Organizational Change Management for a New Generation
For the past 12 years, I’ve been consulting and training in the growing field of Organizational Change Management (OCM). Recently I was asked to guest lecture for the McGeorge Law School, Master of Public Administration (MPA) and Master of Public Policy (MPP) programs. While I…
Read MoreManaging Change: The Quest for the Perfect Apartment
I am a tried and true “homebody” so when I am faced with finding a new home it can be a truly daunting experience! During my short time living in Sacramento, I have rented two drastically different apartments as a result of drastically different approaches,…
Read MoreGardening for a Cause
A group from Highlands Consulting, along with families and friends, recently donated our time to the Sacramento Ronald McDonald House. We spent a few hours on a warm Saturday morning raking leaves, pulling weeds, and trimming trees and shrubs. The Ronald McDonald House provides a home-away-from-home…
Read MoreGetting from A to B
I have always been passionate about automobiles and traveling so it seems fortuitous that a lot of our recent consulting projects in 2015 and 2016 have been on these very topics. On the strategic and business planning front we recently facilitated executives at the California…
Read MoreRapid Process Improvement
A team of Highlands’ consultants were recently certified by PQS, Inc., to facilitate Rapid Process Improvement (RPI) events. RPI is a highly-interactive method of business process analysis that focuses on resolving problem workflows and returning rapid results that can be implemented quickly. RPI is based…
Read MoreCongratulations to Our Newly Certified SAFe Agilists!
Highlands is proud to announce that nine of our consultants are now certified in the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe): Nikki Angle, Demetre Haralambakis, Michele Rickey-Pidd, Mike Cappelluti, Eric Norton, Will Cuper, Judy Melson, Amanda Priest, and Jacob Olson. SAFe delivers a strategy for implementing Agile at…
Read MoreCase Study: Owning the Change Determines IT Success
The Highlands Consulting Group is assisting the State of California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) with implementation of ePlanCheck (ePC), a tool for the electronic submission, review, and approval of architecture and other building plans. ENVISION: We are using our knowledge of…
Read MoreWhat are Mid-Level Requirements – and Why Do We Need Them?
As we help our clients adapt to the State’s new Project Approval Lifecycle, we find we’re being asked to define “mid-level requirements” to support the alternatives analysis that happens early in the procurement process. For those who aren’t familiar with the Project Approval Lifecycle –…
Read MoreIT Procurement 101: The Myth of the 50/50 Procurement Evaluation
A growing trend in public sector information technology (IT) procurement is the 50/50 evaluation: assigning 50% of available points to cost and 50% to the solution. The logic is that weighing cost at 50% forces bidders to reduce their costs and assures the buyer the…
Read MoreOrganizational Change Management in an Agile Environment
In our last blog post, my colleague Nikki Angle wrote about the myths and realities of Agile in government. It’s a significant shift that requires increased communication, readiness assessments, training, and reinforcement – all components that we deliver every day through organizational change management. Two State of California…
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