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With so much disruptive and emergent change going on, here are some ways to facilitate sensemaking for teams and organisations

Face-to-face conversations build understanding and trust, and help people appreciate different perspectives during organisational change

We‘d all like to believe that strategic change within an organisation is always done for valid reasons: to improve efficiency, to lead the way in new technology, to take advantage of new [...]

Whether you are a small or large organisation, there are likely to be periods of change, situations that are challenging and events that require careful handling. To come through the other side [...]

A major new project is well underway and likely to, no definitely will, disrupt the status quo – but it’s all for the greater good and you can clearly see the benefits and opportunities it will [...]

Every organisation that wants to develop and grow will need to change. Whether by undertaking projects to implement new technology, whether by changing business processes to increase [...]

When Craig Kilford, from Course Conductor, contacted us back in 2016, he explained he wanted to “Transform the way companies invest in learning for their employees, by using independent analytics [...]

When your working week is already full on, with pressure to deliver tasks, support services and hit targets, you may feel it doesn’t leave a lot of time for supporting people and considering [...]

Who do you trust with your company’s future? The answer, at the most fundamental level, has got to be your people. I have been doing some really interesting work around building and [...]

What sank the Titanic? It wasn’t just an iceberg, it was people. Leaders whom no one dared challenge, employees unable to communicate, organisations lulled into a false of security. The lessons [...]

Who wishes they could attend more meetings?!!  We all know what it feels like to come out of a meeting knowing there was no point being there… or that it could have been so much more productive [...]

There’s every chance you haven’t yet heard of mBraining, but we’re convinced this exciting concept can do a lot to help organisations overcome resistance to change. mBraining is about aligning [...]

Are you on the World Cup bandwagon, loving the agonies and ecstasies of those last-minute goals and dramatic upsets? Or do you hate the uncertainty and would rather your team scored three in the [...]

I was very pleased to be invited to speak at the 7th Change Management Conference 2018 in Dubai, at which many  different cultures were represented from the Middle East, Africa, USA, Canada and [...]

How often have you praised someone for “bouncing back”? Getting back on our feet after a setback can show impressive resilience … but what if we could go further? In today’s fast-changing world [...]

Be prepared for the fast life Life keeps speeding up. Do you remember when the tape ribbon would come loose on your music cassettes and you’d use a pencil to wind it back in? Now your smartphone [...]

47% of employees complained that meetings were the #1 time-waster at the office. Most employees attend an average of 62 meetings a month. Unproductive meetings cost companies time and money. [...]

Do you ever need to run sessions with your teams to identify solutions to problems, or find a way to move forward? Why not learn a broad range of practical facilitation tips, tools and techniques [...]

Wellbeing and self-care are trends worth promoting not only because they feel good, but because they lead to better productivity and happier people.

What do comedians, vacuum cleaners and Formula 1 have in common … and what have they got to do with project management? I’ve been inspired by a Radio 4 programme about learning from past [...]

How do you react when you need to make urgent changes? It’s a question that the Prime Minister has had to address in the wake of recent allegations at Westminster. Her new code of conduct for [...]

Herbert Kelman is an American psychologist with a lifelong focus on conflict resolution and peace research. He set out 3 stages of attitude change, which are helpful when applied to the [...]

Hitachi Consulting (formally Information Management Group Limited) is a data insight and information management consultancy providing technical consultancy, advisory services and managed [...]

Just think about building the Titanic… It was a huge undertaking, both in terms of sheer scale, and because of the complexity caused by integrating so many new technologies in a way that had [...]

When you’re faced with change and having to do things in a new way, have you noticed that it takes longer to get things done? When you change your mobile phone or your television, this can [...]

It is now known that the brain organises things using a basic threat or reward principle, and that our first instinct is to assess threat levels. However, dealing with a ‘threat’ takes more brain [...]

We live in fast moving times. Never before has there been such rapid transformation, and uncertainty, across all industries as in recent years. Technology is advancing at a phenomenal rate, and [...]

Last week I was in Barcelona, at the headquarters of Fusion for Energy, the EU body managing Europe’s contribution to the ITER project – the biggest international collaboration in the field of [...]

Familiar routines and processes are comforting. Following a well-trodden path is easier and less taxing on the brain. I was reminded of that recently when I went to meet a client for the first [...]

I have had many discussions recently about transformation – business, digital and IT transformation – but there is one common theme that underpins each of these conversations: Organisations [...]

It’s the New Year, and an exciting time to get projects moving, put ideas into action and make a fresh start. Maybe you’ve archived your work from last year – setting up fresh folders and [...]

The updated change management certification was launched 3 months ago. I recently wrote a blog for APMG International containing some reflections and observations from running this course with 6 [...]

Tomorrow, July 18th, is Mandela Day. 1990 was memorable to me for so many reasons, it was a year of great change both in my personal map of the world and in the greater world around me. I was [...]

There’s nothing quite as satisfying as learning a new skill. This is because it relates to what we are actually doing, rather than just what we know – or think we know. In some areas, the [...]

It was first said centuries ago that change is the only constant. But it is just as true today. Effective change management is key to the success of any organisation. And its contribution is [...]

So here we are – it’s the beginning of January and time to put new ideas and resolutions into action. Chances are you have a lot going on: new projects, major pieces of work, and all these are [...]

Our brains are constantly on the lookout for signs of threats or rewards – clearly the survival of early man depended on this. The decisions we make about what to pay attention to are based on [...]

This picture is on a wall just outside my office. Every time I pass it I stop and admire it: a photographer would probably say it’s too blurred, or the light’s not right, but for me it’s [...]

Have you been following all the discussion around the benefits of the HS2 Rail Link in the news? It’s intriguing that this far down the line (pun acknowledged), the National Audit Office is still [...]

When I first heard about APMG’s plans to launch a new Facilitation skills certification it piqued my curiosity, as it’s such an important skill-set both for people working on projects and for [...]

A few days ago, I watched some of Clare Balding’s TV game show –they showed clips of an experiment, with people buying fruit and vegetables at a busy market stall. The experiment highlighted how [...]

Recently, I went to an “Agile Edge” conference at Valtech to hear Greg Hutchings talk on “Introducing Agile”. Here is what I learned. You must know WHY you want to “do Agile” The normal reasons [...]

Guy Watson, the ethical entrepreneur and founder of Riverford, who created a global business with sales of £30 million and 400 staff from three acres and a wheel barrow, believes that greed is a [...]

When you’re faced with change and having to do things in a new way, have you noticed that it takes longer to get things done? When you change your mobile phone or your television, this can [...]

Very soon we will all once again be happily jumping up and down cheering the world’s Super-Humans, the Paralympic athletes. After Team GB’s hugely successful performance in the 1st [...]

On any given project you can be fairly sure that things won’t go smoothly. Add to that being expected to do more with less, dealing with setbacks and disputes, things constantly chopping [...]

You’ve probably heard about statistics that say 55% of meaning comes from non-verbal communication, 38% from tone of voice and just 7% from the words we speak. This is based on Albert [...]

I was saddened with news of the death of the inspirational role model and teacher Stephen Covey. His book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People sold over 20 million copies and was listed as one of [...]

There are many techniques around to help with decision making, which typically involve understanding where you need to get to, exploring possible options, gathering information to weigh up the [...]

There was a time that phrases such as “you can bank on it” or “you can take that to the bank” signified an assurance of confidence. Today I don’t think these would elicit the same emotional [...]

Post by Mary O’Gorman I’m probably not alone in gathering a fair selection of fitness dvds and equipment, but I have to confess to being a bit of an equipment magpie over the years.  [...]

Last year I was running a large number of short change management workshops for an organisation, touching on theory around their change management framework, but mainly facilitating discussions [...]

In the current climate many companies are dealing with difficult situations and facing change. In the ideal world they may well not be choosing these changes, but are having to impose them and [...]

This week with street parties occurring up and down the country, stalls and stores everywhere are awash with commemorative plates, printed tea towels, stamps, and flags – all marking the Diamond [...]

Two weeks ago the Williams F1 team were celebrating their win at the Spanish Grand Prix when a fire broke out in their garage. It caused devastating damage to most of their IT and communications [...]

We were upgrading our computer systems in the office last week and, as I was out training for the week, it was an ideal time for our “go to IT” man to rummage around my desk [...]

Yet another traffic jam. Crawling along in my car the other day, craning to see the reason for this 20mph procession, the news on the radio announced Clinton Cards were going into administration. [...]

Have you ever felt “But, there’s nothing wrong with the way things are! – why change it?” A large retail store near me seems to have a different layout every time I go in there.  They [...]

The other day my husband was nostalgically watching one of the original Star Trek re-runs. Feigning interest I received a quick induction into the show’s formulaic format.  I learned [...]

What does it take for us to really learn from our experiences? Having finished our website project, we’re about to review ‘lessons learned’ with the team at ChangeQuest to make [...]

Titanic Lessons in Project Leadership The story of the Titanic has captivated people for the past 100 years. It stirs our curiosity and emotions and it is still amazing to think that what was [...]