The windows of intelligence

“Use obstacles to open the windows of intelligence. Never give up.”
From these words of Pope Francis spoken in a homily, I took interest in talking about change management.

Change management is successfully managing a change process. It is fundamental to start with the process of analysis: where we are, i.e. the state of the current situation; where we want to go, i.e. the state of the desired situation; and how we can get there, i.e. the most suitable path. We then move on to a clear strategy, which consists of three steps. The first is goal setting: management defines the goals it wants to achieve, the timeframe, and how to involve the people concerned. The second is planning: management shares the objectives with the personnel concerned and together they identify critical issues and opportunities, sharing ways and timing of the various operational phases. And finally, implementation, which is about making what is planned happen. It is important that all activities are monitored so that we can respond quickly to any unforeseen events and ensure that our objectives are met.

With my Colloi Golf Plus division, which deals with organising and managing 360° projects in the golf world for leisure and business purposes, I have created a format called Ristogolf – Associazione Ristoratori Albergatori & Co Golfisti (Hotel & Co Restaurateurs – Golfers Association). It is an amateur golf association affiliated with the Italian Golf Federation born in 2012 from an idea that came together with chefs Enrico Cerea and Giancarlo Morelli. Ristogolf promotes two worlds: the world of sport, through golf, and the world of food and wine, linked to tradition and culture. Ristogolf has become a “Circuit” throughout the country and over the years has grown in importance thanks to the chefs involved, the media, the participants and the important companies that support the project.

In 2020, we had planned a tour of several stages, six in total, which would take place in Lombardy, Piedmont, Veneto and Emilia Romagna starting in May. The events had already been announced by the food and golf media but, alas, here was the unexpected event that no one had ever wanted to see come along, Covid-19.

Colloi Golf Plus thus implemented a real change management process for Ristogolf, rethinking a tried and tested format in a different way, managing the unexpected and using soft skills to make it happen, which led us in July to hold a single 3-day event in Bergamo, a city hard hit by the pandemic.

Project Manager skills applied to change management played a key role in first desiring, and then guiding, the transition of the project and organisation, thus creating “Ristogolf 2020, play in Bergamo for Bergamo!”.

Ristogolf became a “case study” published in the national magazine “The Project Manager”.

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