APMG International Change Management

Overview 

This program combines two certification programs into one five day course. It will provide practical knowledge on Change Management techniques as well as the Foundation™ and Practitioner™ certifications (two certifications, two exams). Please note: The Change Management Foundation™ and Change Management Practitioner™ programs are available separately and not only as a single package as outlined above. In order to obtain your Change Management Professional (CMP) designation, you must successful pass both exams.

Foundation™ – Getting the Basics (days 1-3)

During the first three days of this program, you will examine various Change Management techniques and models that can be effectively implemented within your organization. This structured approach will help you understand how to navigate change as an individual, as a member of a team/organization, and as a leader. The program is designed to explore the impact that change has on the following four major areas:

• Change and the Individual
• Change and the Organization
• Communications and Stakeholder Engagement
• Change Management Practice

This certification program also prepares you to complete the APMG International Change Management Foundation™ exam. Given that a primary course goal is to achieve Foundation™ certification, the course textbook will be provided in advance of the workshop so that participants may begin studying right away. In addition, daily homework assignments (min. 2 hours a night) and practice exams will be provided. The Foundation™ level exam is taken at the end of the third day of the course.

Performance Outcomes

• Preparing individuals for change
• Assessing organizational change readiness and change impact
• Leading organizational change
• Engaging stakeholders for successful change
• Preparing for the Foundation exam

Practitioner™ – Going beyond the Basics (days 4-5)

You will examine the application of various Change Management techniques in different contexts. The last two days of the program focuses on understanding how to apply and tailor change management guidance in a given organizational change situation. A successful Practitioner candidate should, with suitable direction, be able to start applying the change management approaches and techniques to a real change initiative; however they may not be sufficiently skilled to do this appropriately for all situations. His/her individual change management expertise, complexity of the change initiative and the support provided for the use of change management approaches in their work environment will all be factors that impact what the Practitioner can achieve.

This course will further develop some of the knowledge of Change Management learned during the Foundation™ certification. You will consider what learning is required and how best to design and deliver it. Then the course will provide an understanding of how Change Management fits into the Project Management environment. This course also prepares you for the APMG International Change Management Practitioner™ exam that will take place on the fifth day. Given that a primary course goal is to achieve both Foundation™ and Practitioner™ certification, the program textbook(s) will be provided in advance of the program so that participant may begin studying right away. In addition, daily homework/assignments (min. 2 hours a night), and practice quizzes will be provided.

Performance Outcomes

• Developing individuals’ learning to enable change
• Managing change within the project environment
• Delivering sustainable change

 

Audience 

Who should attend this program?

• Who should attend this program
• Those wishing to achieve CMP certification (Foundation™ + Practitioner™)
• Those working in organizations where a change initiative is being planned or taking place
• Intermediate/advanced Change Management specialists
• Anyone in a role that involves leading, managing, or supporting the change initiative, particularly for those working in organizations wherein a change initiative is being planned or taking place

Prerequisites

• Strong understanding of Change Management concepts.
• Mandatory pre-reading: The Effective Change Manager’s Handbook and The Change Management Practitioner Handbook, read both in full.
• Approximately two (2) hours of study is recommended each evening.
• To qualify for day 4 and day 5 of the program, participants must successfully complete the APMG International Change Management Foundation™ exam with a pass rate of 50% or higher.

Learning Objectives 

• How to explore the dynamics of effective change work.
• Understand how individuals learn and why many may resist change.
• Understand how to build an effective change team and enable teams to work together.
• Describe the stakeholder engagement process and relate this to appropriate communication.
• Understand various approaches to plan, implement, and sustain organizational change.
• Understand how to assess change impact and readiness and deal with resistance.
• Understand the key principles in defining what is to be learned by all involved in a change initiative.
• Describe the project environment in which change is governed and delivered.
• Understand the organizational “levers”, adoption approaches, and reinforcing systems typically used to sustain change.
• Improve your ability to pass the APMG Change Management Foundation™ and Practitioner™ certification exams.

Content Outline

Foundation – Getting Started (day 1-3)

• Introductions
• Course structure
• Course goals and objectives

Change and the Individual

• How people learn
• Personality and change – introduction to MBTI
• Models of individual change – the Change Curve and Bridges’ Transition
• Motivating individuals during change

Change and the Organization

• Understanding organizational metaphors
• Organizational culture and change
• 3 models of change – Lewin, Kotter, and Senge
• Key roles in change

Stakeholder Engagement

• Identifying and analyzing stakeholders
• Personas and empathy maps
• Influencing strategies

Communication

• Feedback and communication approaches
• Communicating change – planning, factors, and barriers
• Communication biases and channels

Change Impact

• Identifying and assessing change impact
• Stakeholder impact assessment
• Change severity assessment

Change Readiness

• Building change agent networks and the change team
• How to make the organization ready for change
• Creating a change management plan
• Dealing with resistance to change

Practitioner – Getting Started (days 4-5)

• Introductions
• Course structure
• Course goals and objectives

Learning and Change

• Defining and managing the required learning to enable change

The Project Management Environment

• Understanding the project environment
• Identifying key roles
• Developing a change delivery plan

Sustaining Change

• How levers enable the adoption of change
• Types of levers (Environmental levers, Leadership levers, and Organizational Development levers)

About the Exams

APMG International Change Management Foundation™ Exam Preparation and Exam (day 3)

• Review of and practice with APMG sample questions and test papers
• The exam is taken and marked (provisionally) within the course
• 40 minutes, closed-book exam
• 50 multiple-choice style questions
• 25 marks required (out of 50 available) to pass – 50% pass mark

Passing the Change Management™ Foundation-level exam with a pass rate of 50% or higher is a prerequisite for sitting the Change Management Practitioner exam.

APMG International Change Management Practitioner™ Exam Preparation and Exam (day 5)

• Review of and practice with APMG sample questions and test papers
• The exam is taken and submitted to APMG for marking
• 2.5 hour open-book exam (using only The Effective Change Manager’s Handbook and the APMG Candidate’s Guide to The Effective Change Manager’s Handbook)
• Objective Testing Exam (OTE) multiple-choice questions
• 4 questions per paper (Change and the Individual, Change and the Organization, Communications and Stakeholder Engagement, and Change Management Practice), sub-divided into a number of parts, each being worth 20 marks available per question – all question items are worth 1 mark, with the total number of 80 marks possible per paper
• Pass mark is a total of 40 or more out of a possible 80 (50%)

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