In today’s dynamic marketplace, change is not only inevitable; it is essential for survival and growth. To prosper, businesses need to adapt to new situations, keep up with the latest technologies and industrial ‘best practices’, while adjusting to competitive pressures and new regulation. Not an easy task but if managed correctly, it is one that can provide tremendous advantage. However, if employees are not committed to change, if they see change as a threat rather than an opportunity, then change can have unforeseen consequences - consequences that can reduce or even nullify the intended benefits of the change i.e. evolution and adaptation. Change must be managed and people need to recognize the value in change along with the inherent and often ‘hidden’ dangers! Change Management Training (CMT) is one method by which change can be harnessed and utilized to the best advantage. Change nevertheless, is inevitable and must be recognized for its own worth or else an organization like a species which cannot adapt, will suffer extinction. Change must be managed and people need to recognize the value in change along with the inherent and often hidden dangers! Change for the sake of change must also be avoided. Change Management Training is one method by which change can be harnessed and utilized to the best advantage. Changing the underlying culture of an organization is arguably the most difficult change to initiate and successfully carry out. Yet, it is often the singular most important element separating mediocrity and excellence. The QualaTech Three-Day CMT explores the dynamics of culture change within an Organization.

Expected Outcomes for the CMT Workshop Include:

Recognize the inevitability of change in the modern workplace

Reduce and/or alleviate fears of the ‘unknown’ (change)

Understand the role of control in the change process

The chance to express thoughts and concerns

Practical strategies to deal with change

To be aware of the phenomenon of change

To understand how people react to change

To know and apply change management strategies.

General Change Trends – Why Change is Inevitable: Many ‘drivers’ and ‘restrainers’ affect the way we do business. CMT examines what drivers and restrainers are creating the need for the change and why change is the key to staying successful.

Surviving and Thriving in a Changing Workplace: Engaging change is now an item on every company’s “to-do” list and employers need these changes to work and perhaps most importantly, to last. “Business as usual” is no longer good enough in dynamic world economies. What does “Change” really mean to an organization? To answer this, the singular most important section in the CMT program is centred around the ‘Eight Stage Process’ to ensure change is understood and has a reasonable chance for success. The Eight Stage Process, if it is understood and carefully applied, nurtured and reinforced will become the roadmap for successful change management in any organization.

The Eight Stage Process:

1). A sense of Urgency; 2). Creating the Guiding Coalition; 3). Developing a Vision and Strategy; 4). Communicating the Change Vision; 5). Empowering Employees for Broad-Based Action; 6). Generating Short-Term Wins; 7). Consolidating Change and Producing More Wins; 8). Anchoring New Approaches in the Culture.

Change Agent Styles: No matter how meticulous the planning, Change Management (CM) is inanimate and will not bring itself to life! People are needed to complete the necessary actions and to hurdle all of the barriers put before it. Without people, change is redundant! Individuals involved in change will each assume one of four roles throughout a ‘critical change process’, Owners, Executives, Managers, and Leaders must be able to recognize each role played by every person in the Company to be able to adjust, support, nurture and prevent in order for change to be successful and lasting.

Single Most Important Factor – A Sense of Urgency: If the issue of a sense of urgency is not understood or not handled well, even capable people, high performing teams and the greatest resource laden organizations can suffer dismal results. The critical opposite to Urgency is Complacency. Success often eventually brings with it complacency, comfort, sense of security and once you understand this concept it is easy to understand that a Sense of Urgency must be created, maintained and cultivated for lasting change to take place. CMT will help identify the warning signs of a lack of urgency and complacency.

Strategy for Increasing the Urgency: How do you increase the sense of urgency within the team? Examples are brought forward and discussed and then added to the toolbox of change management. Participants are encouraged throughout the workshop to foster ideas and concepts for discussion and review. Examples and frank discussions are used to help identify the common signs that a sense of urgency is waning: that complacency is setting in and that the change effort is faltering.

Tactics to Support the Strategy: Four tactics to engage and support the Strategy are identified, setting the conditions for “Bringing the Outside In”, to help the team “Behave with Urgency Every Day” and to “Find Opportunity in Crises” and finally; “How to destroy the urgency killers ”.

It’s All about People – Motivating and Managing Individuals through Change: Often misunderstood, taken for granted and ignored; CM implies that we know our people as well as we know ourselves. What motivates people, what mindset do they bring to work, what are their levels of performance and actions governed by? How do we Lead? How do we adapt?

How Do We Grow?: The “Iceberg Model” and the “Four Stages of Growth” are examined. The brain is explained as we look at “Upsets” which affect our ability to make change work as individuals. Additionally, we look at behaviours as tools to influence or to thwart change and we establish accountability for actions during the process. Furthermore, we learn about and establish Emotional Intelligence, or EQ as the ability to adopt situation-specific leadership to achieve best results by connecting on the essential emotional level to understand each other and support successful CM.