Seeds of change is the first wave of three in our C-change framework. Seeds of change helps leaders and managers to make sense of what is currently happening in public services. Whilst change may be a constant in our organisations, it is not always the same. So responses to change need to meet the particular challenges of the kind of change that is happening. It requires us to think about the seeds of change. This is even more the case when the scale of change is significant.
Seeds of Change – making Sense of the Situation
Thinking about the seeds of change will help to make sense of the situation. This first section of the framework poses a series of questions:
- What does the sea change mean?
- Why is it happening?
- How, where and when will it come?
- What can we do to understand and prepare for it?
- How can be responsive to change?
To explore these questions we suggest 5 themes.
- Change: What is the nature of change in public services? What factors are shaping change? How do we accept and understand the need for change?
- Challenge: How do we manage the challenges of change, and challenge perceptions of what public services are? How do we build a consensus about the changes that are needed?
- Catalyst, chameleon and chrysalis: What differing approaches to change are needed? The adaptability of a chameleon, or the spark and energy of a catalyst? Or perhaps the time and space to develop, as with the chrysalis? Who will make change work, when and how?
- Collaborative leadership: Leadership in its widest sense across public services, and from within the community. Together making sense of change in the local context
- Customer, client or citizen? How do we define the recipients of public services? How are they re-defining public services?
Seeds of Change Facilitated Workshops
Leaders and managers need to build a concensus of the context of change. This is best done by facilitating discussion focused on the seeds of change. The propcess starts with the nature of change and both the challenges it poses, and the challenge that leaders need to make of perceptions of public services. Then the kind of change leadership that might be most appropriate for the different aspects of change needs to be established. In conjunction with this approach to change is the need to build a collaborative approach to leadership from the start. How do you engage leadership from across public services, and how do you engage leadership in the wider community. Finally and most importantly when considering significant changes in public services ask how the recipients of public services define their services, and how could they be re-defined by listening to the customer.
We have developed facilitated workshops to take leaders and managers through the 3 waves of change. Why not contact us for more information.
Strategies of Change – making it happen
The first wave helps leaders and managers to begin to make sense of the sea change in public services. Next the second wave helps them to think through what their response should be, and equip them with key strategic solutions to make change happen. We explore these strategies in Change management tools: strategic solutions to challenge austerity. What change management tools deliver strategic solutions to cope with sea changes in public services? How can we equip managers to challenge adversity?