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I was recently reading an article by John Kotter, on his 8 Step Change model and how to build successful change management plans, my hyperactive brain immediately associated the Harvard Business School professor’s name with that of a certain famous wizard – yes, you guessed it – Harry Potter. I thought to myself, “What if it were possible to use magic to solve challenges in Change Management?”

This brings me to my blog this week: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Change. Unfortunately, we Muggles don’t have the ability to use “Wingardium leviosa” on our adoption rates, but it doesn’t hurt to dream. So without any further incantations, here are the 3 challenges I would like to solve with magic.

1. The Initial shock of the decision

When the Change is first announced, many employees first reaction is quite simply Shock and horror. When at first, the idea of change is presented to them; they freeze. In the wizarding world, the simple solution is to brew a calming draught; (A Calming Draught was a potion used to calm a person down after they had suffered a shock, trauma, or emotional outburst.)

In reality though, we must reassure the employees. Reinforce the magic of the change – why this idea is what will take the company forward and their role in the process.

2. Adoption of the Change

One of the biggest obstacles in the change process is employee adoption. Getting your team behind the change can be tricky, if only it was as simple as brewing a love potion, and make them fall in love with the idea. Again, a reality check is in order.

Getting your team to fall in love with the new system doesn’t require spells and potions; there are many ways to boost your adoption rates. Two of the more effective methods are getting users involved from the outset; let those who will be the most involved in the process to help design the change, and be ambassadors of the change. The second is effective internal communication, Promote and communicate the benefits of the change on a regular basis and keep everyone up to date.

3. Employee Training

Training a team of employees can be difficult. People learn at different speeds and often when transitioning to a new system, small details are forgotten. Wouldn’t it just be so simple to give everyone a Remembrall to remind them when they have forgotten that small important detail? (A remembrall is a tennis ball-sized glass ball that contains smoke that turns red when its owner has forgotten something. It turns clear once whatever was forgotten is remembered)

Nowadays we can do even better than that! With online guidance systems that can Walk you through the process and leave little chance of you forgetting something critical, a remembrall would be surplus to requirements.

However, despite all of the wonderful attributes of online guidance systems and their effect on making employee training that much easier, I’d still give all the Golden Galleons in Gringotts Bank to swap it for a Hogwarts letter.