All About APMG Change Management Study, Trainings and Certifications


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.

Change Management Trainings by Tecknologia

History of APMG Change Management

  • In 2006, APMG launched its Change Management certification – a Foundation-level certification based on an excellent publication by Esther Cameron and Mike Green – “Making Sense of Change Management.” Building on strong success, a Practitioner level certification was introduced in 2009.
  • The Change Management Institute was established in 2005. And in 2013 the Change Management Institute launched a new resource, The Effective Change Manager: The Change Management Body of Knowledge (CMBoK).
  • APMG began working with the Change Management Institute following publication of the CMBoK in 2013, to develop examinable text for the CMBoK. The result was the “Effective Change Manager's Handbook”, published in 2015.
  • The following year much work was done to develop a completely new qualification aligned with this new international professional standard. This resulted in a completely revised qualification (APMG Change Management V2) being launched in early 2015.
  • Change Management Institute invested considerable energy in reviewing the Body of Knowledge and published a second edition in March 2022 - The Effective Change Manager, The Change Management Body of Knowledge.
  • Responding to this development by CMI, APMG has tirelessly worked to revise and update the APMG syllabus and examinations to align with the 2022 edition of The Effective Change Manager, The Change Management Body of Knowledge.
  • Based on this new Change Management Study Guide, APMG released Change Management V3 Foundation and Practitioner qualifications in February 2024.

The Change Management Study Guide

  • The Change Management Study Guide has been developed to support APMG Change Management V3 trainings.
  • This handbook is based on 2022 edition of the The Effective Change Manager, The Change Management Body of Knowledge (CMBoK) by The Change Management Institute.

Brings together all syllabus areas of APMG Change Management trainings:

  • Organisational context and approach (OA)
  • People and change (PC)
  • Change leadership and teams (CT)
  • Stakeholders and communication (SC)
  • Work of the change manager (WM)
The Change Management Study Guide
Link Between Change Management and Benefits

Link Between Change Management and Benefits

  • Benefits are defined as “the measurable improvement from change, which is perceived as positive by one or more stakeholders, and which contributes to organizations (including strategic) objectives”.
  • Dis-benefits are defined as “the measurable result of a change, perceived as negative by one or more stakeholders, and which detracts from one or more organizational objectives”.

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.

Kelman’s Three Levels of Adoption

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.

    Why is this useful to the change manager?
  • In the early stage of a change initiative, this helps to assess the type and amount of change management interventions required. It can also be used to justify the efforts of the change manager.
  • In addition, it provides a guide to the use of the Minimum Viable Change Practice, at the left end of this spectrum is compliance.
  • Later in a change initiative, it can be used as guide to measuring the effectiveness of the change management interventions.
AgilePM Principles
Force Field Analysis

Force Field Analysis

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).

Are you ready to be certified Change Manager? Click here to explore relevant certification training and achieve the next level in change management profession.



Co-design

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.

ADKAR

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?

Why Agile PM for Scrum?

Kotter’s Redesigned Approach – Eight Processes or ‘Accelerators’

  1. Creating a sense of urgency around a single big opportunity.
  2. Building and maintaining a guiding coalition
  3. Formulating a strategic vision and developing change initiatives designed to capitalise on the big opportunity
  4. Communicating the vision and the strategy to create buy-in and attract a growing volunteer army
  5. Accelerating movement towards the vision and the opportunity by ensuring that the network of people removes barriers
  6. Celebrating visible, significant short-term wins
  7. Never letting up. Keep learning from experience – mistakes and successes
  8. Institutionalising strategic changes in the culture.

Change Delivery Strategies

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.

The Change Curve

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.

The Change Curve by Kübler Ross (1969)
Bridge's Stages of Transition

Bridge's Stages of Transition

  • The three ‘phases’ are sequential but overlapping processes
  • Each phase needs attention at the right time, to ensure that planned changes are actually implemented by people.
  • Change leadership and teams (CT)
  • Focus is on the creative potential of the ‘neutral zone’ - not just as a time of confusion and depression but as a time when there is sufficient fluidity for experimentation, a time when genuinely new attitudes and behaviours can be developed.

Common Causes of Resistance to 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 Training and Certifications

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.

AgilePM Training and Certification
PROSCI vs APMG Change Management

In comparison: PROSCI® Vs APMG Change Management

  • APMG Change Management V3 offers comprehensive guidance for managing individual and organisational change & transformation.
  • PROSCI offers a comprehensive certification program that focuses (only) on the ADKAR® Model for managing individual and organisational change.
  • PROSCI offers a wealth of resources and support to certified practitioners which can be very useful in supporting change management efforts and keeping updated with the latest industry trends.
  • The PROSCI Change Management Certification program can be relatively expensive depending on the certification level and training opted for.
  • With strong focus on ADKAR model, PROSCI certification program does not cover other change management models or frameworks.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Change Management

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.

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