'It's just a change of reporting line' he said. 'Here we go again,' I thought. So I took my time walking through the changes, the impacts and what would need to be done. Luckily by the end I also got the response I had hoped for 'I get it now'. Every now and then, the outcome is different. I get the first comment and no matter what I cover, the impacts won't be acknowledged. There is sometimes a preference to play down the change. And without doubt as the change process takes place, there is a reaction to the emotional push back and its intensity that is experienced. My comment in these instances is - well this change isn't about you, and people don't react how you would react, they react based on how they feel. The only hope I can have in those cases, is that when it happens again the same leader will pay more mind to their people.

When Leaders have a case of the 'Dory's'

Remember Dory from Finding Nemo? She had a very bad memory and this can also be case of many leaders when they m...

In my latest episode of Next Level Change success, I share my thoughts on what it takes to be a great change practitioner. And it isn't probably what you are thinking. 

If you are a change practitioner, have a listen and see whether you agree. if you are hiring change managers, or you are a people leader of Change practitioners, then listen to this podcast to get some ideas on what you may be looking for.

2.09 We cover the three areas to consider.

2.50 Self-awareness and the life long journey in your career.

3:47 How self development added value to my role in identifying behaviours.

4:37 Perfection is an illusion and everyone has different reactions to change.

5:03 The importance of boundary setting and how it empowers people through change.

7:01 Diffusing situations, managing conflict, listening and building trust.The ability to handle stressful situations and self-regulate comes from working on yourself.

8.18 It helps if your purpose lines up with what you do.

9:45 Vulner...

Change leadership is critical to create a sense of ownership and has a direct impact on outcomes as a result of a change being introduced. Change leadership frameworks are hard to find and that is because many organisations see good leadership IS being able to lead change well. And capability building is normally the first action taken to respond to this challenge. Whilst training in this area does build an awareness and improves capability but there are other elements that assist in facilitating effective change leadership.

The MVCM Change Leadership Framework covers all elements to be considered when venturing into Change with leaders.

So let's explore them in more depth in no particular order and without one being more important than the other to facilitate effective change leadership.

When leading change, context has to be considered. The context within the organisation in which the change is being rolled out. Context of the organisation within the industry itself in regards t...

Do you lead change in your team or in your role as a leader? In this Episode we cover the three critical questions that you should be asking related to the change.

Highlights...

2.00 While we are approaching the festive break, the cut off for introducing change should be early November to allow for embedding change to take place up to Christmas. For many organisations though this is not the case.

3.40 The first question is about impacts. Who is impacted, and here is a hint, it is never just one group! 4.30 The change must be simple in the way it is communicated.

5.34 We over the 'when they....then they' method

6.12 What is the size of the impact.

7.00 Is this transformational?

7.30 The most important question as a change leader that indicates ownership.

8.24 The trend used to be to outsource change leadership to change managers, however this is also changing.

9.19 When asked, the third question reflects the behaviour you want from your change leaders.

Leaders are getting a bad wrap and in most organisations who aren't performing leadership is blamed. But what about in Programs? When projects are started, it is often a leader or a group of leaders who have decided that the project is needed and lead the funding push. When funds are awarded, a leader then plays a Project or Program Sponsorship role. 

Many times leaders are not equipped to take on that role as it is unclear as to their role and it's responsibility. So how much impact can a poor leader have?

So what should you expect from your leaders when it comes to sponsoring a program and looking to achieve outcomes for the organisation? What is reasonable?  Have a listen to the latest episode and you decide.

 On Apple Podcasts here or Spotify here.

Well here are some hints and tips and links to articles we cover which are related:

The critical role that leaders play in changing organisations

Is change leadership simply good leadership?

Visit us at www.myvirtualchangema...

Over the many years of working in this field, in both change and project management, the resourcing required for programs is often an area of debate. When heading up a Change Practice, getting the blend of expertise as well as the right time to introduce a Change Manager into a program was also key. Unfortunately it became apparent that if you introduced a Change Manager into a program too early, it created tension if the program didn't have a business case or foundation on which to base the change.

But there are a number of factors to consider when looking at resourcing.

The size of the change. Size does matter in this case. The greater the impact, and depending on the existing resources to support the change internally, you will need adequate resource. The resource isn't there just to produce documents such as the change plan, impacts assessments etc. Change resource on major programs is the People change conductor as such. They are there to orchestrate and integrate the communicat...

In this episode of Next Level Change Success,  we covered the dynamic duo of the Change Diamond of Program Effectiveness. Project Management and Change Management - the Yin and the Yang. There are a number of areas we explore on this topic.

What are the resource requirements and how do you get the right balance? What does Project Management cover vs. Change Management? And I talk about the importance of getting the right people for the right role, which is a shared challenge. However regardless of the resourcing mix, the functions and activities that Project Management covers, and what Change Management covers, mix to be a powerful combination to support your investment in projects and programs.

So when your organisation is investing money into projects and changes, the investment into the right capability mix to support the delivery and ultimately the adoption of the change is key to achieve outcomes.

Have a listen to the full Episode on Apple Podcasts here or on Spotify here.

Here at MVCM, when developing our change framework, and considering all of the contributing factors that make a major program change successful, we knew that it was more than what had been talked about in the models that had been designed before. From our many years of experience and as the change discipline has matured, there was a theme that was emerging being expressed and reflected upon by many senior Change practitioners. It was more than the recurring frustration of sub standard change leadership, and it was emerging as Change practitioners were being put on projects at the development stage. It seemed to centre around the design of the product/service/process/policy itself. This is why we created the Change Diamond model.

The correlation between 'friction' and design

It seems odd, but effective design can be implemented quietly and seamlessly as it achieves its outcomes. Innovative design is often commented on and commended, (good innovation that is), which can enhance the use...

One of the biggest lessons I have learned while implementing change programs time and time again is to measure the behaviours and the trends related to the change. Why? So you can play back to the stakeholders the adoption trends and capture the lessons for when you try to introduce a similar change again. Those measures can also unearth otherwise hidden leadership challenges or culture issues. You get to tell an evidence based story through measurement and learn in a data driven way.

I had first heard the term 'evidence based decision making' only 8 years ago. It was used in a Policy context but seemed to make so much sense when I was thinking about how I always measured my change programs. After all perhaps as a nod to my marketing days, I knew that by providing the Program sponsor with stats and facts when the change was implemented they could talk (or in some cases brag) about how well the change had gone. That would also help build up a good case for change management support in ...

We are nearing the festive break, and even I have some favourite posts from this year (and it isn't even over yet).

Here are some of the posts I think were the best this year:

The environment in organisations that contributes to effective change. We covered the change ecosystem in organisations.

A roadmap to building Change maturity in an organisation

Some of the critical things you need to set up your change leaders for success

This year we also kicked off our podcast - Next Level Change success.

You can check it out on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!

Happy reading and listening....