Diffen Consulting
Helping Organisations Move Through Change
Change Strategy
Home
Services
Past Work
Contact Us
Change Management is the making sure people are communicated with and trained during a project. Or is it...

There is a critical aspect of change that is left out in the traditional thinking of change management. that is, what is the change (in detail) from business AND individual perspectives, which provides the information to understand what individual habits will need to change (and how people will react), which then leads to the right strategies regarding communications, training and sustainability. We approach change management as a subset of Change Strategy. This Change Strategy approach is shown in the 'u4S' methodology below. 

Our approach to change strategy is very user centric. During change, the familiar life of an individual is going to be altered as a result of a project that they didn’t initiate or may not even see a need for. They will, not surprisingly, have an emotional and psychological reaction to the change. Resistance is a common reaction.

Our expertise is in helping individuals through the change to a positive result – that is, it makes sense to them, they work differently and are positive about the change. We understand then how to scale this so it is personal and effective for thousands of staff. Second only to our ability to do this is our ability to plan it.

We are unique in change strategy in our user-centric approach which is a result of conscious and practical understanding of the people who dictate the success of any change initiative – the individuals. If the individuals continue to work in the same way, the organisation will continue to get the same results. While common sense it is not common in practice.

Our Change Strategy 'u4S' methodology is simple and practical and borne out of hard-won experience. It ensures success at the human level to change work practices during a technology or process change project:

  • The right Understanding
    While plenty of information about a change is usually generated, it is less common to find a understanding of what the change means in the detail of daily life across systems, processes and individuals. In addition to the impact, how systems, processes and individuals are part of the solution also needs to be understood. This is where it is understood how the high level strategy will translate into low level change.
  • The right Sell
    This means communicating the change in a way that makes positive sense to indviduals at all levels. It is not about convincing, glossing over or looking through rose coloured glasses. It is about connecting all perspectives with common sense and addressing both the hearts and minds of your people. This underpins the Communications Plan.
     
  • The right Skills
    Developing the right skills means developing awareness, understanding, and maturity not just technical/software skills. This underpins the Training Plan.
     
  • The right Software
    The software must be featured/configured/implemented in a way that not only supports the user habits you want to create, but does so in a way where the right thing to do is the easy thing to do. The focus must be on the required work practices, not the software features. Software features themselves hold little interest for most people. This underpins the Technical Rollout plan.
     
  • The right Stick
    This refers to the reinforcing strategies (the push or constraints) that must be in place to make it difficult (or impossible) to work in the old way. These strategies must match the new individual habits you wish to develop. This underpins the Embedding Plan.

In the end properly Understanding the change finds delicate balance between Sell, Skills, Software and Stick. When done correctly all aspects of the project, from the organisations expectations to the individuals experience to the systems implementation, connect.

From there we then apply the best project management methodology to Plan, Implement and Embed the change.

We bring together the ‘what’ or ‘hard science’ of project management with the ‘how’ or ‘soft science’ of change management to achieve a complete outcome. In the end we can help you achieve a successful change, not just a successful project.

10001000100000001000000010000000110011001111000010001000110000001111000011000000101010101111111111111111100000001010000010000000

Strategic Planning
Change Strategy
Project Management
Communications
Training
Business Analysis
Information Management

HomeServicesPast WorkContact Us