through

the right conversations to have the

right things to be thinking at each

stage of the process so on the change

curve where are your stakeholders and

where do you want to get them at each

stage of the project so quite likely

many of your stakeholders will be at

number one contact at the very beginning

of your project and you can actually map

out month by month quarter by quarter

depending on how big your project is

where do you need to get each

stakeholder group some stakeholder

groups might only need to get to

awareness some of stakeholder groups

might need to get all the way to the top

of the change curve so when you

understand what each stage looks like

you can actually start to plan out the

communications that you need to put in

place the engagement and interactions

that you need to have with each

stakeholder to move them from one stage

to the next stage so we're on the change

curve are your stakeholders and if you

do this Step At the very very beginning

of your project it will be your guide

it'll be your map all the way to the end

that you can keep coming back and

checking where are my people at where

are the stakeholders at and depending on

where each of them are on that first

Matrix

if they're priority you want to be

paying a lot of attention to them and

making sure you're taking them through

the change curve as effectively as

possible

so first thing is start with people not

technology so anytime you're about to

kick off a technology project don't go

start talking to vendors start with

people who are your stakeholders what's

their stake in it what approach do I

need to take them with each stakeholder

group and where are they on the change

curve now and where do I want them to be

secondly

is earn and keep earning Trust

so this process starts long before a

project starts so as technology leaders

or as leaders in our organization

whatever your role might be

uh one of our tasks every single day

every single week is trust building it's

relationship building that needs to be a

key priority of all of our on all of our

minds every single day and I like to

think about it as having Credit in the

bank so that when we actually go and

start a project and we're wanting to

influence we're wanting to bring about

behavioral change process change culture

change technology change that we have

already done the groundwork and we have

that credit to draw on that we're not

starting from zero I love the idea

perhaps you've heard of the concept

Speed Of Trust

I talk about this all the time low speed

sorry low trust low speed high trust

high speed it's really simple concept

and it applies to everything if you know

think about driving on dodgy roads when

you are not sure if you can trust the

roads that you're on old

rickety crappy roads around dodgy

Corners when you don't trust

the roads are going slow right when you

trust the infrastructure when you trust

the roads when you trust you can see

that it's solid and that you can you're

going high speed so low trust low speed

high trust high speed so relationally

from the very you know again every day

every week what are the steps we're

taking to build relationships with the

influencers and the decision makers and

the people who might be impacted by the

work we know is in our roadmap even if

it's a year away two years away this is

the stuff that we have to start with so

trust building

uh there's this great book let's talk

culture and in this book it talks about

a lack of trust is the number one

culture killer people shared that they

identify a healthy Culture by the

trusting relationships that exist

and the truth is like I just said if

there's not trust the speed at which you

can take your projects forward is going

to be very slow now I have

um I have a few examples of this uh it

wasn't that long ago actually that we

had a an incredible opportunity to

implement a a new piece of technology

for a particular cohort in our

organization uh and we had a really

talented team

and we heard a meticulously detailed

plan that we had developed and we

thought through every step we'd even

thought about the change process the

communications we've done our

stakeholder Matrix we've done all the

things but actually we hadn't done the

work in advance to build trust and there

actually wasn't a great sense of

relationship between our team and the

cohort that we were seeking to support

through a technology change process so

even though we had everything ready to

go we were ready to Speed Ahead we

wanted to go at high speed because we're

ready to go

and because we had a number of other

things in the roadmap that we wanted to

get to after this piece of work but we

had to go slow because there was low

trust low trust meant low speed

so that was a lesson for us in looking

ahead at our roadmap and doing the

things to build relationship all the

basic things that we know to do to

connect with people to visit them on

site where they're at to understand

their work to have coffees with them to

build relationship to build trust to

deliver on the small stuff really well

so that we're building credibility every

day to respond to the little Annoying

service service requests that come up

really well so that we're building

credibility so that we've got that

Foundation of trust for when the big

work needs to get done and when we've

got high trust we can move at high speed

the next thing is

that we actually need to become

brilliant storytellers

so uh we've talked a little bit about

the principles of gaining buy-in and

implementing technology and I think with

each one there's a new role that we have

to become really good at a new role that

we have to assume and for this step

create a compelling case I believe that

the role we need to assume and become

really really good at is that we become

excellent storytellers

so there are some key questions that we

need to be able to answer whenever doing

major change any major transformation

technology projects any projects

actually so what is the story what is

the story that you can tell about why

you were doing this work we've all heard

that big term start with why what's the

why story that you can tell about this

piece of work that you're seeking to

implement

what's the problem you're trying to

solve

can you articulate the benefits and can

you articulate the benefits to each

stakeholder group because they might be

different and it takes time and effort

to sit down and really think this

through and it links straight back to

our first principle which will start

with people not technology who are the

stakeholders what's their stake in it

what other benefits that we can

articulate for each stakeholder group

what will resonate with each audience so

can you sit down and start to work

through in order to get the buy-in that

you need from the stakeholders that you

have in your organization can you start

to sit down and think about what is the

story that I need to tell

I heard someone tell a story really

recently actually and I'll pop a the

next slide up and take you through this

this is just one example and there's

going to be a lot of different ways that

you can tell your story according to

your stakeholder and what will resonate

with the stakeholder that you're seeking

to influence but on the screen let me

talk you through this slide at the top

left

we have got a cost of employee training

per year so this story is all about an

organization who that was seeking to

implement a new learning management

system they were looking at their

turnover they reviewed how many people

had left the organization

uh recently in the last 12 months and

they assessed how many of them left

that and didn't complete the induction

training and how many left that did

complete the induction training and they

found that people were 3.5 times more at

risk of early turnover when the training

wasn't completed so the problem they

were trying to solve was a turnover

problem

and so they used their turnover trend

from the last 12 months to forecast what

they predicted might be the next 12

month turnover so they predicted that 86

people would leave that organization in

the forward 12 months and what they

sought to do was Implement a new

approach to their induction training

their learning management system so let

me take you through the side so the cost

of employee training per year was one

thousand one hundred and fifteen dollars

the number of employees I needed to

deliver that to was 166. so the total

cost of that program those two numbers

multiplied together 185

000 and 90 dollars

now the cost per employee turnover they

estimated to be around ten thousand

dollars per employee don't take that as

a benchmark this is just their story

um and what made sense in their context

so ten thousand dollars per employee

um when they implemented this so that

like I said they predicted based on

their previous numbers that 86 people

would leave in the next 12 months

actually 61 they retained 61 of that 86.

so

if you take what the cost would have

been for those 61 people to leave ten

thousand dollars that's a saving of six

hundred and ten thousand dollars so if

you take the saving 610 minus the total

cost of the program 185 000 the net

benefit it's 424

910 so the return on investment

the cost of the program 230 is that a

good story to tell of course it is

because they sat down and said what is

the problem you're trying to solve what

are the benefits and can you articulate

the benefits what will resonate with the

audience

and perhaps the audience for this

particular story was uh CFO because it's

very numbers based so depending on who

your audience is you're going to need to

tailor the story but the the point is

can you become a great Storyteller can

you articulate really clearly the

problem we're trying to solve can you

articulate really clearly the benefits

of implementing the solution or the

process change or the piece of work that

you're seeking to implement and can you

do it in a way that resonates with your

audience

now if it's a service

delivery person perhaps you need to be

taking client impact stories to them so

so thinking through the audience and

tailoring the message to them but we

need to become excellent storytellers

the next principle is to Foster

inclusion and collaboration

I love this

point because it's so important in every

context isn't it

uh let me show you

oops

from this book again let's talk culture

it says 53 of people surveyed said

collaboration and teamwork are an

essential part of a healthy culture uh

and our role as Leaders is actually to

create atmospheres of teamwork and

collaboration this also contributes to

our principle of building trust and when

we have high trust we have high speed so

including people in designing their

Destiny so we know that technology

projects are a people business we're

seeking to change processes that impact

people we're seeking to influence the

behavior of the people in our context

we're seeking to influence the culture

of our organizations when we are

implementing these pieces of work so we

need to be thinking about building trust

building teamwork building collaboration

uh

doing this actually mitigates against

one of our biggest risks when we're

doing this work and that is that we

don't actually have the whole picture

when we include people we can actually

get a more holistic view of

the impact that our work's going to have

and the potential or possible alternate

solutions that we can be implementing

let me tell you this story uh I was

chatting with someone this is not my

analogy I don't know who to credit it to

because I'm not sure who

um said it originally but I'm just

declaring that it's not mine but I'm I'm

happily passing it on because it's a

wonderful metaphor I was chatting with

someone and they said Cass um I just

want you to imagine for a second that

we're sitting down next to each other at

a cafe and I pull out of my pocket a set

of dice and I put them on the table and

I ask you what do you see and perhaps

your answer would be I see a five and I

see a six

and then I say well what I can see Cass

is a one and a four now who is correct

and the answer of course is that both

people are correct what they can see

sitting on opposite sides of the dice uh

is valid it's true it's accurate and

it's correct and so this idea of walking

around the dice

um became some language that we've been

using within our teams over the last 12

months to walk around the dice and

gather multiple perspectives because

although I can see a five and a six

what's happening for somebody else is

actually a one and a four or a three and

a two and those perspectives are also

valid so when you get when you Foster

collaboration and inclusion and teamwork

and you get voices in the room that have

different perspectives it actually helps

you paint a holistic picture of what's

Happening a holistic picture of the

problem that you need to articulate a

holistic picture of the benefits that

this work will actually create for the

people that sit at different parts and

angles of the dice and different

solutions so people might actually be

able to bring something different into

this conversation than you realize so

walk around the dice Implement that

thinking and idea into your organization

include people in the conversation get

stakeholders on board if you can't

answer those questions from the earliest

steps that we've talked about about who

are your stakeholders what's their stake

in this uh where are they on the change

curve what is the problem from their

perspective what are the benefits from

their perspective if you don't actually

don't know the answer to that

collaborate get them in the room

facilitate conversation walk around the

dice and understand every perspective

that's possible about this piece of work

so that it enables you to bring your

best solution and the best process for

implementing the solution to the table

um not only should we facilitate

multiple perspectives

but we should seek to bring to the table

unusual voices so I don't know about you

but so often in the organizations that I

have worked in in the teams that I have

worked in it's very often the same

people that get brought to the table can

anyone else resonate with that the same

people sit around the table discuss the

challenges come up with the solutions

and as a result of that we can get into

some sort of repetition and pattern of

thinking and pattern of delivery I have

on the screen this image which looks a

little bit random for what we're talking

about but

it's intended to reflect a story from a

book called The Medici effect by Franz

Johansson and it's a book that's all

about Innovation very much worth a read

if you are looking for a new book to

read over the winter days that we have

ahead

and this book there's one story in this

book that actually

caught my attention and I have retold

again and again because it tells this

idea of inclusion and collaboration so

beautifully

so the story is um at a headline level

that there was a hospital in the UK who

were having challenges with their

process of moving patients from one Ward

to another Ward

um now they were they were they were

particular wards that I can't remember

the details of but it's um probably not

important for this particular

storytelling moment

and what they could have done with that

challenge was go to those same voices

that often get drawn on so what they

could have done is gone to the thinkers

and decision makers within their own

Hospital sat around a table and come up

with a solution they could have done

that they could have gone to another

hospital

who also have decision makers

experienced people on boards to draw on

their thinking and their ideas to come

up with a solution for this challenge

that they were facing but instead what

they did was they they sought to draw on

some unusual voices and so they called

up the Formula One

Ferrari racing team and asked for their

help now if you're thinking about

people who are pretty bloody brilliant

at processes

Formula One team is not bad right so

what they did was they documented the

processes they filmed the processes they

sent them away to the F1 team they

reviewed them they came back they gave a

whole bunch of feedback

and that unusual perspective the unusual

voice and set of experiences that they

had in a totally different environment

actually helped this Hospital solve

their Challenge and so the point of that

for us is when we're walking around the

dice not only to bring in the usual

voices the usual Minds The Usual

Suspects in your organization but to

stop and think

who would be an unusual voice for us to

draw on from this who do we not usually

hear from who doesn't usually get a seat

at the table when we're thinking about

this particular problem or the solutions

that might be relevant for this

particular problem and invite them to

the room the worst thing that could

happen is that they say nothing of value

the best thing that could happen is that

they bring a wealth of experience and

wisdom from their corner of the

organization into this space that you're

working on that is incredibly valuable

it might also be external people

so stop and think who are the unusual

voices that we can draw on to help us

Foster inclusion and in collaboration in

our work

don't you love that story so clever

and then finally uh the final principle

in gaining buy-in and doing a great job

at implementing transformational change

when it comes to technology is of course

celebrate the wins

now this image is from 2013 it is the

Paris marathon and I was fortunate

enough to be one of the runners I don't

know if I am in that image or not if

it's like the very back slowest Runners

then maybe I'm in it but if it's not

then I'm just somewhere else off the

screen but uh it was the most incredible

experience I'm not a runner by any means

but I trained for it and I went on the

day and I I ran consistently slow the

entire 42 point something kilometers

and I crossed the Finish Line when I

crossed the Finish Line it was just the

most incredible experience you have

people running up to you saying

congratulations Australia because you've

got your country on your on your number

on your chest and on your back and they

put a medal over you and they give you a

shirt and they make a big deal of you

even though you were I was pretty slow

um and I love that image of really

celebrating the win celebrating the

completion celebrating the Milestone and

um I always laugh telling this story

because I really don't need to tell the

story about running a marathon to make

the point but why wouldn't I when I when

I've had the moment

um but I love the the process and the

thought of really celebrating the wins

and that there's so much opportunity

within this principle for motivating

people of course we know this there's so

much research about building morale that

the the the sense of building a sense of

Team a sense of achievement within a

team a sense of morale within a team but

it is also actually really closely

linked to our pillar of building trust

because every time we celebrate a win

and if you can be thinking about how can

we celebrate wins along the way that

helps us to build credibility with our

stakeholders it helps to bring

visibility to the fact that we don't

just plan stuff and don't just say we're

going to do stuff and then never

actually deliver

but we deliver things and we celebrate

things and so often

we need other teams and other

stakeholders to help us do that so to

bring people together and celebrate each

Milestone each team's contribution to be

explicit in naming it

to take the time to stop whether it's

just a cake in your lunchroom or it's a

quick teams call where you tell everyone

to bring a coffee or bring a wine and

have a moment of being grateful for

people's contribution to finishing a

piece of work is incredibly powerful and

we can Overlook it so often because if

you're any if you've had any experience

like I have we finished something and

there's still an incredibly long road

map of work to continue and so we're

straight on to the next thing which is

excellent it's full of diligence it's

full of hard work it's full of

um wonderful attributes that we want but

also people can get burned out when

you're just going going and you don't

actually stop to celebrate so

the final thought is to stop and

celebrate the wins as much as you can to

build a sense of thanks to the team and

to all the teams that have contributed

but to also be building credibility with

the organization about the work

that you're doing and getting that

credit in the bank so that when you're

off to your next thing you've got high

trust You've Got High credibility which

means you can move at high speed

so I encourage you to do that

and so those are the five principles we

want to start with people

not technology and our new role that we

need to assume is to be excellent

planners

we need to build trust and the role that

we're playing there is to be excellent

relationship builders

we need to be really good at creating a

compelling case and the role we're

playing there is to be excellent

storytellers

we need to Foster inclusion and

collaboration and the role we're playing

there is to be excellent facilitators

and we need to celebrate the wins and

the role we're playing there is to be

excellent culture Builders which is

absolutely foundational to

successfully implementing

transformational work like we're all

engaged in at the moment

so I'm going to pause there and I'm

going to ask if there are any questions

or thoughts or comments or I know

there's so much wisdom in the room as

well so if you have something that you

want to share with the group as well

then you're invited to do that as well

so thank you

thank you Cassandra yeah we just have

the views that have come through and

just back from originally when you asked

about the technology there's a few

answers about Google home a few people

have just had a Siri on their phone and

somebody said that they remember the

sourdough baking Trend they hadn't heard

the banana one but the sourdough one

I probably would have failed at the

sourdough one as well

and Annette wasn't curious to know what

a ingredient you had mistake but I think

you filled that in when you said refer

back to the gaining buy-in

um

and Natasha wanted to know can you

please post the book name what was the

book name

yeah the book oh um which book are you

referring to the Medici effect

Medici effect by Franz Johansson which

is the one all about Innovation or the

one that I had quotes from is actually

called let's talk culture

by Shane Hatton

awesome awesome

and just a few people

time yeah if anyone wants to pop in the

questions box uh do so put in uh yes it

was the Medici effect that's what

Natasha said so yes she said thank you

for that it's exactly what you wanted

and yeah if anyone has a few questions

for Cassandra before we wrap up today

please type it into the box

and I referred back onto her we can get

them answered for you also to remind

everyone that this is being recorded and

Cassandra's currently given me the

slides already for this so we will get

it into an email later on today for

everybody and I will send you a copy of

the recording as well Cassandra

and yep and other than that

um while we're waiting so thank you so

much for joining us today I know you're

in the midst of uh a big move across the

seas so we are very grateful for you

taking Timex to come and join us today

um it was great seeing you um about

anyone that doesn't know Cassandra was

at our conference later earlier on this

year in Melbourne and had great effect

and and a lot of people had lots to say

about you so it was great to be able to

have you come along here today as well

we're to the chat

thank you and it's a great organization

there's so many amazing resources on the

connecting up website and in the events

and the conference if you haven't been

before like it's honestly a great

um

space for Learning and connecting I met

so many amazing people so if you haven't

already I mean you already have because

you're online and you're looking at this

webinar but

um refer every non-profit that they know

refer a friend refer a friend it really

is great

all right we have a few questions here's

Sarah and your advice about dealing with

those who are who only see the negatives

I'm not too sure

was there any more to that Sarah or is

that just uh

your advice about dealing with those who

only see the negatives

I mean we're always

it feels inevitable that we will have

stakeholders like this and so this goes

so much to relationship building

um

and spending time with people to

understand what their perspective is

every change represents a loss or every

change represents some sort of impact or

potentially draws out some sort of fear

in people about what they may or may not

have to or get to do going forward so

just doing our best to understand where

is that actually coming from and doing

the work to build relationship and spend

time with people and understand their

perspective of the dice and walk around

to their side of the dice and really

understand what their perspective and

experience is helps us to tailor not

just our Communications but our approach

to getting them on board

um it it's definitely possible to get

those people on board and also from time

to time you will just have people that

have black hat a black hat on and don't

want to get on board but my advice would

be spend time like do the work even

though it's incredibly frustrating and

the for me what happens for me and those

in its situations is

why the heck can't you just see what

we're trying to do for the organization

and get on board

so that's fine that's a normal human

reaction but if you do the work and you

spend the time with people even though

you feel like it's frustrating and you

shouldn't have to do it

it's just part of the gig and sometimes

you have to do it so do the work spend

the time and you might find that you can

actually bring them along with you

because you've spent the time doing

relationship building so that would be

my advice and Natasha does Cassandra

have any tips for top three things that

may not be so obvious to add to a

business case

um not obvious yes I mean the obvious

things are the things that I kind of

talked through what's the problem what

are the benefits

very often it comes down to numbers in

our sector because we do have limited

resources and we need to be super

um really good stewards of how we use

that so if we're faced with options and

we're trying to create a case for one

option it needs to be compelling I would

say

um I mean I think the things that work

are the obvious things it is the

storytelling it's go to the end of the

project like don't just talk about the

the dollars or the efficiencies or the

technology solution stuff go to the end

like what does It ultimately do for your

clients what does It ultimately do for

your staff for your volunteers for the

culture for the morale that feels a

little bit intangible but people know is

incredibly valuable

um but honestly I think the things that

work when we're creating compelling

cases are the obvious things and

actually just doing the work like really

sitting down and doing the work to think

through those key

details and then telling them in a way

probably something I would say actually

is um

especially for technology leaders go and

do a storytelling course that sounds a

little bit random and left to feel but

um it actually is a skill that you need

to have and it might give you ways of

using language that is more compelling

than just the facts just the black and

white detailed facts so

um yeah that would be another piece of

advice that I would give to groups doing

technology work is go and do a

storytelling course that helps give you

language and give you a format and a

style for telling the stories and the

facts in a way that actually is

compelling

good advice

um I think that is I don't think anyone

else has any questions

um as I said yep I'll have everything in

recording and the slides sent to

everyone

um are you okay with anyone contacting

you for any advice afterwards if I've

put your email into the

follow-up email Cassandra please do

linkedin's probably the best place just

Cassandra Patton yet would love to love

to be connected would love to chat about

anything that you're working on and

would be very happy to add value if I

can so feel free to reach out

Perfect all right well thank you so much

Cassandra have a safe trip across the

seas and wish you all the best luck and

thank you for joining us today

thank you so much bye everyone

foreign