Change Management Concepts – The Leader as Teacher

This is the first of a series of concepts of Change Management articles.

Change Management is introducing a combination of new people, new processes and new technology to a company or organization. The organization has a lot to learn, and someone has to be the teacher.

Often, executives hire consultants to conduct change management initiatives, education and employment for consultants, almost by default. Save some money. Hire consultants if necessary, but will focus on the teaching of their leadership team. Then let the leaders (including yourself) to teach everyone else.

Åre leaders the best teachers

When a management consulting firm conducted a study a few years ago, two groups of people to be trained in new systems and processes. One group was trained by professional instructors. For the second group, the trained professionals with the head and the head of training people. Immediately after training, both groups were tested to determine how well they had learned.

Group that more proof? Well, eh, eh, well, the group was trained professionally.

Wait a minute, there’s more. The same test was conducted six months later. Guess what? The retention of the material was much greater for the group formed by his own boss.

If you think about it, nor surprising result. Unless a leader is a very talented teacher, he or she will not be as effective as a professional coach. The professional coach, however, did not hang around when training ends. The pattern can reinforce the training material, and ensure that they apply at work.

Education and, specifically, the leader led education is an important and often overlooked concept of change management.

You can do

First, if you are in a leadership position, you are already a teacher. Each day that passes people guidance on the expectation that they will think for themselves and seek their guidance in their jobs. (If you are telling them what to do, you’re not a leader – more like a supervisor).

Granted, there is a difference between day to day guidance and formal education. Even if you’re not a great speaker or do not enjoy the formal classroom setting, just think about some of his qualifications:

You know the subject
You know that students
You have an interest in its success
You have a passion for what will be taught (hopefully!)

These are advantages that will overcome all the limitations that result from not being a trained instructor.

Some tips to help you succeed as a teacher

Taking time – When you’re teaching your staff, you have the luxury of spreading out the training, maybe 2 hours per day for a week instead of a dedicated day and a half. Go for it, but whatever hours in any day program for training, adhere to it. Do not cancel and do not allow interruption of the training program.

Teach, not preach – His goal is to share information and enable people to its application. Helping people understand what it is like to deal with what is changing.

Questions – is a great way to test understanding, so that you and your students.

Invite Dialogue – That is what will be the questions. Your job is easier when students are discussing what is taught. You just have to step in when they get stuck.

Repetition – Change management concepts have to be repeated to be absorbed. In other words, the concepts of change management need to be repeated in order to be absorbed. Enough.

Ego Sacrifice Practical – You are not a professional instructor, and you may find you are struggling with some things, like teaching technical concepts. Remember this is a long-term results that will make the right choice for this particular job, and be willing to let your students know you need their help at times.