Change management programme
A change management programme that brings everyone across to the new normal - without losing people along the way.
A change management programme helps everyone affected by a change move across to the new way of working, until it becomes the new normal. We'd work alongside your leaders and managers, starting with a clear picture of what the new normal looks like and why it's worth it. Then we'd take it a group at a time, so the day job keeps running - helping people learn the new way, try it in their real work and shape how it fits their part of the organisation, at a pace they can manage. Your own people lead it, with as much of us alongside as you'd find useful.
We focus on the people side of change - everyone learning the new way and taking it on - and work alongside whoever is building the new system, process or structure. That's where the benefits come from, since a change only delivers what it was made for when enough people make the move. When some don't, you get what we call a Swiss cheese outcome: the new way exists, but it's full of holes where the old way carries on. So the programme looks at each group, and the people in it, and asks what would help them across.
When a change management programme might help
A change management programme is for when you know what's changing and you'd like help bringing people across. If you'd like to see how ready people are first, a change readiness assessment can help. If you'd like to plan the people side before you start, a change management plan might suit you better. Here are some of the moments that bring people to a change management programme.
The situation | How a change management programme might help |
|---|---|
A new system, process or structure is on its way | Helps people move to the new way of working, alongside the team building it, so it's in use as well as in place. |
You have a change plan and you're ready to start | Puts your plan into practice group by group - ours or your own - and adjusts it as you learn what helps. |
A change has gone live, but not everyone has moved across | Finds where people are still working the old way and what's in the way, then helps them across. |
Managers will be carrying the change | Helps managers get confident first, so they can support their teams when the questions come. |
The day job has to keep running | Takes the change a group at a time, so services keep going while each team makes the move. |
Several changes are landing at once | Paces this change around everything else, so the busiest teams aren't asked for too much at once. |
You're spread across sites or services | Gives each part of the organisation room to fit the change to how it works, while the new normal stays shared. |
You have your own change team | Works alongside them, adding support where it's most useful and building on how you already run change. |
What a change management programme might involve
Every change management programme is shaped around the change itself - how big it is, who it touches and what else is going on. Everything in it links back to the new normal you're heading for, and to six things we'd hope everyone can say honestly by the end: I see why it's worth it; my voice counts; I know how to do it; I can do it day to day; I shape my part of it; I have a say in the pace. Those sentences are at the heart of our change management model. During the programme, they're how we check who's across and who still needs help.
Telling the story of the new normal
Our first job is helping you describe where the change is heading, in a way people understand and get behind. What will be different on an ordinary day once it's settled in? What will a team meeting look like, or a conversation with someone you serve? And why is it worth the effort - for the people doing the work as well as the organisation?
Every change happens for a reason, and people are far more likely to move when they can see that reason for themselves. So we'd help you tell the story in plain words that leaders and managers can make their own. If you have a change management plan, much of this will already be there, and we'd build on it.
Alongside the story, we'd agree what success will look like - a handful of signs in everyday work that the new way is being used and the benefits are starting to show. From then on, each part of the programme comes back to the same question: is this helping people across to the new normal?
Deciding where to start, and in what order
Together we'd work out who has to do their job differently, and how. Some groups will change a lot about their working week, and others hardly at all, so we'd start where the change matters most or where people will feel it soonest - often with a few teams who can show others what the new way looks like in practice.
Taking it a group at a time keeps the day job running, and means support arrives when each group needs it. There's a balance to find, too: move too slowly and the change loses energy, move too fast and teams aren't ready. We'd help you find a pace that keeps things moving, and check what else is landing on the same people, so nobody is asked to carry too much at once.
Keeping leaders involved after the launch
We help your leaders stay close to the change long after the announcement, so people keep hearing why it matters from the people who decided it. That often means leaders using the new way themselves first, being visible at the moments that count, and agreeing early on what each of them will do and when - so it doesn't get crowded out once other priorities arrive.
Helping managers go first
Your managers are who their teams will turn to first, so we'd help them feel confident before anyone asks them anything. That means time to understand the change, ask their own questions and try the new way before their teams do. Then we'd support them as they lead it, building it into routines they already have, like team meetings and one-to-ones, and being on hand for the harder conversations.
Bringing people with you
We'd plan with you how people hear about the change and, just as much, how they can respond. A newsletter can share what's coming, but a session where people can ask questions and push back helps them see why it matters - and shows their voice counts. We'd bring people in early, and keep sharing what has changed because of what they said.
Helping people learn the new way
We'd help each group learn what the new way asks of them, through training, coaching and hands-on support timed for just before they need it. Then we'd help them use it in their real work, with room to be slow at first and someone close by when they get stuck, since confidence tends to grow with each go. Knowing how and doing it day to day can come apart, so we'd keep an eye on both.
Helping each team make it its own
The new normal is shared across the organisation. How it fits each team's work is something we help each team work out, usually in short sessions managers lead with our support. What changes in our week? What do we already do well that's worth protecting? How does the new way connect with the teams we work with? When people shape their own part of a change, it starts to feel like theirs.
Helping people through the harder parts
We'd help you and your managers work through pushback as it comes up. Letting go of a familiar way of working is hard, and resistance is a natural part of any change - often a sign that people can't yet see what it means for them, or worry how it will fit with work that's already full.
Listening first usually helps, then working through the practical questions together: what changes in someone's week, and what support would make it easier. Clear routes for concerns to reach someone who can act on them help too, along with quieter ones, like one-to-ones, for people who find it harder to speak up in a group.
The people others listen to
Alongside leaders and managers, we'd help you find and support the people others already turn to for advice. They're not always the most senior, but they're trusted, and when they're on board, others tend to follow. A small group from different teams can help the change spread and tell you how it's really going. We'd look for trust over enthusiasm, and make sure they have time to do this alongside their day job.
Making sure everything around people backs the new way
We'd also look with you at everything around people that tells them what counts, so it backs the new way. If the old system is still running alongside the new one, or targets still reward the old way of working, most people will follow those. So we might look at:
- Targets and measures, so they reward the new way of working.
- Job descriptions and roles, so they reflect what people now do.
- Recognition, so the people and teams using the new way are noticed.
- The old way itself - when to switch off old systems, forms and workarounds, so the new route becomes the easy one.
- Time and space for people to use the new way while they're still learning it.
We'd work with HR and the teams who look after these things, since they know them best.
Working alongside the people building it
Where the change rests on a new system, process or structure, we'd work closely with the people building it - project managers, technical teams or specialist partners. They look after the technical side; we look after the people side. Planning the two together means training lands just before go-live, feedback from teams reaches the people who can act on it, and nobody is caught out on the day.
Seeing who's across, and adjusting
Is the new way being used? Who has moved across, and where are people still working the old way? We'd help you keep an eye on the signs of success you agreed at the start, group by group, so you can spot the gaps early and help the people in them. Short check-ins with teams and managers, conversations with the people others listen to, and a few simple measures of use usually tell you a lot. We'd review with you regularly and decide together what to keep, change or stop. As things settle, more of the running passes to your own people.
A lighter change management programme might support a few teams through one change over a couple of months. A deeper one might take a large change across the whole organisation in waves, with a network of people others listen to and close work alongside a technical build.
The thinking behind it
Organisations change when the people in them do. Each person makes their own move from the old way to the new, and the benefits a change was made for only arrive when enough of them have. That's why implementing change is mostly about helping people across, group by group, with a clear picture of the new normal to steer by and a plan that adapts as you learn.
What success might look like
Success for a change management programme is the new normal in everyday use, right across the organisation. The signs we'd agree with you at the start come from the story of the new normal, so they're specific to your change. They often include things like:
- People using the new way as their normal route, without needing reminders.
- The old way fading out - old systems switched off and workarounds dropped, because nobody needs them.
- Every group across, including the ones the change asked the most of, checked group by group.
- Managers answering their teams' questions themselves, without needing us in the room.
- People suggesting ways to improve the new way, which tells you they've started to make it their own.
- The benefits starting to show - the reasons for the change, seen in everyday work.
Some signs appear within weeks, like teams using the new way for the first time. Others, like the benefits, become clear over months.
By the time we step back, your own people are running it - leaders telling the story, managers supporting their teams, and the people others listen to helping it spread - with a simple way to keep checking the signs yourselves.
What happens next is up to you. Many organisations carry on themselves. Others like to have us nearby as things settle, helping the new way hold. And if it turns out you need something lighter than you expected, we'll say so.
Common questions
Is a change management programme the same as change implementation?
Pretty much. Both are about helping people move to a new way of working once you know what's changing. You might also hear it called implementing change, or a change delivery programme. Ours focuses on the people side, group by group, with your own people leading it.
Is change management the same as project management?
They work together, but they look after different sides of a change. Project management looks after the technical side - what's being built, the timeline, the budget and the milestones. Change management looks after the people side - who needs to work differently, and what will help them make the move. A change needs both to succeed, so we work closely with your project team or technical partners.
Do we need a change management plan first?
No. If you have one, ours or your own, we'll work from it. If not, we can shape a light plan with you at the start of the programme, or you might prefer a change management plan as a piece of work on its own first.
Do you run the programme, or do we?
We'd agree that with you at the start, based on the size of the change and the people you already have. We can lead it, co-lead it alongside your change lead, or support your own team from behind. However we start, more of it passes to your people as it goes, so it keeps going once we step back.
We already have a change team. Can you work with that?
Yes. We'd build on how you already run change, rather than bring in something new, and add support where it's most useful - often with managers, or with the groups the change asks the most of.
Our change has already gone live. Is it too late?
Not at all. Plenty of changes go live before everyone has moved across. We'd help you see who's using the new way and who isn't yet, find out what's in the way, and help those groups across.
How do we know it's working?
We'd agree a handful of signs of success at the start, drawn from the story of the new normal, and check them group by group as the programme goes. That way you can see where the change has landed and where a group needs more help.
How long does a change management programme take?
It depends on the size of the change and how many people it touches. A lighter programme might run for a couple of months, and a deeper one across the whole organisation for a year or more. We'd agree a timeline with you at the start, with points along the way to review it.
How much does it cost?
It depends on how much of the organisation it covers and how involved you'd like us to be. Once we understand the change, we'll give you a clear price before anything starts.
Ready to bring people across? Talk to us about a change management programme
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A change management plan built around the people making the move - thorough enough to rely on, with room to adapt as you learn.
Making Change Stick keeps a delivered change in use and improving as conditions change, and builds your own people's ability to reinforce and run it. The core is the capability your team carries, with optional light support from us for as long as it helps.
The ADKAR model is a five-stage framework for managing change at an individual level - Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement. It helps organisations understand what people need at each point in a change process and where things are getting stuck.
Kotter's 8 Step Change Model is a structured framework for leading organisational change, from building urgency through to embedding new ways of working. It gives leaders a clear sequence to follow when the change is big and the stakes are high.
The Change Curve maps the emotional stages people move through during organisational change, from shock and denial through to acceptance and commitment. It helps leaders understand where people are in the process and what support they need.
The Bridges Transition Model focuses on the human side of change - the psychological transition people go through rather than the external change itself. It maps three phases: Endings, the Neutral Zone, and New Beginnings.
The Satir Change Model maps the emotional journey teams move through during change - from familiar stability through resistance and chaos to integration and a new way of working.
The Mendelow Power-Interest Matrix is a stakeholder mapping tool that helps you work out who matters most during a change or project. It plots stakeholders by their level of power and interest so you can plan how to engage each group.
Change doesn't just affect what people do - it affects who they feel they are. Understanding the human experience of change helps leaders create conditions where people can adapt.
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A change management programme is one of several ways into our change management work. To see how it fits with the others, and the thinking behind them all, visit our main Change Management page.
