Overview
In today’s dynamic business environment, organizations must continually evolve and change to meet the demands of the marketplace. How we adapt and help others to do so, is key to successful organizational change management (OCM). Not only are managers at the forefront of managing the change process, but they are also subject to the changes taking place. This two-day course is designed to guide managers through the organizational change process, provide them with techniques to guide their teams through the turbulence, and help them overcome the resistance to change. Learners will be able to apply these new skills to workplace challenges. The course is highly interactive with individual practice sessions, group exercises, discussions, and case studies.
- Course Length: 2 days
- Professional Development Units (PDUs): 14 (7 Ways of Working, 7 Power Skills)
- Program Knowledge Level: Intermediate
- Field of Study: Business Management & Organization
- Prerequisites: None
- Advance Preparation: None
- Benefits: Lead the organizational change management process
Key Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
Identify the principles of change management
Know why managing change is critical for an organization
Understand the top 10 reasons people resist change
Utilize tactics to deal with the resistors
Learn their own tolerance for ambiguity, creating a sensitivity for those challenged by change
Assess individual readiness and capacity to handle change
Know the 4 stages of change that most people go through
Recognize the top eight change management challenges and success factors to overcome them
Establish change goals and metrics
Create an optimal change communications plan
Understand the eight tactics to embed change into their culture
Know which tactics will help sustain a positive attitude towards change
Create a four-step plan to manage change
Course Outline
Kicking off the Workshop
- Define organizational change management
- Discuss the reasons why change is critical to an organization
- Be clear about what will change, what may not
- Share experiences with organizational change among peers
Understanding Behavioral Reactions to Change
- Learn the 10 most common reasons people resist change
- Find out your own tolerance for ambiguity and increase your sensitivity to others challenged by change
- Become clear about the behavior associated with resisting change (they’re not always what you’d expect)
- Review and practice the tactics to best deal with resistors
Assess Change Readiness
- Create a stakeholder analysis; who will be affected by the changes, and how
- Segment those impacted by change into Change Sponsors, Change Agents, and the
Change Target Population
- How to leverage Sponsors and Agents to ease the change, convey the reasons, and benefits
- Assess the readiness and capacity for change for individuals, departments, technology, and organizationally
Common Change Management Challenges
Individual and “contagious” reactions to:
- Perception of the need for change/ value
- Top management’s involvement
- Reality of change working or being effective
- Culture that doesn’t support trust, resulting in fear
- Not enough resources to execute change effectively
- Proper training to onboard all with skills and understanding of changes
- History of change initiatives
Sustainability of change
Key Factors to Achieving Success in Change Management
- Nine principles of change management
- A leadership team that stays visible, accessible, and communicative
- A well-defined change management system is designed and implemented
- Each phase of the changes should have OCM-related tasks within it
- Specific people, budgets, and time should be allocated to the tasks needed to execute the desired change to support its importance
- Use PMs to facilitate the tasks of the change as a project(s)
- Include middle management and employees as often and at every level as possible
- Encourage and promote open two-way communications regularly
- Establish change goals and performance metrics against those goals
- Develop and follow a detailed communications plan
Communications Plan
- Identify and distinguish communications strategies for Change Sponsors, Change Agents, and the Change Target Population
- Include timing, differing channels, and who the messages will come from
- Make sure communications are frequent, open, and of value
- Use to embed a positive attitude towards cultural change
Closing
- Make sure progress and impact are recorded and shared
- Keep the team informed