Change Management, Coaching & Consulting

As part of a Big 4 consulting practice, I had become interested in change management – how people take on change fascinated me and how organisations streamline processes and create efficiencies appealed to my “neat” side! When I was assigned to be part of a change team to physically move a children’s hospital, the complexity of systems, both geographic, physical, human and emotional left me feeling incredibly overwhelmed, however still wanting to help make the difference. From the patients and staff residing in their city centre, historic, memory laden, out of date set of buildings to a new, edge of suburbia, high tech and modern environment, the challenges were enormous.

…and gain immense satisfaction from helping to create change, supporting teams going through change and designing solutions that make transition easier. I am not a professional expert in complex systems, although technically we all operate and live in these all the time, so perhaps we are all experts by lived experience. Whilst working at a strategic consultative level helps frame thinking, “change work” becomes about the people involved. .

If we can take people with us through to a new mindset and an acceptance of where a business is heading, it is an achievement in itself.

When we look at change management coaching models, in an organisational setting, many talk about strategy, processes and systems alongside people, however ultimately it comes down to managing the people you are bringing with you on the journey. They are the ones who will make it easy or hard, hold onto the old version or excitedly jump forward to grasp hold of the new, and the many variations in between. Employees now work in a VUCA world (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) and psychological flexibility is the crucial element that needs to be developed for everyone. Perhaps what is missing from the mainstream change management coaching model is one that focuses on Emotional Agility and Resilience. This ability in an organisation is embodied through the actions of their people, and it is therefore a valid challenge for both the organisation as a whole as well as the individuals who work within it.

Whilst I haven’t trademarked a solution to this need yet, there is something to be said for frank and transparent communication and “no surprises” messaging – both within and by the organisation. Empathic and empowering leadership styles and taking the time to create collaborative solutions with those who you are asking to change will achieve better results.

In addition, with change also comes loss. In the hospital example this was so very evident. Families who knew and loved the old site and may have lost a child there; nurses and staff who were based local to the site and who needed to consider moving house or moving jobs and the management team which was flattened in a new hierarchy at the new site with key members not making the move at all. In an organisational setting it is not often recognised that change often also creates grief.

Working at a consultative level to create the strategy for change, communicating it well, working with both teams and individuals to understand barriers to acceptance through coaching at these levels is a way I have found helps organisations and the people within them move forward. It’s not always comfortable, change rarely is. If change is anything at all, it is guaranteed to be a continuous part of all our lives, so getting comfortable with the uncomfortable may be the best thing we can do.