Connecting the dots: Change management and AI

A message from MacEwan University's School of Continuing Education:

Adopting AI into your operations isn't a simple matter of parachuting in the technology and trusting it will all work out. It requires a proper change management process, led by a new type of change leader.

Today, a successful change manager must bring both technical knowledge and durable skills to the table. These durable skills are core competencies like communication, coaching and resistance management. In other words, the lifelong "soft" skills you use regardless of your workplace and role — and the very skills that separate humans from machines.

This requires a mind shift: from "doing the task" to "directing the tool." The future of effective change management lies in cultivating a new suite of human-centric leadership skills to oversee and guide the AI tools being deployed.

"The rush to implement AI feels like organizational FOMO — the likes of which have not been seen since the Y2K fervour," says Ruth Younie, instructor in the Change Management professional development program at MacEwan University's School of Continuing Education. Many organizations skip basic business practices, like writing a business case, as well as the initial stages in change management: letting go of previous ways and reconciling to a new way. Instead, they leap straight into that whole new way.

But, Younie points out, faster is not equivalent to better. "When an organization introduces change for change's sake like this," she says, "it may be exposing itself to reputational risk, financial loss, process inefficiencies and low morale."

The biggest risk is often a breach of employee trust, says Younie. "People go to work every day believing leadership trusts them to do their job," she says. "Mandating a change — any change — without asking for input or explaining its potential value breaks the trust bond."

Confusion, fear and a loss of productivity result. Younie cites the example of an employee who was asked to highlight tasks in her job description that AI could do. "This approach to implementation is a change management nightmare."

You can minimize these risks by establishing a change management framework that:

• Provides clear direction;
• Incorporates real data (feedback);
• Explains the intended outcomes from the user's perspective;
• Illustrates the value to the organization and its customers.

Now more than ever, sponsorship is critical. Leadership must set the vision and communicate expectations about how to achieve the future state. While curiosity and patience are often overlooked in the workplace, Younie believes these skills are critical to successfully working with AI.

For more on the need to navigate change strategically and how MacEwan's School of Continuing Education can help, read the full article.