Project: Helping two senior teams embrace organisational change.
Brief: Enterprising Opportunities, a community interest company, was facing many challenges as a result of growth. The organisation was going through significant change and two senior teams needed help to deal with it. In particular, the two teams needed to work together as a single unit to move the organisation forward.
Our approach: Calibre HR & Training director Steve Walker interviewed team members to understand what mix of
change management tools would best suit the situation.
With this and the budget in mind Steve proposed an interactive and intensive one-day change management workshop.
The workshop would be designed to give participants the space and confidence to share their anxieties and fears. People experiencing change often keep their concerns to themselves and isolation can set in. Steve wanted to create an environment where participants could open up and discover shared concerns. He also wanted to give participants more confidence to ask questions and challenge decisions.
The change management workshop: The workshop was divided into four parts. Steve facilitated each session using a range of activities, discussion and exercises. Three sessions tackled the chronological themes past, present and future. A fourth session with the Chief Operating Officer gave participants a chance to ask questions and commit to an action plan.
The first session – the past – encouraged participants to recognise the way things used to be and draw from this what worked well. Steve helped participants move on by encouraging them to explore why things needed to change and why the previous way of working was no longer fit for purpose
The next session – the present – was perhaps the most critical of the day. When people are in the middle of change, it can be very uncomfortable. People often feel anxious and confused but rarely share these emotions. This can leave them isolated and vulnerable. Using a range of change management games – including storyboarding and the Feelings Game – Steve got team members to discuss their experiences. By recognising common feelings and experiences, the group began to develop a sense of camaraderie and empathy.
The third session encouraged the group to look at the future. Steve focused on helping team members move beyond current concerns to envisage themselves working positively together. Steve helped participants draw out what they needed to do to achieve the organisation’s goals and what they needed the organisation to provide.
The final session of the day with the Chief Operating Officer gave participants a chance to ask questions. It also brought the day’s insights together and gave participants a platform to commit to joint action.
Outcome: By giving colleagues the chance to explore the issues openly and honestly and in a spirit of positive mutual support, the workshop helped the two teams come together. At the end of the day the new team demonstrated its commitment to the change by agreeing a joint action plan. Several months after the workshop, the team is performing well and has gone on to successfully embrace further changes including relocation.
Feedback on Steve’s change management training: “Steve creatively brought two disparate groups together and helped us work as one team. He is personable and understands his audience well – a great trainer and facilitator,”
Rebecca Hawking, HR & Marketing Development Manager, Enterprising Opportunities.
Steve’s session was really useful. I think he did a really excellent job. The props were minimal but very effective in addition to the exercises which made us consider how we work with each other. The feedback session was also very much needed. Since the session last week I can see the impact of this as a tangible difference in the team and the way we work with each other.
