Course Highlights
This change management training course for leaders will:
- Clarify what the most widely used change management definitions share and why that consensus matters.
- Map change across multiple organizational levels to surface gaps and coordination risks early.
- Build readiness awareness using two assessments tied to organizational and individual context.
- Introduce major change management frameworks and the conditions that favor each.
- Examine four change management strategies and the factors that guide selection.
- Strengthen communication discipline with a structured messaging template.
- Provide models for recognizing and addressing resistance directly and professionally.
- Close the day with a change initiative checklist to support prioritization and follow-through.
Program Overview
Most change efforts do not fail because leaders lack a vision. They fail because the distance between deciding to change and actually getting there is full of obstacles no one planned for.
“Driving Force: How to Implement and Manage Organizational Change” is a full-day onsite change management workshop built for leaders who are responsible for initiating, managing, or sustaining organizational change. The course begins at the foundation, establishing shared language and surfacing the multiple levels at which change operates simultaneously. From there, the program moves through strategy selection, change readiness, reaction patterns, communication planning, and resistance management in a sequence that reflects the realities of how change unfolds in practice.
This is a tool-rich, interactive course. The day includes two readiness assessments, a strategy selection framework, a structured messaging template, and models for handling resistance when communication alone stops working. Attendees will apply every tool to real situations, so the work stays grounded throughout the day rather than drifting into the abstract.
The workshop closes with a comprehensive change initiative checklist that helps the group assess where their current efforts stand and identify what still needs attention before, during, and after implementation.
The following outline highlights some of the course’s learning points. As part of your training program, we will modify content as needed to meet your business objectives. Upon request, we will provide you with a copy of the participant materials prior to the session(s).
Program Objectives
At this program’s conclusion, participants should be able to:
- Explain what most change management definitions have in common.
- Outline the multiple levels of change present in an organization.
- Identify organizational and personal change readiness using two assessments.
- Describe major change management frameworks and the conditions that favor each.
- Distinguish among four change management strategies and select appropriately.
- Recognize common reactions to change and interpret response patterns.
- Identify resistance behaviors and apply structured response approaches.
- Describe why change initiatives fail and how to interrupt failure patterns.
- Apply communication strategies that support clarity and stakeholder alignment.
- Use a change management messaging template.
- Apply CONFRONT and ALIGN when resistance persists or escalates.
- Prioritize change tactics and apply a change initiative checklist.
Workshop Modules
Nuts and Bolts: Getting Familiar with Definitions, Questions, and Models
The workshop opens by establishing a common foundation. The group examines how leading organizations define change management, what those definitions share, and what gaps they reveal. From there, the course expands the conversation outward, mapping change across the full range of organizational levels where it lands. Participants will identify where coordination typically breaks down and begin asking the questions that any well-run change effort needs to answer before momentum builds.
Under the Hood: Exploring Change Management Strategies
Before the group examines what to do, this portion of the course focuses on how to approach change strategically. Four distinct change management strategies come into view, each grounded in different assumptions about how people respond to disruption. Attendees will examine the conditions and constraints that make one approach more appropriate than another and work through scenarios that require them to make that call. The group will also compare the major change management frameworks and discuss the organizational circumstances that favor each.
People on the Road: Understanding Reactions to Change
Change does not land the same way at every level of an organization, and this part of the day puts that reality on the table. The course examines how reactions to change typically unfold over time and how those patterns shift depending on whether someone sits at the front line, in middle management, or in senior leadership. Learners will develop a more nuanced picture of the emotional and behavioral terrain they will encounter as change rolls out and practice interpreting what they are seeing rather than simply reacting to it.
Maintenance Routines: Preventing Fails
The research on why change initiatives collapse is consistent and humbling. This discussion examines the most common failure patterns across four categories and connects them to situations from the room’s own experience. The group will identify the prevention moves available at each stage. Knowing where failure typically enters the picture is one of the most practical things a leader can take from a day of change management training.
How Do I Tell (or Sell) Them?: Discussing Ways to Involve Stakeholders to Drive and Communicate Change
Communication is where many well-designed change efforts come undone. This interactive portion of the workshop examines the most common communication mistakes leaders make during change and explores what more effective stakeholder involvement looks like in practice. Attendees will apply a structured messaging template to think through every dimension of their communication plan, working from a real or realistic change so the output has immediate value. The group will leave this portion of the day with a draft they can actually use.
Detours, Potholes, and Accidents: Managing Resistance to Change
Resistance is predictable, and this course treats it that way. The group starts by identifying the behaviors that signal active resistance and discussing the difference between resistance that deserves a conversation and resistance that requires a more structured response. Two models equip attendees with a step-by-step approach for both situations, giving them a way to engage directly without letting the conversation drift or lose traction. The room will work through vignettes that put these tools in realistic context before the session ends.
A 35-Point Checkup: Assessing Where Your Organization Is
The course closes with follow-through. Participants will work through a comprehensive change initiative checklist that spans the full lifecycle of a change effort, assessing where current or upcoming initiatives stand and identifying the gaps that need attention. The group will leave with a prioritized picture of next steps and a clear sense of where their work continues after the day ends. This is a working session, not a summary.
Target Audience
This workshop is designed for groups that want to:
- Give leaders a structured approach to planning and managing organizational change.
- Build practical skill in stakeholder communication, readiness assessment, and resistance management.
- Close the gap between a change initiative being announced and it actually taking hold.
- Send participants back to their work with tools, not just theory.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is this onsite workshop designed for?
This instructor-led course serves managers, directors, team leads, and senior individual contributors who are responsible for planning, driving, or sustaining organizational change. The content focuses on the leader’s role in change, not on navigating change as a follower. Organizations looking for a program aimed at employees who are experiencing change rather than managing it may want to explore companion offerings in the change management series.
How is this workshop different from a general change management course?
This program is specifically built for people in leadership roles who need to act on change, not just understand it. The day includes assessments, a strategy selection framework, a communication planning template, and structured resistance models. Participants apply each tool to real situations during the workshop rather than reviewing them as concepts.
Does this course cover specific change management frameworks?
Yes. The workshop examines several major frameworks and the conditions that make one more appropriate than another. The course also covers four distinct change management strategies drawn from established research. The goal is selection and application, not just familiarity.
How participatory is this course?
Very. This is an interactive, instructor-led program built around discussion, assessment, case work, and tool application. Participants engage with the material throughout the day, so this is not a lecture-based course.
Can this course be customized for a change our organization is currently navigating?
Yes. As with all Business Training Works programs, we tailor this onsite workshop to reflect the specific change context your group is working in, your industry, and any organizational priorities for the session.