Overview:It's often cited that 70% of change or transformation initiatives fail (McKinsey, Kotter, and Blanchard). Much of the research into these failures points a lack of planning, communication, and recognition of the impact on employees. William Bridges, author of Transitions and numerous other publications, notes that once leaders announce a change to their organization, they have already spent around six months pondering the change themselves. In other words, they've had time to acclimate to the idea of change.Yet employees often have very little time to acclimate to changes and are expected to immediately begin implementing a new way of operating. Unfortunately, the human psyche doesn't usually shift that quickly. The expectation of rapid acclimation to and implementation of change causes initiatives to founder, decreases productivity, and increases employee stress.Whether a change is planned or results from external pressures, leaders can make the most of organizational change by planning, communicating more effectively and checking the mindset of those involved in the change. Often those implementing day to day change are far removed from organizational leaders. While leaders may have a mindset that supports the change, those implementing it may not have a commensurate mindset.For example, if a technology firm has relocated half of its operations, leaders will be clear that this is the right move for their company. The operational and technical folks may not agree that relocation is the right move and they not even be clear about the rationale. This change may, in fact, make their lives harder because they now need to communicate virtually -- which takes longer and can be less effective. While they were used collaborating and making key decisions around a conference room table, they've now lost that way of interacting. They need to adopt a new way of interacting that will hopefully be as effective. While they and the employees in the new location are busy figuring out how to work together, most likely they are stressed and operational details are falling through the cracks. Or perhaps they focus on putting out daily fires and don't prioritize learning how to collaborate virtually.Areas Covered in the Session:Learn about different "change styles"Understand the difference between change and transition, and what that can mean in organizationsReview the five stages of organizational changeHow to plan, communicate and get buy in for change as well as how to overcome resistanceHow to understand how change will impact your company from a system's perspectiveHow to assess whether a change has been effective