On June 10, we hosted a webinar on change management presented by Garry Chan and Pascal L'abee. During this webinar, they shared how to get a handle on change with risk analysis. Using real-life examples and concrete models, they discussed how to get from reactive to proactive.

Why a risk analysis?

With change, the focus is often on content and planning, but it is the human aspect that determines whether a change will be successful. A risk analysis helps to get an early and well-founded picture of this aspect. By identifying possible bottlenecks, resistances and risks in advance, you can act in a much more targeted way. This makes it possible to take proactive measures, engage involved leaders and determine where additional commitment to change management is needed. It prevents changes from being made on gut instinct. Instead, you create a factual basis for decision-making and communication.

Insights from risk analysis can be translated into:

• Specific adoption goals by target group;
• Concrete actions to guide people from awareness to adoption;
• Establish a change approach based on the Prosci ADKAR model: Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement.

Support is essential in any change. But how do you measure whether people are ready for the step you want to take? During the webinar, Garry and Pascal shared several methods for understanding support, including ADKAR measurements, observations, feedback channels and signals from middle management. Here it is important to look not only at what people say, but also at how they behave. Do people understand the need? Do they see the benefits? Or are there doubts or resistance? This information is crucial to adjust the approach to change and to work in a focused way on awareness and involvement.

Recognizing and addressing resistance

Change almost always evokes resistance, consciously or unconsciously. This resistance often manifests itself in middle management, for example because they lack confidence in their role as change agents, or because they do not feel involved in the process. Here we distinguished between active resistance (such as open criticism) and passive resistance (such as delay or reluctance). Recognizing these signals early on is crucial. Only then can you use targeted interventions to address the underlying causes and get the group moving.

Change requires structure and people work

We concluded the webinar with some powerful insights. The most important summarized:

• The higher the risk, the more important change management is.
• Use risk analysis as a starting point for direction.
• Determine the right approach for each target group, substantiated by data.
• Actively engage leadership for greater support.