transition web\122minutes

DIS Transition Team Minutes
January 20, 1999

Team Members	Advisors	Facilitator
Tommy Case	Aldona Valicenti	Michelle Lewski
Mary Driskell	Steve Dooley
Gerry Hann	Robin Morley
Tom Johnson
Ron Jones
Linda Murray
Jennifer O’Nan
Susan Quarles
Bill Reinig
Ruth Ann Sparks

The first meeting of the DIS Transition Team was held 20 January 1999 in Room 386 of the Capitol Annex. All team members were present.

A draft charter for the team was presented and refined by the Transition Team. The resulting charter is: The DIS Transition Team members will play a lead role in shaping the new CIO organization. This charter will be executed as team members carry out the following roles:

Recommend organizational changes
- Through describing the desired changes
- Identify, plan and manage key changes - including organization mapping, refining the CIO organization structure, creating skill development plan, . . .
- Working with key stakeholders (Commonwealth CIO, Governance Team, etc.) throughout the entire process
- Focus on DIS organization

Serve as change agents
- Deliver messages to and from the Transition Team from other staff
- Engage others in the change process
- Effect change
- Prepare the organization for change

CIO Valicenti shared several fundamental beliefs which she considers the basic premise of the tasks to be performed by the Transition Team.

The Governor wants state government to look different when he leaves office than when he assumed office. This is resulting in many fast-paced changes in all Cabinets and organizations. Information Technology (IT) must change to support the changes taking place elsewhere.
We must come up with an organization which can dynamically and flexibly re-align itself to meet the challenges of constant change.
We do not work in a static environment, change comes very quickly. We must learn to be comfortable with not having all of the answers at one time.

Team members spent time discussing their hopes and concerns about the process they are about to undertake.

Hopes:

Streamline and simplify IT functions and processes
People will accept change and “see the light”
Government really can operate with “business objectives”
A plan that everyone is comfortable with will be developed
Cultural change will be a reality
All staff will be on the “A” Team
The new CIO organization will be viewed as the preferred vendor of choice for IT services. “Flagship” organization.
Opportunity for IT to play a role in developing business strategies and plans.
Personnel changes move along quickly
Become a model for other states in IT operation.

Concerns:

Ability to change the mindset of staff (get folks to think differently than they do today)
Task is enormous
Ability of staff to accept change
Where to start?
Will need to pull in other resources as needed (budget, personnel, legal, etc.,)
Not comfortable in drawing boxes (not an expert in organizational structure and methodology)
Will the process be taken seriously and given credibility by other staff
Power to control barriers to implementation in other agencies
Lack of contractor involvement in the process (don’t want to lose them as partners)
How will the billing and funding mechanisms be affected?
Make sure we refrain from a one-to-one crosswalk of boxes. Take advantage of opportunity to identify improvements and structure organization to take advantage of these opportunities.
Can team members hold onto their positive attitudes of today?
Do staff members believe they really can do a new job?
Do some team members represent too many people? Can they effectively communicate to all of their constituents?
Are staff ready to let go of current practices and try new approaches?
Able to adopt a “Do/Fix/Do/Fix” approach to organizational design?

Key points from today’s discussions include:

There is too much work to do today and not enough staff to do the work.
This is not about reducing the number of staff in IT today.
This is not about reducing the IT budget.
Some parts of the current organizational structure will be relatively unaffected by the changes.
New functions not currently performed today will create new opportunities for staff.
Flexibility in job responsibilities will be important as we move forward through the process.
Some staff may be asked to transition from current job responsibilities to new jobs.
IT staff are valued wherever they are in the organization.

A Transition Web page will be activated to keep staff and the Commonwealth involved/aware of the work of the transition team. Among other items, the following will be found on the page:

Team members names
Transformation Team Executive Briefing Book
Various CIO presentations
Minutes from the DIS Transition team meetings
Frequently Asked Questions about the transition process
Transition Team Work Plan
Place to anonymously post questions about the Transition process

It was recommended that a suggestion/question box be placed at each DIS location.

Michele highlighted the importance of the team's role in change management with the following quote:

“Through 2004, the primary cause of failure of change initiatives will continue to be failure to anticipate and plan for resistance to change.” - Gartner Group "IT Transitions and Change"

She noted that resistance to change is natural and unavoidable, and it can be managed. ....A few principles of managing change:

First a simple "formula" : C=DVI>R

that serves as a simple reminder that

CHANGE will only occur when the combination of DISSATISFACTION WITH THE STATUS QUO, VISION FOR THE FUTURE, and INVOLVEMENT OF THOSE AFFECTED BY THE CHANGE is greater than the RESISTANCE TO CHANGE.

Some other "tips" for managing change include:

ALL humans have some reaction to change.
People don't object to change, they object to being changed.
Buy-in and commitment are critical.
Early involvement helps build commitment.
As work teams change over time, new team members must also go through a process of reacting to change.

Before the next meeting, Michelle will develop a proposed calendar of team meetings and share that with team members via email. Michelle will also develop an initial work plan for review by team members at the next meeting.

Linda, Jennifer, Ruth Ann and Ron will take a first cut at mapping the current DIS/CIO organization to the new structure. They will provide an interim status report to other team members via email before the next team meeting.

Steve and Aldona’s role in the work of this team in the future is that of advisor. They will be available on an “as needed” basis. This team will be self-managed.

The agenda for the next meeting will include:

Group Exercise: define desired CIO organization and critical changes required
Develop an initial strategy/plan for change management

The next team meeting will be 8 February 1999, location to be announced. A detailed agenda for the meeting will be published by 2 February 1999.

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