How are organisations approaching change this year and beyond?
Blue Seed’s innovative change experts are tapped into the temperature and trends of change across Australia. We regularly partner with Australian businesses across private and non-private sectors and from what we’ve seen have set out four change trends that we’re observing right now.
It means witnessing the change firsthand and from all angles; whether it’s consulting on a transformational change program, a 4-week change diagnostic or our change leadership education and coaching programs.
PROSCI’s recent analysis of change management trends gave us four trends to consider. We have added four more relevant points from our Blue Seed perspective, and what we’re experiencing in Australian businesses today.
Four Change Trends that Australian businesses should expect
1. Change becomes business as usual (BAU)
Change management is emerging as a respected discipline and integrated into business as usual practices.
Across all industries, businesses are recognising the real rewards of integrating smart change practices into transformational projects. More and more, leaders are also bringing change into their planning and thinking more broadly.
We applaud those leaders who are stepping up to the plate in championing change. At the same time, we know how hard it can be to make the leap from wanting to drive change to understand what this means in practice. For many leaders, it’s still uncharted territory.
At Blue Seed, we are lucky enough to work with motivated leaders to help them build the practical tools and confidence to know they can propel change. As change become the new BAU, we look forward to helping more leaders take on the challenge.
2. Change becomes everyone’s business
Hurrah! How wonderful to see that change leadership is being considered at all levels. We know that change leadership can’t simply sit with the bosses – to succeed, change needs to be championed and nurtured across the business.
PROSCI also points out the tendency for businesses to use “formal change management methodologies that provide structure and consistency”. Further evidence that change management is flourishing as a discipline in its own right.
At the same time, it’s vital to remember that there’s no ‘silver bullet’ for change. Every organisation is different. Every change is different. The balance between using robust methodologies and designing bespoke solutions that consider the unique context of the change is always top of mind for us at Blue Seed.
Change is everyone’s business throughout the organisation
3. The Lift of Capability and Change Maturity
Organisations struggle with the balance between understanding that change management is necessary and being able to resource this at the right level. As businesses mature in their understanding of change management, we expect to see this gradually improve.
To us at Blue Seed, true change maturity is about looking at the whole journey. We apply change intelligence, which considers not just change readiness but also adoption. Has the change stuck? If not, why not? And what can be done to fix it?
In the context of increasingly agile work practices and projects, organisations need to respond flexibly to peaks and troughs in demand for change management expertise. Many of the organisations we work with are on a journey to build their internal change capability. Our role is to enable this while also supporting the delivery of change here and now.
Blue Seed’s core offering is to bolster change maturity, lift capability and leave behind organisations adept at making change happen. We do this in lots of ways. We help businesses build internal change roles, teams and functions. We offer practical tools to enable leaders to understand, drive and track change. And we work side by side with leaders to teach them how to make the change from wherever they stand.
4. New Mindset for Change Education and Training
It’s very true that change management could be better supported by learning and development.
On the business side, learning needs to challenge leaders to adopt a whole new mindset for change. This can be a huge leap of faith but one that pays off a thousand times over. Then, leaders need to be supported to build the skills and approaches to make change happen. Change intelligence is not just a practice but a philosophy, and organisations need to focus their change learning and development on both parts to succeed.
For change practitioners, more formal learning opportunities will help the discipline to build on its reputation and value – something we can all benefit from. The best practitioners can apply a range of tools, methods and approaches to their work. One size doesn’t fit all. Blue Seed practitioners understand how many skills and tools you need in your kit bag to be ready for anything.
Finally, while training is a wonderful thing, the value of real experience on the ground can’t be overestimated. At Blue Seed we know every project offers us an opportunity to learn and grow, and to share that knowledge with the team. This collective experience is invaluable and gives our clients confidence in every Blue Seeder as safe pair of hands.
What other trends have you considered?
Our purpose is to make transformational change achievable and create a lasting capability for our clients. Our unique approach empowers organisations to create the best return on investment for their change efforts.
We’ve seen that the sooner an organisation is willing to identify and address its (human) change capability needs and gaps in detail, the quicker it will be likely to reap the rewards.