Training Yourself
Developing as a change practitioner requires developing a foundational knowledge of individual and organizational psychology and being able to apply that through skills such as
- Communications
- Training
- Facilitation
- Program and project management
- Influencing
- Survey design
- Empathetic interviewing
- Data acquisition and analysis
- Public speaking
- ... and many others
Generating Change
The book Generating Change by Doug Walton was specifically written to address the needs of program and project managers to learn basic organizational change strategy and methods that are are to find in any other book.
Skill Development
The following are some recommended options for developing change management knowledge and skills:
- Essential Facilitation (Interaction Associates)
- Prosci trainings on change management
- National Training Laboratories courses
- UC Berkeley Extension
Certificate Programs
Here are some that are available. Some of the included courses may also be taken individually. Just because they are available does not mean they would be approved or paid for by the company. Each person will have to check for themselves if they are feasible for them.
- National Training Laboratory - Organization Development Certificate Program
- DePaul University - Managing Innovation and Change Certificate Program
- Cornell University - Change Leadership Certificate
- St. Mary's University -Organizational Change Leadership
- A list by Indeed.
Experience
In organizational management, education only goes part of the way. Experience is needed to develop the skills. Even if you are not currently on a change initiative, you can get some experience in the following ways:
- Offer to run a change management activity for practice--develop a change story, conduct a stakeholder analysis, facilitate meetings, perform a risk assessment, or offer to use any other change tools or methods
- Find a mentor-- see the coaching program by Doug Walton
Exposure
It can also be a good career move to get exposure not only inside of IT but outside of IT. Here are some ideas.
- Join industry groups, such as The Association of Change Management Professionals (ACMP)
- Attend or give a presentation at an external conference such as those held by The Conference board or the ACMP
- Write an article for publication, for example in the Journal of Change Management
Questions
Want to talk about it or have more questions? Feel free to contact me.