Crestwood Midstream: Co-creating change helps reduce fear

"People, process and technology" are all integral parts of successful digital transformation, according to Deana A. Werkowitch, vice president of business process optimization for Crestwood Midstream.

But an organization's people are the most integral piece of that transformation.

"Your people are first," Werkowitch said. "They're the pivotal piece to everything."

Sometimes, when change leaders are dealing with their transformation teams, however, those teams "hide."

"They consider you auditors, and they don't want you to mess anything up because they know what they're doing, they do it well, and who are you to say you can do it better? They don't want anybody to 'mess in their garden,'" Werkowitch said at the Intelligent Automation in Oil and Gas Summit held recently in Houston.

She explained that building trust among all partners in order to foster relationships is crucial.

"You have to use soft skills," she said. "You can't just go up to somebody and start shuffling their papers and say you have a new way of doing something. Who are you to say they aren't doing it well or make them feel like they don't have the experience, knowledge or insight that you have?"

Continuing to stress the importance of trust, Werkowitch noted if people or groups, whether in the office or out in the field, "don't find you trustworthy or personable, or don't find that you are their voice, you have nothing to transform, because you haven't done the 'trust/people' part of the whole transformation."

Werkowitch warned listeners to be wary of "blind spots" within the transformation team, because just one person is capable of derailing the sought-after transformation, improvement and capital expense.

"You may think you have the right relationship and have started off your transformation on the right foot, but no matter how many people may be pro-transformation, you have to be aware of the folks who say 'yes,' they want it, but behind your back they say it's absolutely not happening," she explained. "[If] one person says 'no,' it's over."

Be transparent about the agenda

Werkowitch stressed that while it's easy for an organization to say it is undertaking transformation by "implementing an improvement or automation ⦠that's not success."

Success, she said, is when you have 100-percent bought in to production. "It's not easy to get there, but that's why it's extremely critical that you keep your eye on that discipline path," she added.

Another obstacle to success is the segment of workers and customers alike who are fearful of the changes transformation may bring.

"In my experience, people are usually fearful because they don't have all of the information," Werkowitch stated. "So, in order to eliminate fear, if you are honest and open and transparent with your agenda - and we do all have an agenda, whether it's to improve something or change something - help [workers] understand that your agenda is not to take over their jobs.

"It's not your agenda to have them be removed from the company. Your agenda is to improve and excel [at] their skills and to let them focus on more value-added elements. If you are honest and open about that, I find that people's fears are reduced."

When people are engaged in co-creating the transformation, Werkowitch continued, that also helps mitigate their fears.

"You're standing side-by-side," she said. "You're not telling someone what to do; you're asking to be part of their world. Then, when that fear is reduced, they're much more transparent and honest with you about what they would like to see."