12 Responses

1. More info needed
   Hi Sarah

   I may be able to help. CAn you give a bit more info on who the workshop is for, expected outcomes etc.

   Regards

   Sue

2. Outcomes
   What are the end results, outputs after the training the people dealing with change have to achieve? That will greatly influence what I could suggest and provide?

3. More information
   We as a business are undergoing drastic change at the moment for example we have new strategies, direction along with many redundancies.
   The outcome is for the delegates to feel comfortable with change, understand why our businesses needs to change, and be able to adapt and cope with change.

   Hope that helps!

   Sarah

4. different strokes for different folks
   Hi Sarah – a weighty topic for a Friday afternoon. I’m wondering if you are running the workshop for the people who are “just” having the changes imposed on them; or who are part themselves of managing the change process for others? There is a lot of evidence that shows that while everyone has a reaction to change, the focus will differ according to different personality type preferences, and also if people are part of managing the change, or just having it imposed on them.

   If you are supporting people through change, an understanding from this perspective – and tactics and strategies to support different type needs, can be very useful.

   Do get in touch off-line if you’d like more on supporting people and organisations through change from
   this perspective, and some ways of covering this in a workshop.

   Clare
   clare.howard@academy28.com

5. More info
   Hi Clare,

   Yes I will be supporting people who are “just” having the changes imposed on them.

   Regards,

   Sarah

6. I can help
   Hi Sarah

   I have a one-day programme on change that I have run before in what sounds like similar circumstances. If you let me have your details via my profile I can send it to you

   Sue

7. E Mail
   if you send me an e mail address I’ll send you what I think is relevant.

   garry.platt(AT)wgrange.com

8. Thank-you!
   Thank you so much to everyone who has responded to my question. Your help is gratefully appreciated

   Thanks again

   Sarah

9. managing change
   Hi Sarah,

   A few thoughts.

   1 can a one day workshop alone deal with change?
   2 from your description, do you need to involve both the change makers and the those affected in a process of change?
   3 could your one day be a start of such a process by bringing both together?
   4 could the day include; some initial information from the change makers, time in small groups for the delegates to discuss and formulate their questions, a sharing of their responses and an identification of the key issues and opportunities along with the change makers, and then a working in new groups to plan a way forward together?

   Maybe make the day relevant and practical and not just theoretical?

   Good wishes,

   John,
   john.teire@virgin.net

10. Managing Change
    Hi John,

    Thanks for your thoughts, I will try and answer them for you

    1. No!! One workshop clearly can’t. It has to be driven from management and on-going
    2. In many companies that would be the case….however realistically that’s not going to happen here, for many complicated reasons, one being our culture of “no-communication” and a “them and us” divide
    3. I would love this workshop to be the start of change and brining managers and teams together but again some senior managers have in the past paid lip-service and promised to attend workshops and to follow up on training etc etc then they do not turn up as they are too busy. That sends out a powerful message to the business that they do not believe in or buy-in to the training. Saying that I have got at least 1 manager to commit to attend.
    4. Absolutely! I am working on this being the case however see points 2 + 3
    5. The culture has also suppressed people’s ability to come up with ideas, when people do have ideas they are not taken seriously and ignored so now no one bothers. To make the day relevant and practical I will be addressing this area by given everyone the chance to come up with ideas in the workshop and on-going in monthly meetings

    Regards,

    Sarah

11. Managing Change
    Hi Sarah,

    I wish you well with the day when it takes place. From what you say there are more than a few interesting challenges for you, because of the company culture and the people’s attitudes as you describe them. But maybe that is not unusual and is just part of the ever changing dynamics of an organisation.

    However, on a positive note, does this also suggest an opportunity for you to be working in a wider way than the one day workshop, on those very things, the no-communication, a them and us divide, the lack of management involvement and commitment, a culture of suppression?

    Dealing with the inevitable external changes in the market place that the company is probably facing could be a lot smoother and more enjoyable if there is also an internal culture of working well together and supportive encouragement, and you have highlighted the very things that are getting in the way of this.

    But where and how do you start? Do you have the motivation, the energy, the skills? Do you have any support, people there who feel the same way? You would love the workshop to be the start of change, but could the scale of it seem to weigh too heavily?

    Hope it goes well.

    John,
    john.teire@virgin.net

12. Why Change Programmes so often fail
    This strikes me as being a brilliant example of why the vast majority of change programmes sooner or later crash in flames. (Though there usually aren’t too many people “on oard” when this happens.)

    Sarah asks:

    “I have been asked to write a 1 day workshop dealing with change. Does anyone have any slides/exercises etc they would be willing to share with me?”

    And then explains:

    “We as a business are undergoing drastic change at the moment for example we have new strategies, direction along with many redundancies.
    The outcome is for the delegates to feel comfortable with change, understand why our businesses needs to change, and be able to adapt and cope with change.”

    There are, of course, three utterly opposed scenarios in progress here.

    The first started who knows how long ago when someone decided changes were necessary. Since then the situation and the company’s responses to it have been batted about in considerable detail AT SENIOR MANAGEMENT LEVEL.
    This means that senior management have had plenty of time to get used to the idea of change. They know exactly why it is judged necessary, and what the REAL long-term outcome is expected to be.

    At some later time, lower levels of management will have become involved. They will usually have had some weeks, or even a few months, to get a grasp on what is happening, though the length of time, and the level of detail, will vary from company to company.

    Third, there are the employees. They obviously have entirely different needs as compared with management. Because they can be brought up to speed in just one day on matters it took managers weeks, months or even a year or more to get to grips with.

    Only employees DON’T have a whole different psychological profile. They CAN’T take in in one day (which is comparatively generous, in my experience) everything any significant change will involve.
    And hence there will be a variety of adverse reactions from apathy to resentment to actual sabotage.

    And that, IMHO and experience, is why change “programmes” so often fail.