- What is Change Management?
- What types of change can organisations encounter?
- Why implement change management?
- The key principles of successful change
- Do you have a need for Change Management?
- What benefits can be expected from well-executed Change Management?
- The 3 dimensions of Change Management
- Transformation compared to Change Management
- To be supported through change
Change is part of an organisation's life. New tools, reorganisations, mergers, cultural evolutions... it's not enough to decide on a change for it to happen naturally.
The key isn't just the plan: it's the way people experience it. Change Managementhelps to support people, teams, and systems in a realistic, human and sustainable transformation.
At The Laughing Willow, we help organisations approach change with clarity, method, and collective intelligence.
Change Management is a set of practices designed to facilitate people’s adoption and ownership of change..
It is not simply about “communicating” or “training”, it is about supporting a transition, helping people move from a “before” state to an “after” state.
Unlike strategic transformation, which focuses on the organisation’s vision or processes, change management focuses on people : it is about how individuals understand, accept, adapt to, and engage with change.
Here are some concrete examples that we regularly support:
- Internal reorganisation or team merger
- Change of direction or governance
- Managerial or cultural transition
- Deployment of a strategic project at a national or international scale
- Implementation of a business system or new tool
Every type of change generates specific human impacts that must be identified, listened to and supported.
Change management becomes essential as soon as a project affects employees' behaviours, habits, or roles. Without support, we often observe:
- Passive resistance
- A loss of engagement
- A deterioration in communication
- and sometimes even the failure of the project itself
The role of Change Management is therefore to prepare, support and secure the change at all stages.
because they are the ones who embody change on a daily basis if managers are actively involved, as they are the ones who embody change on a daily basis.
Here are the foundations we observe in all successful change projects:
- Giving meaning, having a clear and shared vision : why this change? What for?
- Active involvement of key stakeholders, particularly line managers
- A support structure who respects human rhythms
- Open and regular communication, no-nonsense
- A right to adjustment, to regulation, to error
It is on this basis that we build our support at The Laughing Willow.
Here are the main stages of structured support:
- Diagnostic and impact mapping
The areas of tension, stakeholders, and human risks are identified. - Co-creation of the support plan
What needs? What priorities? What formats (workshops, coaching, communication)? - Implementation
Team sessions, manager support, communication activities, feedback workshops. - Monitoring and adjustments
Adhesion is measured, we adapt, we embed. The plan is never fixed.
Structured support allows for:
- Reduce project failure rates (up to 70 % of projects fail without Change Management – source Prosci, 2022)
- Speed up accession and the deployment
- Limit performance losses in a period of transition
- Maintain team motivation and mental health
- Promoting the sustainability of change in the past
Change doesn't occur at the same level for everyone. It's essential to work on three distinct levels:
- Individuel (Individual Change Management)
Every employee experiences change in their own way. Good support helps each person to understand, accept, and commit. - Team (Team Change Management)
Teams need to continue operating despite uncertainty. This requires regulation, realignment, and redefining roles. - Organisation (Organisational Change Capability)
Change becomes sustainable when it is embedded in culture, governance, and collective learning.
The Laughing Willow acts on these three levels, with diligence, respect and clarity.
These two terms are sometimes used interchangeably... but they refer to different realities. Here's a simple comparison to make things clearer:
| Transformation | Change Management |
| It is the objective: a fundamental change in the organisation | It is the process: how do we support this change humanely |
| Door to the model, strategy, culture | Door on the behaviours, resistances, adhesion |
| Aim for reinventing the organisation | Aim for smooth and secure the transition |
| Requires a breakthrough vision | Requires a support method |
| Examples: business model change, merger, HR overhaul | Examples: internal communication, meaning workshops, coaching |
Transformation sets the course. Change Management makes the journey possible.
Supporting change is not about ticking boxes on a project plan.
It is about creating connection, building meaning, and restoring trust..
The Laughing Willow supports organisations with a human, systemic, and grounded approach.
Our coaches are certified, supervised, and know how to navigate complex, multicultural, and ever-changing environments.
Would you like to discuss it? Let’s talk about your context.