Whether unexpected or planned, large or small, or sudden or slow, change is a constant in your organization. It’s there now, will be there tomorrow, and will show up again the day after that. The power of a change leader therefore comes not in predicting, controlling, or limiting change, but in influencing its speed and direction for maximum impact and results. And this is what we use our expertise to do.
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When do we help out?
Change brings both opportunity and threat. However, the anxiety it creates often leads to an overemphasis on threats, leaving opportunities unrealized. Shifting this requires seeing change as what it is: a natural process.
Change arises from self-organization, the innate ability in any organization to create new, emergent structures and patterns in response to challenges or new conditions. Traditional approaches to change seek to control or limit it, which in turn inhibit self-organization. Our change practice involves a proprietary approach (the Change DialsTM) to help leaders and organizations change.
Our approach comes from years of expertise leading and facilitating change in businesses first-hand. Our change tools are steeped in a deep knowledge of change theory, complexity science, neuroscience, and positive psychology.
Navigate change by activating our simple rules.
We’ve compiled them for you in a free, downloadable PDF.
Have questions or want to get in touch? contact us
How do you really make organization values matter?
This client wanted to bring its new values to life fully at all levels of the organization. But a comprehensive employee survey and other research revealed a big disconnect in how people were thinking about the values. Senior leadership was on one page and employees were on another. The result? Inconsistent behavior and values that guided no one anywhere. Despite the ideals behind the change, the values were struggling to trump painful stories of the past and echoes of unfair treatment and mistrust between levels. Everyone was frustrated and many were skeptical.
In partnership with the Executive Leadership Team, we designed a three-phase process to build awareness, capability and commitment to live the values each day. The process hinged on engaging employees at all levels. We recommended and established a cross-divisional group of formal and informal leaders (employees and managers) to do this and strengthen action planning with deep insight into the organization’s culture and patterns. We partnered with the Executive Leadership team and this cross-divisional group to build an organization-wide rollout plan for the values and then worked with divisional representatives to customize division-specific adoption plans. We also strengthened leadership consistency at all levels through establishing leadership principles, quarterly leadership conferences, and training.
Over the course of just two years, this work successfully brought leaders together from all parts of the organization to discuss progress, explore and overcome barriers, and understand and expand on successes. The work is ongoing, but positive change is already clear and evident. The values and their importance are now being discussed in every division and formal mechanisms are in place to bring the values to life. For example, every quarter there are dedicated, strategic conversations to discuss how the values contribute to the mission of the organization (conversations that often happen at monthly meetings as well). Additionally, all the organization’s managers are now participating in intensive, four-month trainings to equip them with the skills and mindset necessary to live the values more fully and model the leadership principles. Needless to say, stories of the past are being replaced with conversations about the future and people are seeing that values not only matter, but make a real difference.
I’ve worked at [this organization] for 37 years. I’ve never had hope that we could actually change before. Now I do. I am thankful we are working with ChangeFusion.
What to do when you want to change the conversation…
This federal client wanted to redesign its performance management process. The days of the “check-box” activity were over. A changing workforce and shifting external environment demanded a process that would align employees to strategic goals, increase accountability at all levels, support top talent and innovation, and enable real talking about real things. The dilemma? The old process (though not well loved) was well known. A system-wide performance conversation makeover with 3,000+ employees would mean massive process change and deep cultural change (read: a lot of work).
Eager to get to work, we rolled up our sleeves. Together, we co-designed a custom performance management process to support real conversations. The new process balanced neuroscience research, positive psychology, and goal achievement with the client’s context and culture. In partnership, we designed and implemented a multi-year change strategy to bring the new process and mindset to all. What specifically did we do? A few examples: change strategy, leadership coaching, custom training, group facilitation, communications support, tool and eLearning development, relationship building, and more.
New conversations are now heard throughout the organization. The new system completed its multi-year rollout and is enabling dialogue that drives greater alignment and clearer performance expectations. The shifting culture is clear and evident. Manager-employee relationships are improving and exchanging open, helpful feedback is now an ongoing event.
The new process has enabled me to have a conversation with my manager that I didn’t ever think was possible.
Increase in the clarity of expectations
Increase in the ability to have effective conversations
Greater alignment between how to think and talk about performance
How to home-grow your own change agents…
This local government client had made major changes to achieve increased cross-organization collaboration and enhanced service delivery, but old behaviors persisted and its desired results remained aloof. It struggled to get real change to meet the challenge of helping its clients, children and mothers in need. With a new strategic plan and significant budgetary pressures, the stakes were rising fast. This client wanted a team of internal change agents: savvy change leaders capable of rolling out and sustaining change from beginning to end. They needed tactical, application-oriented (read: real world, not just theory) training with some heavy-hitting experts.
Two things we love: sharing our expertise and equipping others to help others. This work was an opportunity to do both. We worked in partnership to design a five-module program that emphasized our proprietary Change Dials™, application-ready tools, and real-world ways to handle the hardest parts of change. We integrated the participants’ real-time change projects and coached them through the application of change tools and different approaches to make an immediate impact and cement their learning and skill development.
The 25 change agents that went through the program emerged with a deeper understanding of how to navigate change and armed with tools to actively lead it. More than this, participants made dramatic progress through their own, personal change projects, advancing key strategic initiatives within the organization. Today, they are making a real difference for people in pain and need.
[ChangeFusion’s] approach enabled our change agents to make an immediate impact while growing skills that will enable us to adapt, change, and be successful in the future.
program effectiveness
facilitator effectiveness
New policy bringing massive change? We’ve got your back.
This federal agency was stuck. They had a long-standing, well-worn system deemed ineffective that cost millions in leader and manager time. It was time for change, but this would mean a seismic shift in mindset and behavior across all levels and geographic locations. We’re talking technology overhaul, process redesign, AND culture change. The client pulled together a strategic steering committee to help design the change from conception to rollout, but the load was huge and they needed additional expertise to surface, understand, and implement the best path forward.
In collaboration with the steering committee, we led the design and facilitation of a two-step change rollout. First step? Establish a common basis of knowledge in the organization about the change. Solution: organization-wide eLearning (which everyone was required to take). Second step? Surface the REAL questions people had about the change and get them REALLY implementing it (aka, engage their hands, not just their heads). Solution: a series of awareness and training sessions that went deeper into the change and allowed people to start practicing the new skills they needed to be successful.
Through this two-step approach we partnered with this client to establish shared understanding across the organization and bring over 200 leaders through our customized awareness sessions. This change was a BIG transition.
I had 100% confidence in the consultants; they approached the project collaboratively and jumped in to really understand our business, the complexity of the project, and then develop solutions that really supported our work.
of participants ready to use the new system after training
of participants valued rollout sessions
of teams using the new process six months post rollout
How to differentiate and engage talent like a pro…
This firm needed a savvy, new process to differentiate and engage talent (read: to establish better ongoing feedback and smarter bonuses). An internal focus on employee engagement and an external pinch from a changing workforce and budget constraints meant a new lens on performance was a must. But this client wasn’t sure where to begin. Any change would run counter-current to existing practices and failure wasn’t an option. The result: uncertainty, anxiety, and a clear request for help.
We entered the picture and worked with this client to find a practical, new approach. Through one-on-one meetings with executives and managers we heard what people were looking for and designed a calibration system to differentiate with ease and objectivity. We built strong relationships with senior leaders (via empathy and challenging them to be their best) and partnered with them to facilitate team differentiation sessions. We brought the same approach into our facilitation of unit calibration meetings, where we equipped managers to navigate the new approach, diffuse tension, and differentiate effectively.
This work was completed on a timeline the client didn’t believe to be possible and the new approach gained almost immediate success and credibility. Within a short period of time, leaders and managers started thinking more critically about how to differentiate and talk talent.
agreed the project shifted leadership conversations about talent
project success, as deemed by client
A merger, 1800+ leaders, and a new culture…
A new CEO took the helm at this global corporation as it launched into an organization-wide change. The goal? To transform the company to be more customer-focused, agile, collaborative, and profitable. One of the key ingredients? A massive merger. Given the corporation’s size and geographic spread, the CEO knew his leaders (new and existing) would need support in understanding and implementing the change.
We brought our expertise in leadership and culture change to develop a series of senior leader trainings to support the merger and desired shift in culture. Our trainers facilitated over 125 deliveries of three, two-day training modules packed with experiential exercises, application-ready tools, deep thinking, and insight.
Over 1,800 leaders completed the program and emerged with new skills in leading change and collaborating across a global organization. They successfully began to model the new corporate culture and lead change across their diverse teams.
Thanks for the thought provoking and intense session. I am walking away with many more leadership options.
quality of program
facilitator effectiveness
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