The chilled way for building change capability in a team

Change Management is one of the best transferable skills out there because every leader leads change - whether they realise it or not, whether it’s intentional or not, whether they want to or not, and whether they think they’re any good at it or not!

A lot of people don’t actually know what Change Management is (but think they do) and even fewer know how to “do” Change (and do it well!). So you’ll find people who talk a big talk about Change (but actually have no idea) to people who know nothing and you're taking them from 0 to 100. You'll find teams, projects and whole organisations with quite low change maturity. And as a Change Manager or Change Consultant,  you might want to help build that capability for them without it becoming a big thing that saps all your time and energy. 

Here are most chilled ways to build change capability without overdelivering or burning out:

Seed Change capability through your own Change work

Rather than deliver a whole Change Capability Program with dedicated sessions, every time you run a workshop or activity, teach a bit of capability at the start. Go gently: "You might know a little bit about Change Management, I want to make sure I level set everybody and what I'm here to do and how I can help." Provide a little definition: "Change Management is moving people from doing things in one way to doing things another via communications, training and readiness to realise the business benefits of the change." Then explain the process you’re about to take them through and why and give them an experience of participating in it. It’s such a powerful way to learn! I always build Change capability in my projects, teams and Change teams, whether I'm an employee, a contractor, or right now as a Change Management Consultant and Trainer. 

But I am discerning about what I provide, to who, and when. As I recommend to my LSC Members, it's about leading by example and using some of the business-ready tools to take people on a change journey and get the benefits of change, receive change, and see Change in action. When they see it in action, often their mindset changes about what Change Management is and how it can help them.

Focus on mindset not practice for business teams

You might want to run a dedicated session with project teams, but with business teams Change Management isn’t the ONLY thing they’re spending their day on. So focus more on building change acceptance and building the mindset around Change Management or thinking from a Change lens, provide a couple of useful tools to get quick wins rather than trying to build end-to-end change capability in a day. 

Create a change playbook

One of the other things I cover in Leading Successful Change is building a change playbook - how we tend to do change here. Again - it just means people can get the basics without having to learn the whole thing. It means they can build change skills for their leadership rather than to “be” a Change Manager themselves (and this is why I get business leaders joining my Leading Successful Change program).

Showcase success so there’s an appetite to learn Change

Deliver a great change, let people see what good looks like, then make the offer to build change capability. It is so much easier when the desire is there, because you can spend your time focusing on the capability build rather than on trying to get people to agree to build capability!

Outsource the capability to an external provider

Sometimes, people learn best and believe it more when there’s an independent, neutral third-party to deliver the capability. You can often get better commitment, cut-through and credibility. More interest, attendance, and participation, especially when the program provides a certification or a credential like my LSC program does. It means you don’t have to start from scratch and build a capability program - you’re able to leverage one that already exists and save time, money, effort and logistics. And you might be great at Change, but not necessarily at teaching it! I offer corporate group packages of my LSC program, and I also create bespoke change capability programs that I deliver live and exclusive (get in touch if you need my help).

When you move out of the depths of delivery, it frees you up to do more change advisory, coaching and capability. Especially if this is what you love - focusing on the strategy and plan and building skills and capability to leave in the organisation then moving on share your gifts to a new group of passionate people. That’s the beauty of being an independent Change Consultant - you can work with several clients at once, do more of the things you're passionate about, and grow your impact on your terms and schedule.

I'll be sharing how to go from zero to hero as an independent Change Consultant on my exclusive live in-person retreat on 28-29 October in Sydney. It's your very last chance to join me and connect with other passionate and experienced Changies who want to start or grow their own consulting practice.

The **FINAL** registration period for my Instant Change Consultant Retreat closes Thursday 28 September so if you’ve been dreaming of having more control and ownership over your work and life, sign up ASAP:

CLICK HERE for your last chance to join my Instant Change Consultant Retreat

Lata xx