Change management

What is change management?

Change management is the term used for the management of change and development within a business or similar organisation. It is about taking a systematic approach to dealing with the transition and implementing the strategies and changes required in a controlled way to help people to accept, understand and adapt to the changes being made.

How to define change management?

To create strategies for change management, it is paramount that we first take the time to define the impact of the proposed changes. 

Where – Where are the changes going to take place?

What – What does the change involve

How – How will the change be applied? Does the current approach to manage change work in this environment and in this situation?

Who – Who will be impacted by the change and what are their ideas and views on the situation?

Why – Why are the changes taking place?

Developing a change management game

At Evocatus, we work with you to loosely define the change management. We then take this information to develop a bespoke change management game. The game will be designed to draw out potentially unexpected consequences of the organizational changes. If required, the game will allow for experimentation, decision support, consent building, risk mitigation, testing plans, rehearsals, and training solutions. We are here to help you with any or all stages of your change management strategy.

Benefits of a Change management game

By taking the time to play out the potential consequences and possible returns from organisational change in advance of implementation, you are giving your business the best possible chance for success.

1. Be ready for change.

2. Create better understanding for yourself and your team as to why the change is necessary

3. Gaming the change management will allow for different approaches for different characteristics of the kind of change required

4. Build consent and commitment to the change through working as a team

5. Build an appreciation for what already works well in the company and build on it for a stronger future.

6. Helps you to experiment and fail within a safe environment to find out what works and more importantly, what doesn’t.

7. Games can highlight the principles of best practice and establish how the change is managed.

8. See real improvements in the results. 

What type of change management game do you need?

At Evocatus we can run exercises to test your change management ideas or plans on a number of scales, the games are always designed around your specific circumstances taking into consideration the budget available. As a general rule of thumb, the games tend to fall into one of four categories: tabletop game, communication game, command post exercise or a live exercise.

TABLETOP:

At the lowest level, we can run a tabletop exercise, which will usually involve the participants focussing on a map or a plan of a building, on which the action takes place. This provides an opportunity to rehearse the plan or work through alternative solutions to a problem.

COMMUNICATION GAME:

Change management strategies can be more about communicating and competing than about detailed physical activity. We really enjoy running games which create tension between players, using a red team to inject an element of competition. We’ve used bespoke video content to really promote engagement with these exercises, along with a simulated media team. These games always create real energy and buzz, even when they are about topics which might initially seem a bit dry.

COMMAND POST EXERCISE:

If the change management plan is all about effective decision making in good time, we can run an exercise which puts the key individuals in a room and bring the scenario to them through a range of simulated feeds. This is a particularly effective way for leaders to gain an understanding of their part in delivering the plan effectively.

LIVE EXERCISE:

Finally, we can run a live exercise, with the simulated action taking place either in the location we’re planning for or in a different location. By using actors, news crews, simulated casualties and even film pyrotechnics, we can run a rehearsal which feels very close to real for those involved.

If you would like to know more about our change management service then please get in touch.