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What do you think is the most underrated skill set for change managers? I’d say it’s professional communication skills.

Most change managers and leaders are not communication professionals, which is totally fine, but it means they aren’t taking advantage of the huge opportunities that smart, considered communications can make to the success of your organisational transformation or change program.

This week’s episode of The New Way podcast is going to be a game changer for you!

My guest today is Melanie Gibbons. Mel is the founder of Elm Communications, a consultancy that focuses on providing strategic communication services across government, not-for-profit and the private sector in Australia. Mel is also President of the International Association of Business Communicators in Canberra.

Listen in now!

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Do you genuinely support your employees through the organisational change or transformation program?

I’m not just talking about the key events you might host on deployment day and big milestones you track along the change journey.

Instead, my question is about how you support your people in the quiet everyday moments when it comes to helping them build comfort adopting new ways of working.

Coaching is one tool that might be supportive when it comes to helping your organisation deliver more successful change. But what if your change program is impacting thousands of people. Can coaching be applied at scale?

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Are you feeling burnt out? Are you working from home or does your organisation have a hybrid model in place? How’s that working out for you?

So many transformation programs are digitally-enabled these days and our reliance on technology is greater than ever before… And so many of us are struggling, stuck in a cycle of unsustainable digital habits.

My guest on The New Way podcast today is Dr Kristy Goodwin.

Dr Kristy Goodwin is a speaker, author, and media commentator who’s fascinated by how our always switched-on, digital culture is compromising our wellbeing and is counter to optimal and sustainable organisational performance and learning.

Get ready! Kristy is an expert on this stuff and she shares a wealth of info in this episode.

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How did you feel the last time you had to get up and speak in public?

More and more change leaders are required to speak up.

We all know how important visible executive sponsorship is to the success of any change program. And these days being visible means speaking at town halls, in all kinds of team meetings, on video, on stage at conferences, sometimes even to the media, and briefing Ministers and executive boards.

If you find the idea of public speaking even a little bit intimidating, or you’d like to improve the way you deliver a message, this episode of The New Way podcast is for you.

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Have you ever thought about how much you do that is actually just wasted effort when it comes to managing change?

What actually makes a difference to the success of your change initiative? And what’s just a big waste of time?

Ha - I bet you immediately thought of a few time wasting things straight away!

Today on The New Way podcast I’m excited to bring you a great episode with my guest Justin Balaski.

Justin is the founder and principal consultant of IdeaLeap. He has a wealth of experience advising senior executives in multi-billion dollar organisations on the art and science of leading change. And Justin is all about taking a creative, people-centric, approach to lean change management that’s focused on co-creation, experimentation and iteration.

In this conversation, we explore the opportunities that come with taking a fresh, more modern approach to change management.

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Do you need to turn a bunch of boring data into a compelling story?

Whether the change program you’re supporting is a digital transformation, a financial transformation, introducing a grants process or new ways of working or improving the culture of the organisation or anything else - I know you’re dealing with a lot of data.

Being able to share the most important data in really impactful and engaging ways is going to make it way more likely that you’ll be able to deliver successful change.

​​That’s why today on The New Way podcast my guest is Kate Norris.

Kate is a presentation coach, speaker, former data analyst, the co-founder of Presentation Boss, and has a passion for presenting technical information. Kate’s speciality is turning dry information, including numbers, into energetic and engaging presentations.

In this episode, Kate and I explore how to use boring data to tell compelling stories that resonate with your audience.

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How can you make sure your most important stakeholders feel safe enough to genuinely engage with your change program?

Have you ever thought about how the mental health of your organisation impacts the success of your change initiatives?

Today on The New Way podcast we’re diving into exactly that.

I’m talking with author, executive coach, consultant and facilitator Tanya Heany-Voot. Tanya specialises in helping organisations build mentally healthy workplaces through individual, team and enterprise capability uplift and culture change.

In this eye-opening convo, we talk all about why psychological safety matters for change success and how it impacts workplace culture.

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People won’t follow you if they don’t trust you.

Trust has an enormous impact on organisations and our effectiveness as change leaders.

My guest on The New Way podcast this week is Melanie Marshall. Melanie is an author, speaker and coach who specialises in helping organisations build high performing cultures and trust transformations. Melanie has extensive public sector experience in complex, large-scale organisations, and private industry experience.

In this episode, we talk about how to build trust when leading change. Melanie defines trust at work as a personal decision individuals make for something they haven’t experienced yet. In this way trust requires vulnerability, it’s contextual and is based on folks’ past experiences AND the current situation.

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Is the way you’re communicating with your most important stakeholders actually working?

No pressure, but as the change leader (or a member of the change team) the way you personally communicate can make or break the success of the whole change program.

My guest today is the remarkable Sharon Pakir. Sharon is a leadership coach and mentor who helps leaders become more powerful through her online workshops and corporate leadership programs. Sharon recently came and hosted a masterclass on connective communication for my team #TeamEVER. I’m excited to have her on the show to share her expertise with you.

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Do you know how to communicate in a clear and compelling way when the pressure’s on?

Change doesn’t always go according to plan and many leaders struggle to know how to communicate their transformation agenda effectively. But it’s a game-changer when they get it right!

Today on The New Way podcast, I’m excited to share my conversation with Lucy Beytagh about mastering calm communication.

Lucy Beytagh is the Founder and Managing Director of The LKB Agency, which specialises in corporate communications, engagement, and events management.

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Can you even remember what your organisational values are? No stress if you can’t.

Experience tells me that most folks can’t easily recall them, and that while the org values might be written on a poster in the office hallway, rarely are they genuinely alive in the business.

But taking a values-led approach to your change management efforts can help you more effectively deliver that organisational transformation program you’re charged with.

My guest today on The New Way podcast is Ami Summers. Ami is a leadership development consultant, engagement specialist, an accredited coach and director of Craft Coaching and Development. Ami uses proven frameworks, evidence-based strategies and tools to help folks define values-led approaches to delivering meaningful outcomes.

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What does biz architecture have to do with change management? I’ve recently learnt the answer to that question is: a whole damn lot (and definitely more than most of the change managers I know realise).

For example, aligning your transformation program’s change management and business architecture efforts means your initiative is more likely to help bring org strategy to life AND less likely to piss off important stakeholders.

But how EXACTLY can business architecture help change leaders deliver more successful transformation programs?

In this week’s ep of The New Way podcast, we’ll discover just that.

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Is the way you’re engaging stakeholders and citizens right now working?

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that your engagement communications can make or break your change program.

Change communication strategies and plans that comprise mainly a matrix of uninspiring emails sent out by the Senior Responsible Officer just won’t cut it anymore. Your communication efforts need to be prioritised right from the outset, considered, planned, funded, and impactful. These days you need to think like a media company.

My guest today is David Pembroke, who established the government communications agency ‘contentgroup’ in 1997 and is well known for his government and public sector communication expertise. David is dedicated to improving the effectiveness of government through building public sector communication and engagement capability.

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Could you do with some time off? I know I could.

To make the most of your time off you’ve got to prepare and create the space to make it happen. Future you will be so happy you did!

Seriously, now is the time to think about this stuff.

Prepare your change initiative now so you can enjoy a few well deserved weeks off - not thinking about work at all! - secure in the knowledge that the transformation program you’re responsible for is still on track and stakeholders are supported during the time you’re off.

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Did you know that research out of Harvard Business School proves that your leadership style is responsible for 30% of the company’s bottom line profitability? 30% is huge!

If that’s not a good reason to think about clarifying and developing your leadership style (and the leadership capability of everyone in your team!) then I don’t know what is…

This is just one of the reasons why the concept of our change leadership styles is something that I’ve become fascinated by.

In fact, I’m convinced knowing and understanding your personal change leadership style can have a huge, positive impact on the success of your change initiative.

That’s why, earlier this year, I started building out a matrix of leadership styles that are specific to driving and delivering organisational change and transformation.

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Look, in terms of being effective at work day to day, as far as I’m concerned, being crystal clear on my priorities each day in a really practical, grounded way, is the holy grail.

Clear priorities and knowing exactly what to work on next is especially important for folks like you who are responsible for driving and delivering organisational change, because - like you’ve probably heard me say before - of course, the way you run your day is the way you run the change program.

Change managers and communication specialists often have a huge amount of responsibility on their shoulders, and a massive scope of work they need to manage and deliver. It’s full-on.

I know from personal experience that overwhelm and confusion can be a huge roadblock to actually getting anything useful done on any given day.

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How are you?

These days anytime I ask *anyone* how they are, the answer is usually BUSY. I bet that’s what you hear from folks all the time too… In fact, I’m also willing to bet that that’s how you responded to the last person that asked you how you’re going too.

And of course, this is especially true if you’re a change leader, transformation expert or communication specialist.

It makes sense - I mean, day to day you’re likely run off your feet, in back to back (Zoom) meetings, supporting stakeholders, and progressing the change and communication and training plans.

But when you’re responsible for driving and delivering organisational transformation, there’s a real problem with being super busy all the time, because it means you just don’t have much time to think.

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that, when you’re in charge of designing and delivering the overarching change and communication strategy for an organisation or whole-of-gov initiative, well, having time to think becomes very important.

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I hate those days that are packed with back to back calls and Zoom meetings, when you barely have time to grab lunch, make a cuppa, or even go to the bathroom… yet when 5pm (6pm? 7pm?) rolls around you have nothing to show for your efforts.

Can you relate?

It’s the worst! And yet, I know days like those are the norm for so many change leaders, transformation experts and communication specialists right now.

The other day, I saw some research that says 87% of knowledge workers are working 2+ hours extra every day than they were in 2019. Two hours! The research went on to say that, even so, more than a quarter of our work deadlines are still missed each week. That’s crazy!

If your schedule’s out of control, this week’s ep of The New Way is for you. I’m sharing the method I use every day to manage my workload.

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So many folks I know working in change, transformation and communication are overwhelmed right now.

Anytime I catch up for a (virtual) brew with friends and colleagues, I hear the same things over and over:

“I’m struggling under the weight of a mammoth workload, with no end in sight.”

“My To-Do list keeps bloody growing, no matter how many tasks I try to tick off.”

“I’ll just get over this hump, then I’ll have a bit of breathing space.”

Do you relate?

Organisations need change and transformation experts more than ever, and that means that many of us are on the verge of overwhelm managing unreasonable workloads.

That’s why, in today’s ep of The New Way Podcast, I’m sharing the 5D hack for busy change managers you’ll wish you’d known sooner.

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Experience in the change management trenches has taught me that there are 4 essential must-have ingredients for organisational change success. And that without these 4 ingredients in place, well... you’re screwed.

(Spoiler: The 3rd one is the one everyone forgets. The 4th is the one that can suddenly, out of the blue and at the very worst time, cause the most pain and bring everything to a screeching halt.)

The 4 ingredients aren’t part of a change methodology or typical list of what qualities to look for in a change manager.

Instead, this is my personal take on what - pragmatically - makes organisational transformation likely to be more successful.

No matter what type of organisational change you’re hoping to bring to life, without these 4 bad boys, you just won’t get anywhere. You’ll have nothing but pain, spinning wheels, and frustration.

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