Tales from the Trenches of Change Management

Welcome to our latest episode! This week Nicola is joined by her colleague and fellow business change manager Anna Yeomans. They discuss the key things to think about when creating training videos for any system or process that is being implemented into a company.  Gain insights from Anna's experience as she shares her story of turning Nicola's book into a comprehensive training course.  If you're struggling with producing your own training videos for your project, they'll explore various tools and techniques utilised in their past projects to ensure streamlined, professional-looking content that remains simple and easy to create. Interested in learning how to create training videos, be the first to know about our free step by step guide: https://www.beechange.co.uk/form/freecourse Make sure you subscribe, rate and review to help others find their way to becoming a change leader. Follow Nicola Follow BEE Change Ltd Follow Anna Sign up to Change Leader Chronicles Follow us on LinkedIn for additional content or sign up to the Change Leader Chronicles to have exclusive insight to real-life case studies. Together, let's BEE Change it!  

In this special episode, Nicola is joined by her Gen Z sons to talk about Virtual Reality (VR) & Apple Vision Pro.  Listen to them explain what VR is, why they like it and their thoughts on how it will change the way we live in the future.  It also includes an insightful chat about Apple Vision Pro, whether is it worth it and what are the pros and cons of augmented reality. Topics include: will it take away human connection, will it help with education and work and will people's age affect their willingness and ability to adopt Apple Vision Pro? Finally Nicola brings this back to change management for project teams discussing why generational differences, among others, are vital to consider to create strong engagement plans and get the communications and training right to ensure a successful project. Make sure you subscribe, rate and review to help others find their way to becoming a change leader. Follow us on LinkedIn for additional content or sign up to the Change Leader Chronicles to have exclusive insight to real-life case studies. Follow Nicola Follow BEE Change Ltd Join the waitlist for the live online BEE Methodology© Practitioner Course https://www.beechange.co.uk/form/jointhewaitlist  Sign up to Change Leader Chronicles Together, let's BEE Change it!

Welcome to our latest episode! Join Nicola as she delves into the vital topic of stakeholder engagement.  Discover the essential insights on how to gauge the engagement levels of your stakeholders and why it's important to do so. Nicola shares compelling real-life stakeholder engagement examples, the role of individuals within projects and insight into the neuroscience of change. For anyone struggling to create their stakeholder engagement plan, Nicola walks you through BEE Change's key stakeholder assessment, which offers invaluable insights to comprehensively understand your stakeholders. Tune in for an enriching discussion that will equip you with actionable steps to enhance stakeholder engagement strategy and drive project success. Download our stakeholder engagement template: https://www.beechange.co.uk/form/downloadtemplates  Make sure you subscribe, rate and review to help others find their way to becoming a change leader. Follow Nicola Follow BEE Change Ltd Sign up to Change Leader Chronicles Follow us on LinkedIn for additional content or sign up to the Change Leader Chronicles to have exclusive insight to real-life case studies. Together, let's BEE Change it!  

Join Nicola for an honest chat about her professional journey from business change manager to co-founder, author, and now founder and managing director of BEE Change.  She reflects on her time as a co-founder and chats about her successes and challenges along the way, including all the emotions and the rollercoaster that is entrepreneurship. Find out why she launched BEE Change as she shares her passion to develop the BEE Methodology© and ultimately change the world of change, educating project teams to up-skill themselves and bridge the gap between them and the business.   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicola-graham-uk/ Website: www.beechange.co.uk

Join us today for this month's Tales from the Trenches of Change Management podcast. Today we delve into Nicola's journey to becoming a published author. Using her many years of experience in Project and Business Change Management, Nicola was inspired to create a book that concentrated on a project team's guide on how to apply adoption within projects and bring awareness of bridging the gap between project teams and the business. We hear from Nicola her tales of self-doubt, confronting her fears of feedback from her peers, and growing not only as a person but ultimately realising her admiration for fellow authors. Over a two-year period, it has been a rollercoaster of emotion and self-critique. During this process, Nic has had to wear many hats to complete the final draft. In some way, she is her own worst critic, as many writers may experience when writing a book. Ultimately for Nic, this journey has been a rewarding experience. Finally, Nicola offers listeners a wealth of practical tips and tricks for any budding authors out there, and words of encouragement for anyone who needs that final push to write their own book. Please follow Nicola's LinkedIn and Simplify Change's website for more updates on the publishing date of the book, where to buy, and of course feedback is welcomed and encouraged. Nicola Graham's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicola-graham-uk/  Website: https://www.simplifychange.co.uk/

Join us for our latest episode of Tales from the Trenches of Change Management, where we are joined today by Susanne Madsen. Susanne is a globally recognised leadership coach and mentor for project and change managers. She has partnered and founded the Project Leadership Institute, which runs leadership programs to help project managers become better leaders in the workplace. She is also an award-winning author of The Power of Project Leadership, which is now in its second edition, and has been described as "a must-read for everyone in the project world". Susanne is known for developing leadership development programs globally and has worked with many high-profile companies such as JP Morgan and Citigroup. We will be delving into Susanne's in-depth experiences and gaining her insight into topics such as the differences between a project manager vs a project leader, the challenges of the pandemic, and the changes it has presented to us. Susanne and Nicola discuss practical skills for dealing with burnout and stress management, and how to proactively plan and collaborate with teams. They also explore the notion that leaders need to empower their teams by listening and collaborating, rather than just instructing. This podcast is a thoughtful one, which addresses emotional intelligence as being the cornerstone of project leaders, whilst interconnecting empathy and engagement towards others to get the very best from their teams. If you would like to find out more about today's guest, head over to these resources: Susanne's website: https://www.susannemadsen.co.uk/ The Power of Project Leadership: http://www.powerofprojectleadership.com/resources.html (where you will find a fantastic array of resources and be able to purchase The Power of Project Leadership book). Susanne's Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPfV1WRlHMLyCm2HJxuPGVw  (full of videos and webinars by Susanne for more in-depth discussions). Susanne's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/susanne-madsen/2/431/113 The Project Leadership Institute: https://www.theprojectleadershipinstitute.com/ Other books available from Susanne Madsen: The Project Management Coaching Workbook (available from Amazon, and other alternative book stockists).  

In this episode of Tales from the Trenches of Change Management, we are joined by Elizabeth Harrin, who is often named as one of the most influential people in Project Management, and her award-winning website, ‘Rebels Guide to Project Management' turned sixteen years old this year. We are thrilled to have Elizabeth on the show to share her experiences, expertise, and wisdom with us. During this podcast, Nicola and Elizabeth discuss many topics and issues presenting themselves today, as well as words of encouragement, change, and insight, such as if the landscape for women within the Project Management industry has shifted, how we are more multi-diverse, more inclusive, and more aware of language, the changes that brings, and the space needed for those debates. Elizabeth also gives us insights into how she converted her skills as a project manager into home-schooling her children during the pandemic and discusses her latest book ‘Managing Multiple Projects', a straightforward and informative guide to managing multiple concurrent projects and programs. Elizabeth gives the reader insight into successful productivity tools, step-by-step approaches when juggling workloads and includes case studies from real project managers. Read more about our prolific guest at https://elizabeth-harrin.com/ Here is Elizabeth's hugely successful and informative website https://rebelsguidetopm.com/ - packed full of insightful articles, resources, and the Project Management Rebels community, for people who may want to improve their skills beyond. Follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabeth.harrin/ And check out Elizabeth's latest book ‘Managing Multiple Projects' will be available to purchase from the 3rd of May from: https://elizabeth-harrin.com/managing-multiple-projects-online-resources/

Let's face it. The world is changing... In this episode, Nicola is joined by Zayn Blore, the COO of Simplify Change, going into detail about Metaverse; what is it? The development of it in the real world and the business opportunities. You can also watch the video and read the blog here: https://www.simplifychange.co.uk/our-blog/metaverse-the-future-of-the-digital-world . The Metaverse will offer many benefits to industries and socialisation, aiding both the medical profession to parenting - however Nicola and Zayn both discuss the drawbacks, such as safeguarding and the detachment from real life and who governs this new virtual reality, in this insightful podcast into the Metaverse.

What are Champions and Influencers in the business change context. In this episode Nicola discusses this, going into detail about who they are, and how both are vital for the successful delivery of change projects. You can also watch a video or read a blog about this here https://www.simplifychange.co.uk/our-blog/champions-what-are-they . By understanding and identifying who your Champions and Influencers are, you add to your team significantly. Allowing you to expand and interact with many people without needing to spend more money or hire more people. Allowing people to contribute to projects in the way that suits them best to help you delivery projects.

We are all Change Players, but what type of Change Player are we? In this episode Nicola discusses Change Players, going into detail about who they are, different types of change players, and how to adapt your delivery to move people into the positive camp. You can also watch a video or read a blog about this here https://www.simplifychange.co.uk/our-blog/business-change-manager-video-series-change-players-what-are-they . By leveraging knowledge of change players and exciting the right people in the right way you can focus your energies on key individuals and decrease resistance to a change, and so convince large groups of people to get behind a change, learn about it, and massively improve your chance of bringing your people along on the change journey.    

Picture this scenario: You have invested vast amounts of time and money in the latest systems and processes; you have trained everyone and you have made their lives so much easier (or so you think). Yet months later, people still persist in their old ways. Where are the business improvements you expected? And when will the disruption you're experiencing subside? When we speak of change taking place in an organization, we are likely to think about physical changes of an organizational structure, the changes to a system or process, as well as in the external forces that the company deals with on a regular basis.  What many tend to overlook, though, is how the people of an organisation deal with such changes. How do they go about the transition? Do they accept the changes willingly, or do they resist the change ? From a people perspective, implementing change can be very challenging. Why? Because people are used to their routines. They may be proud of their expertise and fear that their previous work is being undermined or devalued, or worse, they may fear that they will lose their job. As a change leader, how can you help your team members to accept more quickly, and even embrace, change? People tend to go through series of reactions to change that is similar to the stages of dealing with grief.  You can't stop them going through the stage entirely, but, you can always make their journey to stages feel easier and therefore establish change more quickly. The Fear Curve model describes the four stages that most people go through as they adjust to change which is based on the work of psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in the 1960s. At Stage 1 is when a change is first introduced, team members may feel shocked  and may think that there won't really be any change, they may need your help to understand what is happening, so effective communication is this stage will be very important. Be clear on where people can go for information and help, answer their questions as they crop up so they would feel secure. Once the reality of the change starts to hit, people tend to react negatively and move to stage 2 of the Fear Curve. Where they may fear the impact, feel angry and may lead some people to actively resist the change. Some will wrongly fear the negative consequences of change. Others will correctly identify real threats to their position. Make sure you are prepared for this stage so you can make it as painless and quick-lived as possible. But beware, you can't anticipate how exactly each person will react, so watch, listen and support them as you can. Stage 3 is the turning point for the individuals and the organization, this stage is where pessimism make way for some optimism. They start to let go, and accept the changes. They begin testing and exploring what the changes mean, They can do that more easily they are helped and supported to do so, even if this is a simple matter of allowing enough time to explore their options. Be aware that this stage is vital for learning and acceptance, and that it takes time. Do not expect them to be 100% productive during this time, and build in some contingency time for them so that they can learn and explore without too much pressure. Stage 4 is when finally, team members makes a decision to fully embrace the change, reorganise their ways of working, and integrating with the new change. They can now see the benefits to the team and to the organization. Now is the time to celebrate with them. This is important. Your people will find it much easier to cope with change next time if they can remember the feeling of satisfaction and reward. Knowledge of the fear curve can significantly boost the chances of successful change management process, because it addresses the key thing that makes change happen: people. It can help improve how managers interact with those undergoing change, ultimately making the change achieve success more quickly and decreasing the pressure on their team. If you can't bring your people along with you, then your efforts for managing change will fail.

Nicola Graham dives into the detail of what is change management, and what is business change management. Giving examples of the two and going into detail on how business change management is instrumental in delivering a project's ROI. Listen to this podcast to learn all about it, and how business change management can benefit your projects!

Do you agree with IR35? How did you feel about them enforcing the policy into the public sector? Did you know it it will impact the private sector in less than 6 months?  How are companies and contractors dealing with this change on top of Covid-19 and other challenges they're facing? Is there any possibility this change be postponed again? In this podcast, Nicola is joined by a panel of three experts to discuss IR35 and the implication it has on both contractors and companies. Together they create a web of conversations exploring the pros and cons of IR35 from different perspectives, answering key questions in the process. Nicole Slowey is the Operation Director at Qdos Contractor who are a specialist IR35 consultancy and insurance firm, they and are at the forefront line of IR35 based services and advisory since the introduction of the original legislation back in the year 2000. Nicole has years of experience working with organisations and public sector, providing us with expert knowledge on IR35. Andrew Buxton is the Director and Founder of PDCS Program and Project Management Consultancy Practice. They engage with client's organisations to undertake assessments of their portfolio, program, and project management processes organisation culture tool set. Andrew takes the position of companies and how IR35 impacts them. Zayn Blore is COO & Co-founder at Simplify Change a Change Management dedicated consultancy. For several decades Zayn has been a contractor in the UK, where he has been heavily impacted by IR35. As a previous contractor, he brings tangible points about the negative impact it has had on himself and various contractors and companies he has worked with. To learn more about our remarkable panel today, follow them on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-buxton-ba23497/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-slowey-a8620a24/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/zaynblore/

Cathy is an expert in intercultural communication and helps people to get better outcomes from their international relationships and to develop a skillset to communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds She helps people to adapt their skills and style to enable them to take advantage of the opportunities of working internationally.   Nicola and Cathy discuss different cultures and different approaches professionals can take in working with people from other cultures. They discuss stereotypes, ‘hot' and ‘cold' countries and the challenges people experience moving between countries. For example, one of the most challenging move is from the USA to the UK perhaps because the assumption is that the two cultures are similar and so people aren't prepared for the differences.   Nicola and Cathy also discuss the new world, and how that has had an impact on intercultural training. When training is online, how can you build community, create rapport over a webinar with someone, interpret body language and ensure that learning takes place. Naturally, the impact of Covid-19 comes up: how different countries are impacted and how to deal with these differences during online meetings.   If you're interested in more insights from Cathy, please follow her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathy-wellings/ or read her blog on her website at https://www.cathywellings.co.uk/

Andrew Buxton is the founder of PDCS the Project Delivery Optimisation Specialist who unpicks the complexity of right-sourcing resources for Project Delivery through their innovative Resource Optimisation Model. Their speciality is designing the right model, appointing or transferring the resources and provide an ongoing service to optimise delivery. Andrew and Nicola briefly touch on cycling (of course) give an overview into the P3M3 model (For those who don't know P3M3 stands for Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity Model) for delivering portfolio, programmer or project management and how to apply it before diving into the impact of Covid-19 and how the programme delivery world has changed since lockdown. Andrew has decades of experience on the supplier side helping deliver programmes and projects, and 12 years ago moved to the client side delivering change portfolio and programme level. This has given him insights and experiences on both sides of the fence, so his views on P3M3, Cost management/cost savings, and implementing projects consistently, predictably on budget is very relevant in today's world. To learn more about what he's talking about, follow him on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-buxton-ba23497/.

In this episode Nicola from Simplify Change is joined by Angela Schafer in Ottawa Ontario, a change leader and consultant, who focuses on building performance and who is passionate about employee experience in all its shapes and forms. She has extensive qualifications in all facets of projects from initial feasibility analysis and conceptual design through implementation, training, and enhancement. She is an articulate visionary who easily gains the consensus of senior leadership and key decision-makers who present with a range of diverse agendas. Nicola and Angela discuss organisational changes and difficulties they may face as they implement change programs in their organisations along with running, golf, remote working and Angela's experience with dealing with corporations with different cultures and how to craft the culture an organisation needs to deliver a particular strategy. To learn more about what she's thinking about, follow her on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-d-schafer/.

In this episode Nicola from Simplify Change is joined by Trevor Hunt from Behind Every Cloud who is responsible for CTO advisory.  Behind Every Cloud provide analysis & introductions to best in breed IT partners and service providers.  Increasingly today, these services are required by companies especially those undergoing digital transformation and additionally support in influencing and convincing stakeholders in their decision making and ensuring solutions are good and proper.    Trevor has filled a number of different roles over the last 3 decades in financial services as a CIO, CTO, COO and Change leader.  He shares some of his expertise as a senior technology leader to discuss buzz words, Strava and networking, upskilling in this new world and selecting the right partners to support you in your journey.   To learn more about what he's thinking about, follow him on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-hunt-a50390/ or get in touch at Behind Every Cloud here https://behindeverycloud.co.uk/

In this episode Nicola from Simplify Change is joined by Amy Haworth who is the Chief of Staff for Human Resources at Citrix, a technology company focused on creating digital solutions to help companies deliver a great employee experience. In a world where talent has become a company's most critical asset and the investment to attract, retain and engage employees delivers an ROI of innovation, productivity and growth, Amy brings a perspective rooted in business and enhanced by a deep passion for understanding the intricacies of human behavior.   Her experience encompasses roles in transformation, management, user experience and counseling psychology, across fields like consulting (Accenture), creative (Agency.com), manufacturing (Coors Brewing Company and MillerCoors) and technology (Citrix).  Amy holds an M.B.A. and a B.A. in Communications from the University of Denver.  To learn more about what she's thinking about, follow her on LinkedIn, Twitter @chng4good, or her blog NobodyMakesItAlone.com.