Preparing for change

Kevin Chorniak:
Hi, I'm Kevin Chorniak, Senior Managing Director at Bankers Trust in Des Moines, Iowa and Chief Operating Officer for BTC Capital Management.

Kevin Chorniak:
While sitting here today, I think about change differently than I probably did two, three, four, five years ago. There are some things that we can all do to anticipate or just plan for change. First, I think it's really important to just recognise that change no matter what it is in within your teams or within the organisation, it's going to look different between organisations. Each change initiative is going to look different and the way it affects team members or it affects your customers. And so just knowing that there's not necessarily a standard template that's going to work in every situation and that you really kind have to customise a plan based on what it is you're trying to accomplish. I also think just being adaptable through that change project is critical for both leaders and team members, and just being willing and able to shift gears and pivot and pull back when you need to, and just being willing and able to do that communication.

Kevin Chorniak:
Goodness, I can't probably emphasise enough how critical communication is. I think we all interpret messages, we all take in information in different ways. And so through the life of a project, finding ways to constantly communicate and engage team members in ways that resonate for them and help them understand is super important, but it's really hard to do and it's a nonstop initiative. I think what I've learned over time is you can probably never communicate enough.