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Welcome to all of the many new subscribers who have recently joined us. Do check out the subscriber facilities detailed in this ezine.

People who subscribe and use this site regularly all have at least two things in common - an interest in change management related subjects, and a desire for free information.

However, people arrive here at very different stages in their personal and organisational development.

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You may be a student or undertaking some form of higher business education and you are using this site to assist with the change management module of your course - if so, then may I suggest you check out and use the resources and PDF search tools mentioned below.

These will unearth a surprising amount of excellent and otherwise unavailable material that you will never find in a standard Google search.

You will also find a wealth of references and bibliographies. Also, feel free to contact me if you have questions and I will do my best to assist.

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You could be a fellow change management practitioner - if so then take advantage of the facility to put up a profile of yourself and your business on this site.

The facility is currently free to subscribers - this really is a "no-brainer" - especially as this site is rapidly establishing itself as the fastest growing site in this niche.

If you're too busy and its just too much stress to do it yourself - then email me your details and I'll do it for you.

If you've got soooo much work that you don't need to promote yourself - email me anyway cos there may be opportunity to subcontract to other people on this site!

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May be you are a business executive seeking deeper insights into the complex and messy business of successfully leading and managing change - if so, you will find plenty of that on this site.

And if you're just "browsing" at the moment - that's just fine - I encourage you to "fill your boots":-)

But, if you're planning for, or currently involved in, a change initiative - can I be deeply controversial for a moment and suggest you spend some money?

We all love to think we can get all the knowledge and assistance we need online for free - I know... because I am like that! But the truth is - that's just another urban myth. There is always a price to pay and that price is paid in at least one of two ways:

(1) The price of the hours we've already spent (and will be spending) scouring the ether, trawling though sites like this to try to hoover up the free info that we think that we need...

(2) The price of not getting the information we really need because it's NOT actually available for free.

Nobody (not even me) gives away their best stuff for free - the "how to do it", the "putting it all together"...

So checkout the change guides featured below - less than the cost of a cheap meal out - and everything you need to know to seriously increase your chances of success with a change initiative (and a fast-track to a good grade on your course!).

If - for some inexplicable reason - my materials don't "hit the spot" for you, then may I suggest you go on Amazon and buy anything and everything by William Bridges and John Kotter - which is about as good as it gets - tho it will cost you a lot more!

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If you have just been appointed, and/or are looking for personal assistance - or at least to discuss it - take a look at the "Practitioner Listings" below and contact one of your fellow subscribers.

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OK, now to this week's featured articles. I want to continue with one of the subjects we explored last time in Neil Farmer's piece on "Putting People First" - the power of utilising the informal networks in organisations.

This subject is quite possibly the piece of the jig-saw that most of us miss. Thus I really want to draw your attention to this - as it goes to the very heart of the big issue in change initiatives - RESISTANCE!

Resistance to change and dealing with resistance to change is a subject about which much has been written and it remains a recurring subject in comments and questions posted on the website and about which people email me.

This is hardly surprising given the 70% failure rate.

I have taken the points covered last time by Neil Farmer and expanded this more fully into the context of my own and others' material on this site.

To keep this digestable, I have broken this down into 3 articles - each of which is linked to a fuller piece on the site supported by a series of indepth reports by Neil Farmer, Kon Katzenbach and others:

(1) Resistance to Change - Understanding the Critical Disconnects - Where They Are and How They Arise

(2) Resistance to Change - Working With Supportive Sub-Cultures to Overcome It

(3) Resistance to Change - Overcoming it by Working With Informal Networks

The links are shown below.

At risk of sounding like an American TV evangelist (sorry guys) I really commend this material to you - it's so overlooked and yet potentially so critical to success. And as I said last time, if Neil Farmer and colleagues can beat all the odds and achieve a 100% success rate on 5 massive change initiatives back to back over 7 years with this stuff - then really I think the rest of us (myself included) might learn something extremely valuable...

I really look forward to your feedback on this.

Best Wishes
Stephen

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Stephen Warrilow
Lynton Glenthorne Ltd
2 Beach Mews
The Beach
Clevedon
Bristol BS21 7QU
UK

+44 1275 349878
+44 7860 215986

Strategies for Managing Change

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Featured Articles

Resistance to Change - Understanding the Critical Disconnects

Resistance to Change - Working With Supportive Sub-Cultures to Overcome It

Resistance to Change - Overcoming it by Working With Informal Networks

Doing Homework or Research?

8 Brief Lessons Based on the Practitioners’ Masterclass

If you are looking to survive change and if you want to benefit from another man's experience there's no need to look any further - I have been there:

• I have delivered large messy projects. Hit targets. Pushed through unpopular measures. Sacked people. Made people cry. Been reduced to tears myself.

• I have lived through management reins of terror. Worked for tyrannical numbers-obsessed bosses. Built teams. Implemented strategy. Won friends in business and influenced people.

• In short, I've been there, seen it and done it - the good the bad and the ugly. I know what works and what doesn't - and why I have the scars to prove it.

Based extensively on the highly commended "Practitioners' Masterclass" and the "Practitioners' Quick Guide" you will learn and be guided through everything you need to know about surviving change in 8 brief lessons.

See here for: "Surviving Change"

Promote Your Services

Are you a change management practitioner or do you or your company provide relevant services to organsisations needing change management support?

As a subscriber to this site you are very welcome to advertise your services on this site by posting your business or personal profile on the site, full details here:

Change Management Practitioners Listings

Get Connected

Do you have something to share re your experiences of change management that will be of interest and benefit to others?

Do you have an article related to the theme of change management that you would like to publish? Or, do you have a comment on articles and comments already published?

Post your own articles and comment on the site and, if you wish, create your own profile FULLY LINKED from this site to your blog or site. See here for details:

Get Connected Here - "How to Manage Change in Practise"

Burning Question?

What is your most burning question about the whole business of leading and managing change...?

Or, what is your most burning question about being on the receiving end of change...?

What is Your Most Burning Question?

Alternatively, if you prefer email me direct at stephenwarrilow(AT)tiscali.co.uk

Resources

# Ideal as a working tool for a non expert manager

# An excellent change template for the smaller organisation

# Includes a single sheet QUICK GUIDE ideal for printing out and sticking on your wall or staff notice board

# Can be purchased separately or together with the full Masterclass

See here for full information - or click on image above left

# Equip yourself

# Stay one step ahead

# Challenge assumptions

# Deconstruct "group think"

# Gain tools & processes

# Manage the messy stuff

# Available in 5 individual sections or as a complete package with the Quick Guide

"This is an excellent reference for anyone involved in change management"

[Mike Pollard, Business Analyst, Business Improvement Unit, Information & Communication Services, University of Dundee]

See here for full information - or click on image above left

I can de-risk your initiative by making sure that you anticipate and resolve the issues that derail so many initiatives and lead to that 70% failure rate


Specialist support that:

• Focuses on the areas outside of the scope of traditional programme and change management methodologies

• Gets "under the radar", "behind the lines" - and does "whatever it takes" to ensure that you DO succeed and DON'T become part of the 70% of failures:

  # Before you have an issue - to anticipate it
  # When you have an issue - to neutralise and resolve it
  # After you’ve had an issue - to ensure it doesn’t happen again
  

Click here for more information and to contact me now

Pay It Forward

If you are finding this ezine and my website of value - may I ask you to email this newsletter to friends and colleagues with a brief note indicating that this may be of interest to them?

They can check out the site - via the links in the resources section below - and then, if they want to, they can subscribe and receive their copy of the free report that accompanies this ezine.

Thank you

Sign Up To This Ezine and Receive This FREE Report

This 29 page document is a brief introduction to some of the key themes and key points that you need to consider in starting the change process.

# Assessing the case for change

# The single biggest issue re managing change

# 8 key strategies for managing change

# 4 key steps to incremental change

# The 3 Keys to realising the benefits of step change

# Recognising the emotional dimension of leadership

# How to reduce the risk of failure of any major business initiative

See here for full information - or click on images above left or below

PLEASE NOTE: If you experience any difficulty with any of the links above - cut the WHOLE LINK and paste it directly into your browser.