Europe meets the Americas for change management

The theory of change management as implemented in Europe at newspapers like London’s Daily Telegraph was the subject of a sold out October seminar in the Ifra Newsplex at the University of South Carolina.

Journalists came from as far away as Brazil, Honduras, Puerto Rico, Canada as well as the U.S. to learn about how to implement change.

“You can do change management in a newsroom effectively only if you give structure to the overall change process,” said Ifra’s Sarah Schantin Williams, who led the seminar.

The high point of the workshop was an examination of the change process at the Daily Telegraph. In late 2006, the London newspaper moved into a stunning newsroom, simultaneously changing its workflows and newsroom structure.

Dietmar Schantin, who heads Ifra’s Newsplex initiative, was part of the core team that oversaw the Daily Telegraph’s transformation. Schantin explained to the American journalists the thought, planning and process that went into the transformation of the paper, which has 460 journalists and a daily circulation of 900,000.

Another seminar highlight was a presentation by Gil Thelen, who now heads the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. Thelen previously served as executive editor and subsequently publisher of The Tampa Tribune, which put him on the frontlines of implementing a convergence strategy. See the Newsplex Blog for Thelen's 12-steps for implanting a convergence strategy.

Thelen said the pace of change has quickened since his newspaper moved into a NewsCenter that included television and online. Thelen urged the journalists to “bet the farm” on reorganizing their newsrooms, arguing that as editors, we must demonstrate hope for the future.

Another change management seminar is being planned for the U.S. in February, 2008. If you are interested, e-mail Newsplex Program Coordinator Terri Moorer at moorert@gwm.sc.edu. She’ll make sure you know about upcoming events.