5 Ways Change Managers Would Train Their Teams Differently

We asked change practitioners what they would do differently regarding change management training. This is what they told us:

They Would Train Additional Audiences

In addition to the training they already did, most participants in the Prosci Best Practices in Change Management study said they would have included more middle management in their training; they specifically mentioned frontline supervisors, middle managers, and senior managers. Participants also would have spent time with more executives and more project managers.

They Would Train Differently

Training should be mandatory, hands-on, and constant throughout the lifecycle of a project, according to many study participants. They added that they would include “bite-sized” training sessions throughout the project and not just completed at one point. They would also include more varied training activities, including more case studies and webinars.

They Would Train Based on Job Roles

For their next change initiative, study participants stated that they would also segment their training more. Every job role has a specific part to play in a change initiative. With role-based training, every individual gets the training they need so they can be the most effective part of a team. Some positions will need more training than others, and training should be conducted with consideration of employees’ time and availability. Learn more about the roles you need to train during a change initiative.

They Would Plan for Training Earlier

While 87% of study participants completed training at the implementation stage of a project, many participants would start planning for training earlier. By thinking about training sooner, participants could better assess training needs and current knowledge. However, while they would plan for training earlier, they would continue to offer training at just the right time.

They Would Train with More Time and Resources

Many study participants said that they felt training would have been better with more time to train, more money allocated to training, and more training resources. In fact, when talking about ways that they would train differently, participants said they would use more training specialists—those who not only had experience in change management, but who also knew how to train people in it.