The work I do is all about supporting people through change. Not just because that’s the right (and human!) thing to do, but also because it prevents your business hurtling head first into a massive productivity gap and getting stuck there.

It makes that dip shallower, quicker and easier to climb out the other side, and less draining for everyone involved.

It makes it more likely that the changes will be adopted and the vision you imagined achieved, along with all the benefits you hoped the investment would bring. Click on the article to find out more.

Being the last to be picked for a team one thing, but what if you’re left out entirely? Ouch, that stings.

Perhaps you’ve experienced that at work too? Or maybe you delivered a change in the past and left someone out?

I’ve seen this happen throughout my career and the impact can completely derail a change.

In this article I share a tool I use to help identify the Change Community (stakeholders) you need to work with and try to avoid missing anyone out. Let me know how you get on, did you spot someone you'd left on the bench?

The amount of information we expect our brains to process (and remember!) each day is incredible. I think I overdid it last week with some research. Too many inputs. Information overload. Warning, warning!

It doesn't matter how organised we are, once in a while stuff comes up unexpectedly, or we bite off more than we can chew, and the plates we're spinning start to wobble.

When overwhelm creeps in, I have some go-to tools that help me get back on track. I share some of them in this article and hope they might help or inspire you to try something new. Let me know how you get on.

Close your eyes and imagine the scene. There's a massive mountain ahead of you (the change).

Your leader is already at the top, enjoying the view and basking in the sunshine. The change they've been working on for months/years hasn't happened yet, but they're feeling pretty smug: the vision is clear, the strategy and resources signed off and they're excited by the benefits and new opportunities they can see on the horizon. High fives all round. In Claes Janssen's change model this would be a place of Renewal & Inspiration.

Meanwhile, as the manager of the team delivering the change, you've set off to base camp, straining under the heavy weight of baggage (aka previous experience of change) and supplies for the journey ahead.

Sometimes we try so hard to make a change work that we lose sight of why we're doing it in the first place. The benefits we're striving for no longer outweigh the investment/risks/disruption. It's just not worth it any more.

It's not always the sunk cost that keeps us hanging on. Sometimes it's the emotional investment that's harder to let go of.

Even if you’re personally committed to a change, you'll rely on others to play their part and they will need things from you too. Instead of obsessing about how stakeholders could be managed, could we focus more on creating the conditions for change to happen more comfortably and supporting people through it in a different way? Through community and quality conversations.

There's a temptation to plough through change by breaking it up into a checklist of tasks to complete. Just get it done and off your desk before the next one lands.

Making time to really understand and engage with the change properly might feel like a luxury you can't afford right now. All completely understandable and you're not alone, most people are doing the same. But then most changes aren't getting the results we hoped for either.

What if all the changes were cancelled tomorrow. Would it matter?

In 2016 I left a full-time corporate job without a plan, but knowing that what would come next would be very different. I set up Change Ready soon afterwards with this aim: Make Change That Matters

Why? Because I know we're all capable of shaping change at work, in our communities and at home. And there's no shortage of things that urgently need to change, but we’re not always equipped with the skills to do it.