Purpose

This exercise is suitable for delegates who are going through change or there has been significant change at work. Can be used as part of a change management course as well.

Objective

Examine past events and identify what it felt to go through change as a way to learn from the past.

What You Need

A copy of “Change Questionnaire” for all delegates provided below.

Setup

• Divide the delegates to pairs. If you have an odd number of delegates, use a group of 3.
• Distribute the Change Questionnaire to all delegates.
• Ask pairs to think individually about 5 major changes they experienced in their lives. Ask them to write these on their forms.
• Next, ask them to go through the questions listed in the forms for the 5 events and answer them verbally to their partner. Delegates should only share events they are comfortable to share.
• Encourage pairs to have a conversation around the changes they have experienced in the past and how the new change could relate to their previous experience.
• Allow 15 minutes for this part.
• Get everyone back together and ask them to share their thoughts with a discussion.

Timing

Explaining the Exercise: 2 minutes

Activity: 15 minutes

Group Feedback: 10 minutes

Discussion

Do you feel closer to others? Do you feel that you have gone through a similar process before and you can easily handle it? What did you learn from your partner and his handling of such events? What is an ideal strategy to use to respond to change? What is the most important lesson you learned from listening to others experiences and their response?

Change Questionnaire

NAME: _________________

Five major changes in my life were:

1: ___________________________________________

2: ___________________________________________

3: ___________________________________________

4: ___________________________________________

5: ___________________________________________

Questions:

1. How did you handle the change?

2. What was challenging about the change?

3. How did others manage the change?

4. How were you affected by others reactions and what did you do about it?

5. Did you support others in managing the change? If so, how?