Change Management Game

Subject

Leadership

Participants

Managers, stakeholders, Product Owners, agile coaches, HR department, board members (optional) and every person that has a leadership role

Facilitator

Agile coach / Agile master

Summary

The Change Management game is a method to design, share and bring awareness for good change management processes.

Definition

During the game, participants answer 34 questions, divided into 4 categories, in small groups with the aim of sharing stories about successful change management processes.

Motivation

The game is suitable when project managers, leaders of all types want to reflect for themselves, when companies and teams start a new project, during the agile retrospectives and just for sharing experiences with others. In general, there can be many occasions and triggers for change management. The need to change arises in very different areas of a company. Change projects are initiated when the company has reached a strategic turning point, when it is innovative, introduces new technologies, needs to save costs, suddenly experiences strong competition or needs a cultural change or even a change in leadership styles. We live in a time in which technologies, markets and working methods are changing rapidly. The reasons for this can partly be found in the unbelievably fast development in the IT area.

Results

Participants exchange stories and opinions on change. By answering the questions, the participants have to consider the system, individuals, interactions and the environment.

Benefit

The questions encourage reflection on aspects that might not otherwise be considered. They also help to gain new insights.

Procedure

The facilitator triggers the participants to imagine four areas of the 'change':

• individuals
• system
• interactions
• environment

The game is about questions only. These questions from the 34 question-cards enable participants to self-reflect and to introspect. Questions make contemplate certain things and often into topics that we don't want to discuss or things that we've been avoiding or trying to ignore. Participants are asked to cluster in small groups and to answer the questions from the given cards. They have to tell their change experiences/stories to the other participants and implicitly raise awareness for their decision taking and way of dealing with the change.

Tools

Flipchart/whiteboard, printed change management game and cards or template on miro board

Hints

The question cards might also be helpful in retrospectives.

See also

Management 3.0: "Change Management Game"