We live in an age of incredible speed, complexity, competition and information, one that demands efficiency, innovation and accountability. Not surprisingly, the ability to manage change is the paramount business skill any manager can possess today. Organizations that know how to change, by leading and encouraging their employees to embrace rather than resist new ways of doing things, are organizations that will survive and thrive in the years ahead. Managers especially need to know how to cope with the new demands and expectations of their now non-negotiable role as change agents.
In the aftermath of a massive market meltdown and a fragile, uncertain economy, which the architects of same now confess to “not fully understanding,” whatever comfort you may have in your current job, career, business or marketplace is entirely misplaced. Without the knowledge, skills and tools needed to motivate people in the work that needs to be done, attract, nurture and leverage real talent, change mindsets, strategically reconfigure resources, engage people in truly innovative pursuits and build agile cultures, you may well be on the slippery slope to going out of business. Understanding how to use change to advantage isn’t about great theories; it’s simply where “the rubber hits the road” for every manager and every business today.
It is no longer sufficient to just “run” an organization – you must now build in flexibility and focus, increase the capacity to act, improve employee accountability and their repertoire of critical skills. Research indicates that most change initiatives are destined to fail, thus creating even more opposition to critical enhancements in operational effectiveness. Among the reasons are a failure to understand how people change and the cost/speed dynamics of change, how to overcome resistance and walk-talk gaps, how to communicate, and how to create stakeholder ownership of the required changes.
Managers in every industry or profession require the knowledge and tools to cope with (and help others adapt to) the changing demands of rapid knowledge creation, fragmented and global markets, shrinking life cycles, cheap labour and outsourcing, new technologies, changing demographics and skill sets, the need for organizational resilience and agility, and different economic fundamentals (such as mass customization, downsizing, deregulation, expansion and relocation, budget cuts and more).
Whether your key concern is developing better strategic plans, leveraging brainpower, nurturing innovation, aligning roles, operationalizing values, overcoming resistance, building trust or increasing productivity and competitiveness, knowing how to diagnose, design, implement and lead major change initiatives will be vital to the profitability of your business and the realization of your career goals. And always remember that the most vulnerable to the onslaught of relentless, accelerating and discontinuous change are those who think they are successful and thus are likely the most complacent.
Discover how to
- Design, initiate and manage strategies for constructive change
- Foster a culture shift from entitlement to accountability
- Encourage employee commitment to the organization’s mission
- Build dispute-free and stress-free workplace cultures
- Diagnose and build organizational trust, focus and resilience
- Acquire new tools that encourage and reinforce desired change
- Enhance communications in overcoming apathy and resistance
- Transfer ownership of the process to those most affected by it
- Learn the skills needed to become an effective change agent.
Topics include
- Causes, drivers and imperatives of change in the New Economy
- Leveraging intellectual, human and structural capital
- Characteristics and determinants of change adaptive entities
- Uncomfortable truths about directing and managing change
- Steps in the process: Theories that amplify critical elements
- Diagnosis & prescription: Practical case studies
- Speed, costs and predictable dynamics of organizational change
- Dealing with resistance and communicating the need to change
- New rules of the workplace: Creating a culture of accountability
- Methods and tactics for implementing major change initiatives
- Executive alignment: Getting people on “the same page”
- Effective strategic plans: Principles, process and architecture.