APMG Change Practitioner key terms

A model describing the psychological journey people make when an external change occurs, in three phases: letting go of the ending, moving through a disorienting neutral zone, and making a new beginning.

A description of the emotional reactions many people show after significant change, typically moving through shock or denial, frustration or anger, bargaining, low mood, and gradual acceptance and adjustment.

A four-stage account of learning a new skill: unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence and unconscious competence. It helps change leaders pitch training and support at the level each person has reached.

The band of difficulty just beyond a person's current ability where learning is fastest: challenging enough to stretch them, but not so far that it triggers panic, anxiety or withdrawal.

A person's belief in their own ability to organise and carry out the actions needed to handle a situation. Stronger self-efficacy usually predicts more persistence and greater willingness to try new ways of working.

An individual's general belief about whether outcomes depend mainly on their own actions (internal locus) or on outside forces such as luck, other people or the system (external locus).

The discomfort a person feels when holding two conflicting beliefs, or when their behaviour clashes with their values. People relieve it by changing what they do or by reinterpreting the situation.

Any behaviour that slows, diverts or blocks a change, from open objection to quiet non-compliance. Treated well, it is useful information about concerns rather than evidence of disloyalty.

A model of how people move from first awareness, through understanding and buy-in, to ownership of a change, with each step requiring different communication, involvement and support to progress.

The ability to notice, understand and manage one's own emotions, and to read and respond well to the emotions of others; particularly valuable when guiding people through unsettling change.

The shared assumptions, values, norms and habits that shape how people in an organisation actually behave, often held below conscious awareness and frequently different from what is written down.

A way of describing culture in layers: visible artefacts and behaviours, espoused values and stated beliefs, and deeper basic assumptions that are taken for granted and quietly drive behaviour.

A diagnostic framework that examines an organisation's stories, rituals and routines, symbols, structures, control systems and power structures, together with the paradigm that holds these elements in place.

A deliberate, sequenced programme designed in advance with defined stages, targets and roles. It suits conditions that are reasonably predictable and where the organisation can control much of the process.

Change that develops continuously through many small adaptations and interactions rather than following a designed plan, often better suited to complex, fast-moving or uncertain environments.

A technique that lists the driving forces pushing toward a change and the restraining forces holding the current situation in place, then plans how to strengthen or weaken them.

A foundational model of change as unfreezing the current equilibrium, moving to a new way of working, and refreezing so the new state becomes stable and self-supporting.

A sequence of leadership actions for large-scale change, starting with urgency and a guiding coalition, moving through vision and short-term wins, and ending by consolidating gains and anchoring new practice in culture.

The extent to which an organisation and its people are aware of, willing and able to adopt a change, shaped by leadership support, capability, capacity and previous experience of change.

An approach that views an organisation as a set of interconnected parts, so a change in one area produces knock-on effects elsewhere and unintended consequences must be anticipated rather than discovered late.

The process of identifying everyone affected by or able to influence a change, and assessing their interests, influence, attitudes and needs so that engagement effort can be targeted.

A matrix plotting stakeholders by how much influence they hold and how much they care about the change, guiding whether to manage closely, keep satisfied, keep informed or simply monitor.

A way of ranking stakeholder priority by combining power, the legitimacy of their claim and the urgency of their interest; those strong on several dimensions usually demand closest attention.

The deliberate work of building understanding, trust and participation with people affected by a change, so their knowledge is used and their support is earned rather than assumed.

The senior leader with authority and accountability for a change, who secures resources, resolves escalations, builds coalitions and visibly champions the initiative across the wider organisation.

A group of people spread across the organisation who support a change locally, acting as two-way channels for information, feedback and informal influence beyond the formal project team.

Assembling a group of influential people who actively back a change, giving it credibility, shared ownership and the political weight needed to overcome resistance and sustain momentum.

A structured schedule setting out who needs what information about a change, from whom, through which channels, when, and for what purpose, with feedback routes built in.

The small number of core statements a change needs its audiences to understand and remember, expressed in plain, consistent language so they survive repetition across many channels.

Exchange in which people receiving information can respond, question and influence decisions, giving leaders feedback on concerns and helping staff feel heard rather than simply told.

The degree to which people invest attention, commitment and discretionary effort in a change, built through involvement, dialogue and being treated as participants rather than passive recipients.

Choosing the right medium for a message and audience, balancing reach, richness, speed and cost; sensitive or contested change messages usually need richer, more interactive channels.

Using narrative with concrete people, events and meaning to explain why a change matters, making messages memorable and emotionally resonant in ways that statistics alone rarely achieve.

A structured review of which processes, roles, systems, skills and behaviours a change will alter, and for whom, used to plan support and judge the scale of disruption.

A diagnostic that gauges whether the organisation and its people are prepared for a change, examining leadership support, capacity, capability, awareness and past experience of change.

The document describing how a change will be delivered across people, stakeholders and communication, covering activities, roles, timelines, risks, and how adoption will be measured and sustained.

The work of embedding a change so new behaviours persist after project attention and resources move elsewhere, through reinforcement, performance measures, clear roles and consistent leadership.

The discipline of defining, tracking and securing the measurable outcomes a change was meant to deliver, making sure benefits are owned and continue after the initiative closes.

A formal process for reviewing, approving and recording changes to scope, schedule or approach after the baseline is agreed, preventing unmanaged drift during a change initiative.