Change

What is change management?

Change management is the discipline that guides how we prepare, equip and support individuals to successfully adopt change in order to drive organizational success and outcomes.

While all changes are unique and all individuals are unique, decades of research shows there are actions we can take to influence people in their individual transitions. Change management provides a structured approach for supporting the individuals in your organization to move from their own current states to their own future states.

~ Prosci

What skills do registered change management practitioners bring to their offering?

A registered change management practitioner has the ability to use models, concepts, methods and principles to understand ‘real world’ change processes, offering relevant insights and ideas which can aid decision-making, and assist in evaluating options. They can identify drivers of change within individuals and in organisational initiatives, use a range of theories and paradigms and apply an appropriate process framework to plan and support individual and organisational change.  They also know how the process of organizational change or transformation occurs, how to keep stakeholders engaged and know the roles needed to assemble teams to achieve successful organisational change.

The common skills associated with change practitioners include: advanced communication, behavioural change, building teams, business change, business strategy, business transformation, change management, collaboration, decision-making, organisational change, programme management, project management, team empowerment, and transition.

Individual change leads to organisational change

A change process could be optimised for success using the following methods and tools:

Developing a vision Process of change Managing transition Needs & satisfaction Motivating self & others Learning styles, loops and anxieties Personality Change planning Change training Change adoption Culture identification Approaches to change Leadership Strategic context Organisational analysis Building change into risk management

Rapid & Active listening Stakeholder segmentation, mapping/matrix/power/influence Stakeholder analysis Managing relationships & mobilising stakeholders Communication approaches Appealing to hearts and minds – encouraging engagement Social media Communication strategy Impact assessments Resistance Building and sustaining momentum Developing effective teams Benefits management

Applying change management in my work

The theories, models, processes and practices contained within the CM Body of Knowledge are applicable for all individuals, whether that is in a work or a personal setting. For this reason, I do apply my knowledge of change management in my coaching as well as in any organisational change initiative I am involved in. This is a different approach to NLP, which allows me to respect the freedom and natural progression of change in the individual. My intuition, suitable questioning, assessments and analysis during a coaching session or change management initiative allows me to facilitate the progress, and to know when a push is in order, or when a re-evaluation is necessary.