Managing Change: Building Positive Support for Change

Overview/Description
It's often said that people don't like change. But when it comes to organizational change, employees are genuinely interested in making things better – an improvement in processes, systems, functions, or services most likely translates into direct improvements for the employee too. But employees cannot support change and recognize its benefits without first understanding how it impacts their tasks, processes, or roles. Employees – and people in general – empowered with knowledge, understanding, and a clear vision of the future state will not only welcome change, but embrace it. In this course, you'll learn about the importance of building a motivating atmosphere that supports organizational change, and the importance of creating short-term wins and vision. The course highlights techniques for listening to your employees during change initiatives such as encouraging open communication, listening to employees' feelings, checking for understanding, and taking employee input into consideration. The course also covers actions you can take to support individuals through change initiatives, including coaching for change, making sure employees are empowered with the critical knowledge and skills necessary, considering individual characteristics of your employees, and being flexible. Materials designed to support blended learning activities aligned with this course are available from the Resources Page.

Target Audience
Any manager or leader who has an interest in or will manage or lead organizational change

Expected Duration (hours)
1.0

Lesson Objectives

Managing Change: Building Positive Support for Change

recognize examples of short-term wins

identify guidelines for creating vision to support organizational change

deal with employees' concerns in a given change-related scenario

match the steps of the technique for listening with examples

recognize what you can do to support individuals during change