Change Management and Leadership
ExperienceChange™
This moment has a lot to teach about leadership. With change persisting as a constant fact of business, success is determined by how well you rise to the challenge. Nothing exhibits the strength of character as much as stress. Clearly, this is a unique opportunity for the best leaders to rise above competition. However, this is easier said than done- there is no routine which guarantees success. The secret isn’t waking up every day at 5 am or practicing the Wim Hof method- rather, what is crucial is developing a strong mindset. People aren’t afraid of an action or decision as much as the consequences- successful leaders understand that the only constant is change. Rather than advocating for a rigid routine as a guarantor of excellent change management, leaders seek to master the art of change. Change management is important and the keystone to longevity. ExperienceChange™ is not a routine, a template, or a prescribed panacea.
It pushes strong, driven, determined people to be their best and become the best. This is for the leaders of today and the leaders of tomorrow. By engaging in immersive simulation challenges, you are developing a mindset which can deal with uncertainty, variables, and teams regardless of circumstances. To truly understand the impact of ExperienceChange™, it is important to understand the benefits of change management, the approached organisations may assume, the importance of making change stick, and the best way to navigate change in our virtual world.
Managing Change
Change Management for Leaders
Effectively dealing with change is important on every level. Not only does it minimise the impact of ‘change fatigue’ employees experience, illustrating the positive relationship between change management and mental health, but excellent change management also helps to determine the success of your projects. Your project is six times more likely to meet objectives than with poor change management (ProSci, 2018). Leaders walk the talk and need the confidence to make change stick. Ultimately, confidence comes from experience. Rather than waiting for another disaster to serve as a learning experience, leaders can ExperienceChange™ in a simulated, real scenario. Your leaders have brilliant, strategic ideas for the business- however, that is no guarantee that these ideas will actualise. Avoid having your initiatives fail to realise their potential due to a lack of commitment- engage with the experience of change by learning how to implement change management.
Change Management for Employees
Learning how to manage change is essential regardless of your job role- as an employee, changes in your work environment, an altered scope of work, or increasingly demanding expectations, are all changes. Though the changes on a day-to-day basis may seem minute, they add-up and cause stress which may not have been anticipated. This is intensified in the current situation of historical business disruption. Employees are facing radical change, rapidly occurring. For many, the need to manage work remotely, adjust to digitalisation, and make decisions with uncertainty, are pressing daily tasks. How can employees be supported to make the best decisions which would support company objectives? Understanding how to ExperienceChange™ and grow through change is foundational. Forget survivors, we want thrivers. That’s how projects surpass expectations, how your brand becomes the best, and how customers continue to trust your business.
Change Management Models
Our world is awash with models and theories which seek out patterns and trends to understand best change management practices. Here, we’ll look at a few key models and identify the x key similarities in their approach to change management implementation.
The Lewin Model
Often viewed as a foundational model in change management, the Lewin Model has stood the test of time. It focuses on three basic phases- unfreezing, changing, and refreezing. To paraphrase, realising change is necessary, working towards the desired change, and finally, solidifying the ‘new’ as the norm. It is useful in driving an understanding of the necessity for change and the associated advantages. However, it is a high-level overview which doesn’t provide the depth modern business may require.
The Kotter Model
The Kotter Model is hugely influential across the discipline of change management. It takes you through 8 key stages of change management are sequential-
- Create a sense of urgency
- Build a guiding coalition
- Form a strategic vision
- Enlist a volunteer army
- Enable action by removing barriers
- Generate short-term wins
- Sustain acceleration
- Institute change
Though this an incredibly useful basis, it assumes that there is a clear understanding of the problem within the organisation. This is not always the case.
The ADKAR Model
This model approaches change primarily from an individual level, describing the journey of a single preson through the change process. ADKAR moves from Awareness, to Desire, to Knowledge, to Ability and Reinforcement. Using the labels identified by ADKAR is incredibly helpful in understanding the key stages in the change process and the ‘buy-in’ of the individual. Focusing on individual stakeholders throug these labels is a useful dimension to change management, however, the journey to scalability is not always clear. The key to mobilising groups of individuals experiencing similar issues, like working from home or adapting to technology, is not delineated.
The Bridges’ Transitions Model
The Bridges’ Transitions Model is similar to ADKAR in its focus on the individual, mapping the psychological journey of change clearly. It focuse on 3 phases- ending what currently is , the Neutral Zone, and the New Beginning. It often overlooks the details associated to understanding the change, enlisting teams, or envisagin the changed organisation.
The ExperienceChange™ Model
The ExperienceChange™ Model is unique as it is designed to both be used in conjunction with existing models and as a stand-alone change model. It has two key phases, ‘align key stakeholders’ and ‘engange the organisation’, which consiste of 7 stages. Importantly, it focuses on 7 key principles:
- Change is a process, not an event
- Change occurs at an individual and organizational level
- Stakeholder involvement is necessary, but not sufficient
- Urgency good, anxiety bad
- Communication is critical
- Walk the talk
- Make change stick
Taking the best of the Kotter model and uniting it with the psychological understanding of the ADKAR and Bridges’ change management approaced, EC creates a flexible yet thorough framework for change. It ensures to align key stakeholders with need for change and encourages buy-in, motivation, through understanding. EC understands that teams can work together to deal with difficult decisions synergestically. It has been modelled onto countless existing systems with clients like GE, Microsoft, and ExxonMobil.
ExperienceChange™
Industry leaders and market heavy hitters rely on ExperienceChange™ to prepare them for the worst-case scenarios. Having the opportunity to work with experience facilitators focused on your business in virtual or in-person workshops allows your mistakes to be your greatest opportunities. By making mistakes in a simulates, controlled environment, with engaged stakeholders and expert guidance, you’re in the best possible position to ExperienceChange™, to lead through change, and to thrive through change. The most revealing decisions are your mistakes, be that uncovering unproductive leadership habits, or a tendency to have ‘analysis paralysis’, ExperienceChange™ makes sure that better habits are learned and reinforced.
Change is ironic- it’s an unavoidable, permanent constant. The ExperienceChange simulation is flexible-
- 6 to 8 hour workshop (Now available virtually with three 2-hour sessions)
- Same class of training simulations as professional athletes and Astronauts receive.
- Available for 12 to 250 people
- Used in training development programs, project-team launches, team-building, conferences and events
- PROTRAINING is an ExperiencePoint certified facilitator
As a continued commitment to the success of our clients, please remember that we have a full range of virtual and eLearning options available for you and your team.
If you need any more information, email us please: info@protraining.net or call +971 4 3468835. Alternatively, fill in the form below and become part of our mailing list.