Change can be a difficult undertaking for any individual. But, when you try to implement a major change across an entire agency, the difficulties encountered by the individual are multiplied one hundred fold. The IFPS has been the catalyst for change in the NWS. The foundation of the field forecast office, the text message, has been displaced. The comfort of routine, around for 30 years, has been removed. The corporate knowledge of the field operations, which existed through all levels of the organization, has vanished. But, under the direction of the upper management and the leadership of the field managers, a new paradigm is beginning to emerge. In addition, the change in the operational paradigm is challenging all levels of the organization to explore new opportunities.

The full IFPS has been functioning at WFO Charleston, WV since Fall, 2000. The implementation of IFPS has changed office operations in a number of ways. These include a shift in time and workload management, a change in the understanding of the NWS primary products and services and an aggressive effort to make more of the meteorologist's knowledge accessible. This presentation will highlight the impact of these changes and how management and staff have dealt with them. In a broader sense, I will also be identifying the paradigm change and examining the struggles each part of the organization has and will encounter as a result of IFPS implementation. I will look at how the organization has dealt with the change from the time it was first recognized through it's current efforts to manage it.