Some thoughts - and help - on delivering Change Management in the time of Coronavirus (COVID-19)

The spread of COVID-19 continues to dominate the news, with significant implications for our customers and their staff around the world. And our staff here at Changefirst too.  At this challenging time, I have spent a lot of my time talking to customers. Explaining how:

• we are fully equipped to keep their business change plans moving forward 
• our method of digital delivery of learning, tools and collaboration platform is ideally suited to help them weather the storm
• the offline commitments we still have for face to face training can now be delivered online to reduce travel
• our Business Continuity plan - which has kicked into place - is specifically designed to ensure we can keep our digital capability and support systems in working for their teams 
• we are taking every precaution to protect the health and well-being of our staff who are now working remotely to continue to support them

Hopefully, we can adapt and help our customers during these incredibly uncertain times. However, it also set me thinking about the practical day to day impact this is all having on the Change Management community around the globe. 

Some initial personal help to weather the storm 

The uncertainty presented by COVID-19 is driving us out of our “comfort zones” and many of us are experiencing feelings of confusion, anxiety, denial, self-doubt, anger, and fear. Many of the old rules, structures, and lifestyles have been suddenly taken away from us. We are self-isolating, maintaining social distance, working from home, experiencing shortages, canceling vacations, etc.

In this ‘storm’ it’s important that organizations put into place short-term plans to move to virtual working or to institute shorter hours, unpaid holidays, etc. Then they can begin to review how they will execute their strategic programs.

And, it's equally important that our people get as much personal support as we can give them. Their resilience will be tested as never before in the coming weeks and months.

3 months Free access to our e-learning Module on Resilience

With this in mind, we’re sending this note of support to the Change Management community worldwide. And providing FREE access for the next 3 months to our e-learning module Thriving Through Change - which is specifically designed to help you bolster your resilience and survive these times of disruption and ambiguity. 

• Just click on this link to self-register and get started right now.  
• If you’re already on our digital Change Management platform then simply email support@changefirst.com and say you want to take up the Resilience offer and we will add it to your profile.

Feel free to share the details with your colleagues and look out for information on an Ask Me Anything session which our Chairman David Miller is hosting next week over on LinkedIn which will provide you with the opportunity to put questions to him on the current situation and its implications for our people affected by all this uncertainty, our change projects and the way in which we need to work together to navigate this incredibly disruptive period. You can also submit your questions in advance to ama@changefirst.com

In the meantime, I hope you and your teams stay safe and productive.

Kind regards,

Audra Proctor

CEO