Diagnosing, Designing and Leading Change        


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 of the New Economy. 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 new millennium. Managers especially need to know how to cope with the demands and expectations of their new, non-negotiable role as change agents.

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 to cope with (and help others adapt to) the new demands brought on by rapid knowledge creation, fragmented and global markets, shrinking life cycles, cheap labour and outsourcing, new technologies, changing skill sets, new economic fundamentals (such as mass customization, downsizing and deregulation, rapid expansion and relocation, budget cuts and more), a lack of genuine leadership and the need for organizational resilience and agility.

Whether the key concern is developing better strategic plans, leveraging brainpower, nurturing innovation, aligning roles, operationalizing values, overcoming resistance, building trust, or increasing productivity, knowing how to diagnose, design, implement and lead major change initiatives is vital to the profitability of your business and the realization of your career goals. And the most vulnerable entities to the onslaught of relentless change are those which are the most successful and hence likely the most complacent.

Benefits of attending

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.