Managing change can make transitions smooth Published March 19, 2015 By Chief Master Sgt. Scott A. Bryant 55th Aerial Port Squadron TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- "The only constant is change." How many times have we heard that? No matter what your organization's management structure, there will be change. Change in processes, environment and, most importantly, people. For an organization to continue to be successful, change must be anticipated, planned for and, yes, managed. As I want to be brief in this article, I will focus on the personnel aspect of change management. When it comes to personnel change management, redundancy is the key. Have you ever heard of the "mack truck theory?" It's used whenever an organization has one individual who does it all. They are the ones who have the work relationships, they know how everything's done and they know where everything is located. This is vertical or "silo" organizational management. If that do-everything person is unexpectedly removed, an organization can literally be brought to a standstill. In a military environment, this is not only unacceptable, but in a worst case scenario, it can lead to defeat. Recently, in my Air Force Reserve squadron, in the span of six months, we lost our senior air reserve technician, our first sergeant and our commander. One retired and that was anticipated, but two left the squadron unexpectedly - one left with a promotion, and the other, tragically. The entire squadron "triad" was gone. I, as the squadron superintendent, and my operations officer, had to keep this squadron operating and mission ready. How did we do it? Redundancy. We knew the squadron's organizational structure, the personnel, the finances and, of course, the mission. We knew this because the squadron was managed with open communication and run as a team. This meant we had knowledge of the vital aspects of the squadron. Predictable personnel change management is much easier. Examples of predictable events are promotions, permanent-change-of-station moves, retirements or any other anticipated or assumed changes. These changes can be managed by mentoring and by training your replacement. It does not matter if a person is a commander or a staff sergeant and front line supervisor, training and mentoring are critical to the natural progression of an organization. An organization such as an Air Force wing or squadron can be equated to a living organism -- constantly renewing itself. As the newest Airman becomes established, they become NCOs; while lieutenants become captains, and so-on and so-on. In order for this natural progression to be successful, training and mentoring must occur. If you are not training your replacement, you are not fulfilling your obligation to the Air Force as a supervisor and leader. You must take the time to invest in our future leaders. Make the people you supervise better than you were at that point in your career. Remember all those times when you said to yourself, "I wish someone had done that for me?" Well, do it for them. Provide your folks with documented feedback. They want to know how they're doing. When you receive a new person to supervise, document your expectations. Begin your supervision with open and direct communication. If your subordinate legitimately says, "I could do his/her job," then you're on the right track. Nobody stays in one place forever. When it comes time for you to take on your next challenge, will your replacement be ready to assume your role? Are you leaving your organization better than you found it? If you can say "yes" to these questions, then congratulations, you are practicing effective personnel change management.