The Tribe Report 4. The Change Management Issue | Page 6

BEST PRACTICES

BY KARA BULLOCK

SEEDS OF CHANGE
When change is on the horizon for your company, the advantage you have is that so many other companies
have already gone through the process. This affords you the luxury of using tried-and-true methods to help
make the transformation as quick and clean as possible.
This was a goal of The New York Times Company. A new
leadership team focused its attention on the New York
Times newsroom due to an ethics scandal involving
one reporter’s plagiarism. The new team recognized
the newsroom’s strong sense of autonomy as
important, but preferred it work as a partner with
the HR department and incorporate traditional
management practices. This included the use of
change facilitators.
The

facilitators

management

helped

techniques

introduce
by

new

listening

to

employees, asking the right questions and
knowing when to take risks. Team members
needed

to

be

individuals

capable

of

being

embedded in the organization both as observers and
as an integral part of the department. Before the process
involved employees, it was first introduced to the senior
editorial staff. The positive results were used as an example when
change facilitators were rolled out to the rest of the organization.
At Cbeyond, a provider of cloud and network services to more than 62,000 small and medium-sized businesses
in the U.S., the economic downturn affected many of its customers, which in turn impacted Cbeyond. It became
apparent that Cbeyond needed to adapt its strategy. After months of research into the technology needs of
its existing and prospective customers, Cbeyond recognized that its most demanding customers — who also
happened to be those who spent the most money on technology — could only be reached with a new kind
of direct sales force using a new sales model and that these customers needed products that would require
significant new development resources. In short, Cbeyond needed to transform major parts of its business and
do it quickly.

6 | TRIBE REPORT