Leading Through Change Negotiations -Prepared, Together

Organisation

• Global organization operating approximately in 200 countries

• 400 employees in 50 countries working for the function under renewal

Background of the training programs​

The client organization is carrying out a major, multi-phase transformation of its operating model, a renewal designed to take several years to complete. The phase in question involved restructuring of functions, which led to statutory change negotiations and a reorganization of roles and responsibilities. For the leadership team of one of the organization’s key functions, this meant leading their teams through profound uncertainty while simultaneously processing what the change meant for themselves both professionally and personally.​

To support the leadership team through this demanding phase, a group coaching process was designed with two objectives:​

• Support individuals and the leadership team. Create a safe space to share emotions, concerns, and questions about the change, ensuring everyone feels seen and heard enabling leaders to focus on their roles and responsibilities, and to co-lead with clarity and confidence amid times of turbulence.​

  
  

• Clarify and strengthen each leader's role and vision to lead forward. Clarify how the change shapes one's professional identity, role, and leadership expectations across the different phases of the transformation and strengthen focus on the future and the shared vision​

"This journey has helped us grow significantly."

How the trainings were designed and delivered​

The process began with a diagnosis phase: a discussion with the head of the leadership team and her manager to identify the critical needs for support, the objectives, and the desired outcomes, complemented by a short questionnaire to the leadership team members.​

The group coaching process was built to run alongside the transformation, with sessions held approximately once a month. Between the group sessions, individual sparring sessions with the head of the leadership team supported her in steering both the team and the change.​

The process consisted of four group coaching sessions, each themed to match where the team and the transformation stood at that moment:​

1. Exploring one's relationship with the ongoing change at the subject-matter, emotional, and identity levels, and investigating the beliefs, loyalties, and other systemic principles shaping the change landscape.​

   
   

2. Personal resilience and how to strengthen the organization's resilience in the midst of major change.​

   
   

3. Preparing for the change negotiations equipping the leaders to navigate the upcoming consultations with both clarity and humanity.​

   
   

4. Reflecting on the change negotiations and on one's own situation as a leader in the middle of a major transformation.​

A defining feature of the process was its responsiveness: the themes were not locked in advance but evolved with the situation, ensuring that each session addressed what was most acute for the leaders at that point in the transformation journey.​

Client Voice

“This change journey has helped us grow significantly. We have learned an enormous amount and developed as leaders to the next level.​ We handled the change negotiation phase well and humanely. This development process helped us prepare for what was ahead, both mentally and in concrete terms.

We had been given enough space to process the upcoming change together as a team and from our own individual perspectives. That carried us through the negotiation period.​ Now there is a sense of calm. This is a good place to continue from."​

– The leadership team's shared reflections, gathered in the closing session of the process