Making change work in your business
Change is often treated as a separate project running alongside a business event. Almost as another set of actions to manage.
I tend to see it differently.
Change is a natural part of how a business progresses, and it usually sits within the event itself rather than alongside it.
The business may be growing, restructuring, introducing a new system, integrating after an acquisition, recovering from disruption, or simply changing the way part of the organisation works.
Whatever the reason, there are usually two sides to change.
There’s the practical side, what needs to change, how it'll be implemented and how the business keeps moving while that happens.
And there’s the people side, what the change means for those affected, how clearly it's understood, and whether the new way of working actually becomes part of the day-to-day.
I work across both sides, from the practical delivery through to helping people adapt to what's changing.
What that can involve
That can include:
-
Change planning - defining what needs to change and taking it through implementation
-
Impact across the business - preparing for and managing how the change affects different areas
-
Roles and responsibilities - reshaping ownership and expectations where needed
-
Systems, processes and automation - introducing new tools and helping them become part of the day-to-day
-
Merger and acquisition integration - supporting people and aligning processes and ways of working as businesses come together
-
Team and individual transition - helping people understand what's changing and adapt to new structures
-
Stalled projects - restarting or moving forward a change initiative that's lost momentum
-
Wider change programmes - managing broader change from start to finish
The scale can vary from a relatively small change in one area through to something larger across the business.
How I work
I start by understanding what the change is meant to achieve and what else it’s likely to affect.
From there, I look at the practical work, the timing, the people involved, the likely pressure points and what needs to happen to keep things working while the change is introduced.
I involve the people closest to the work because they usually see things that are easy to miss from a distance.
That doesn’t mean every decision becomes a committee exercise. It means getting enough real-world input to make the change more workable and more likely to stick.
Where needed, I can take responsibility for the change itself, not just advise on it.
Both sides of change matter
A change can make perfect sense on paper and still fail in practice if people don’t understand what is changing, why it matters or what's expected of them afterwards.
By paying close attention to communication, roles, responsibilities, confidence and how people are actually experiencing the change, I help make it work for the people affected by it.
Sometimes people need clear information, or they need space to work through what the change means for them. Sometimes managers need support helping their teams adapt.
While formal APMG and CMI qualifications give structure to my approach, what I bring best comes from applying that knowledge in real businesses, with real constraints, real people and real consequences.
“Ruth has initiated and managed change, introduced processes, structure, organisational, and strategic improvements and developments. She succeeds in making problems go away.”
(IH, Managing Director, SME Sector)
Next steps
If your business is going through change, or you need someone experienced to take responsibility for a change project and help the people affected through it, get in touch and we can talk through what's needed.