You’re looking to improve your change management skills. How can you take the first step?

You can start by reflecting on your past experiences with change management. Please look at what went well, what challenges you faced, and how you addressed them. This can help you identify your strengths and areas for improvement. Could you take feedback from colleagues, supervisors, and those directly affected by the changes you manage? This will provide you with a multi-dimensional view of your change management skills. Use competency frameworks or assessment tools related to change management. These can offer a structured way to evaluate your skills against industry standards.

There are different aspects on Change Management skills, either personal or professional. Either way, it makes sense to reflect on how you deal with change personally because it helps you to understand on how you manage change professionally. e.g.: if you like process, structure, procedures it is more likely that you prefer a more stable environment and not welcoming change that much. There is a great self-test from Riemann-Thomann that give you a rough indication on how you personally deal with change. With this insight it might help to get some answers what you need to focus on to improve your change skills. Any model/technic/approach is good, it is the person who makes a difference.

Para evaluar el nivel actual de habilidades en gestión del cambio se puede hacer una lista de conceptos clave como modelos de cambio, resistencia y comunicación, etc; reflexionar sobre tu experiencia previa en gestión del cambio, rol en proyectos y desafíos que enfrentaste y cómo los abordaste; y participación en cursos y talleres o capacitaciones; evaluando cómo has aplicado lo aprendido en la práctica.

Identifying the necessary skills and knowledge to achieve your goals is essential. This might include understanding the psychological aspects of change, learning new project management methodologies, or improving your communication skills. Once you have identified the areas you need to work on, create an action plan that outlines the steps you'll take to reach your goals. This plan could involve taking specific courses, seeking mentorship, or gaining practical experience through new projects.

Talking to experts and listening to their experiences on what are the different resistances and hurdles they came across while handling the people side of change and what are the corrective interventions they implemented to overcome these hurdles would provide someone with so much practical knowledge as well as perspective to navigate through their journey through change.

Joining professional networks on platforms like LinkedIn can be highly beneficial. Participating in discussions, attending webinars, and connecting with field experts can provide valuable insights and advice. It's also a good idea to seek out a mentor with extensive change management experience. A mentor can provide personalized advice, share their experiences, and guide you through the nuances of managing change effectively. Additionally, analyzing case studies of successful and unsuccessful change initiatives can help you understand the factors contributing to change efforts' success or failure, offering practical lessons and strategies.

Each change and situation is different, there is no one-way fits all. One way to improve your skills is to follow a buddy concept. Find someone who is already expert or where you want to be and ask for to team up. Ask constantly question why s/he is approach a certain situation in a certain way. Why are they doing it this or that way. Copy them in the beginning and master it by finding you own approach/way that works for you. In this case you are going to learn very effectively and fast.

Change Management is constantly evolving. To keep up to date, it is necessary to read papers, watch TED Talks, attend conferences, exchange with experts. My experience is that the methodologies didn't change that much in the past 10-15 years. However, the challenges today are more complex and more dynamic. Related to that, a change management process needs to be more flexible/agile today and needs to be able to react quickly to an upcoming situation. Moving forward, AI is going to support change management by proposing possible improvements or efficiency gain within a company. AI can also support in measuring the progress of changes made. A recipe to stay on top is to keep informed about the subject and having discussion with experts.

Change doesn't fail by itself, it fails because people resist it. That's why one of the first things we do when we work with an organization is to lead the team through a "Resistance Inventory." We've identified five sources of resistance: 1. Lack of Trust 2. Change Fatigue 3. Competing Incentives or Commitments 4. Switching Costs 5. Identity, Dignity and Sense of Self For each one we ask: Who will resist in this way? What form will the resistance take? How can we build strategies to mitigate it? You can't anticipate everything, but you'd be amazed how much trouble you can avoid by spending a little time to plan ahead and prepare for resistance, rather than just waiting for it to arrive and reacting in the moment.

Stop Diagnosing and Prescribing! In the 1940s, Kurt Lewin and Ron Lippitt developed a theory of change that still prevails today. This theory involves a planned process of unfreezing, creating movement, and refreezing to sustain change. The diagnostic approach assumes a good diagnosis is essential to address organizational problems. (It is often called the "doctor-patient" model.) However, it is not effective for complex challenges requiring transformational change. It privileges stability, routine, and order. And treats change as "exceptional" rather than "natural." We have educated managers to be rational decision-makers from the 1940s... And then we expect them to "manage" irrational disruptions in 2024.

Identifiez des mentors : Cherchez des personnes expérimentées dans le domaine de la gestion du changement et demandez-leur de devenir vos mentors peut s'avérer être utile. Ces derniers vous apporterons des conseils précieux, des partages de leur expérience et vous guiderons tout au long de votre parcours d'apprentissage.