Change management is concerned with preparing, supporting, and guiding individuals and organisations in bringing about organisational change (aka organisational transformation).
Change management is the discipline that guides how we prepare, equip and support individuals to successfully adopt change, which in turn drives organizational success, deliverables and outcomes. While all changes and all individuals are unique, decades of research demonstrates there are actions we can take to influence people in their individual transitions. Change Management is gaining increasing recognition as a profession, with demand growing for qualified and experienced change practitioners, managers and leaders. Increasing numbers of organizations are recognising the value of effective change management too, with many focusing on building stronger internal capability to better facilitate increasing levels of change.
Brings together all syllabus areas of APMG Change Management trainings:
The change manager is rarely ultimately accountable for the benefits. This lies with business leadership. But the change manager works with business leaders to help realise the benefits. So, a good understanding of the intended benefits will help structure the change approach, allow better cooperation with business leaders and project or programme leaders. It will also help to gain the buy-in of all stakeholders.
In 1958, Herbert Kelman published a paper about influence, finding three broad processes of attitude change. In the world of change management, these have become known as the three levels of adoption and it is useful to think of it as a spectrum.
Force Field analysis is a simple visual tool. At the beginning of a change initiative, it can be used to appreciate the current context of the change. It can reveal both barriers to overcome and possible sources of resistance. It can show the kind of competing pressures on Systems Thinking. It may help the change manager discover that the situation is more complex than first assumed.
Later in the change initiative, it can be revisited to understand what has changed. It can uncover why a change has stalled or why and where resistance is growing. It is a simple diagram showing the forces acting for the change and the forces acting against the change. These are sometimes called the driving and restraining forces. The technique was proposed by Kurt Lewin (1951).
Co-design is an approach to design, attempting to actively involve all stakeholders in the change design process. This helps to ensure the result meets their needs and is usable. It is an approach which is focused on the process of design. It is not a particular style of design.
A clear benefit of co-design is that people are more willing to accept something that they were involved in creating. Stakeholders would be drawn from all parts of the value chain e.g. sales, production, distribution, customer service and, of course, users. It can be used in all industries.
Co-design draws on workshop facilitation methods to ensure true participation from all stakeholders. Each workshop should include as wide a selection of stakeholders as possible.
There are many approaches to structuring change management. An approach that is very common and, in fact, dominant in some countries is ADKAR. A change manager may not choose to use this approach, but they should be aware of it.
ADKAR is a framework for change management developed by Jeffrey Hiatt who founded the Prosci organisation. It is promoted by Prosci and is sometimes referred to as Prosci ADKAR® Model. Jeffrey Hiatt acknowledges his debt to many other writers in the field such as Kotter, Bridges, Beckhard and Harris. It is made up of five steps and none of these can be avoided.
A | Awareness | Awareness of the need for change. Awareness of the reasons for change |
D | Desire | A desire to be part of the change. A "buy-in" to the need of the change and clear advantages of achieving it |
K | Knowledge | The knowledge of what to do. What actions are expected? How will the new process/ system/ machinery be used. What other knowledge is needed? |
A | Ability | It is one thing to know what to do and another thing to have the ability. Are there good opportunities to practice? A there technical support systems in place? |
R | Reinforcement | Is it working? How is that demonstrated? |
How deliverables are implemented can have a significant impact on the approach to change management. The table below sets the four main approaches to implementation, for change management.
Often the real-world implementation strategy is a hybrid of two or more of the above basic approaches.
Type | What is it? |
---|---|
Phased | Everybody goes live all at the same time. |
Big bang | A planned roll out across various parts of the organization across a period of time. |
Voluntary adoption | Individual staff or teams can adopt the new ‘thing” at a time of their choosing as long as everyone transitions by a given date. |
Many small incremental/ iterative releases | In highly agile projects, especially for software delivery, small changes may be released at the end of each timebox/sprint e.g., every 2 weeks. |
One way of understanding the process of change for individuals or groups is the ‘change curve’, which illustrates the ‘human response to change’. Some question the application of this model to organizational situations. However, for many it remains a useful way of seeing the human response to change. It is easily communicated and helps to explain typical responses people make to a change processes.
The change curve derives from the work of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (1969) who observed people in the process of coping with death and bereavement. All change involves the elements of letting go of the past and engaging with a different future; as a result, the patterns she observed offer valuable insights into people facing change.
Kanter (2012) provides a set of common reasons for resistance during change and how to deal with them. These are useful when coaching the change network on adapting to resistance.
Reason for resistance | How to deal with it |
---|---|
Loss of control over territory |
Leave room for those affected by change to make choices, get involved with planning and take ownership. |
Excessive uncertainty during the change |
Create a sense of safety with certainty of process, clear simple steps and timetables. |
Change is sprung on people as a surprise |
Don’t plan changes in secret – keep people informed of what is happening. |
Too many differences at once |
Minimise the number of unrelated differences. Where possible keep things familiar. Avoid change for change’s sake. |
Concerns about competence |
Provide abundant information, education, mentors and support systems. Run systems in parallel during transition if possible. |
Past resentments surface due to the interruption of a steady state |
Consider gestures to heal the past before focussing on the future. |
Change Management certification trainings are provided by APMG International's Accredited Training Organizations (ATOs) across the globe. Tecknologia is one of the best APMG Accredited Training Organizations (ATOs) offering Change Management certification trainings across the globe and in various formats.
Certification Level | Course Duration | Certificate Valid for |
---|---|---|
Change Management Foundation | 3 Days | Lifetime |
Change Management Practitioner | 2 Days | 3 Years |
Change Management Foundation & Practitioner | 5 Days | As Above |
Click on the link for certification levels to explore the exam details.
Change management (abbreviated as CM by some) is concerned with preparing, supporting, and guiding individuals and organisations in bringing about organisational change (aka organisational transformation).
Prices vary depending on the mode of delivery, location, deliverables and the quality of training delivery. Typically APMG Change Management online training costs between £1500 and £2700.
The pass marks for APMG Change Management foundation exam remain 50% (25/50).
The pass marks for APMG Change Management practitioner exam remain 50% (40/80)
Change Management qualifications have helped hundreds of thousands of professionals globally enhance their skills and achieve their professional ambitions. Professionals holding APMG Change Management accreditations stand a better chance of being invited for an interview and definitely stand a better chance being offered a role afterwards.
APMG Change Management is the need of the hour and will remain in demand within wider change management profession today and for coming years.
APMG Change Management Foundation certification is definitely a good choice for beginners who aim at pursuing a career in change management and related disciplines. Having APMG Change Management qualifications early in the career can play the role of a catalyst when it comes to climbing the professional ladder.
While APMG Change Management exams need right level of attention and focus, it is not rocket science and anyone with focused training and devotion can definitely achieve success in the exams.
APMG Change Management certifications and trainings (developed in collaboration with the Change Management Institute) are designed to help organisations and their people manage the impact of change and provide techniques to effectively plan and implement successful transformation initiatives.
It is absolutely possible to achieve APMG Change Management exam(s) success while relying on self study. However, high standard APMG Change Management training can accelerate the process, along with exam success probability, for sure.
APMG Change Management certifications are considered to be professional qualifications only. This qualifications are widely recognized and sought after globally, however, these are not the same as a college or university degree. Some quarters believe that APMG Change Management qualifications are equivalent to UK NQF 4/5 - Tecknologia has no grounds to confirm this.
There is no negative marking in APMG Change Management exams. No marks are deducted for a wrong answer.
APMG Change Management foundation certification has no expiry as it is valid for life. While practitioner certification needs to be revalidated (by taking a re-registration exam) with 3-5 years of initial certification date.