Step 1: Understand

People and organisations that make sure they’re prepared for change are more successful in making it work. The first step in making a plan is to make sure the person, or people, rolling out change understand what it means in practice and can explain why that change is needed.

To make sure you’re read to lead change, bring together the people involved in making the change happen and discuss the questions below. If there’s any uncertainty, or some people disagree on any of the answers, do a bit more digging and come back to it. 

If the changes you’re making are part of the Skills for Life strategy, you can find summaries of our key focus areas at the bottom of this page. You can also find information on the Scouts website that can help to build your understanding. You may want to chat to people locally who can help, too.

Do we understand what’s changing?

How to find out more:

• Read and discuss information relating to the changes. Visit webpages that outline what needs to be changed and why.
• Discuss with local colleagues what they understand about the changes that are happening to see if you’ve a common understanding.

Do we recognise why the change is needed?

How to find out more:

• Consider how the changes may impact you. Think about the benefits once the changes are implemented locally.
• Connect with and listen to the people who you know are excited about the benefits the changes will bring locally. 

Do we know what will not change?

How to find out more:

• Consider the ways you currently do things locally. What will likely stay the same? Knowing this can be reassuring for those who are concerned about upcoming changes, particularly in relation to their role.

Do we know who the change will impact and in what ways?

How to find out more:

• Identify everyone who’ll need to know about these changes, including those who’ll be directly affected.
• Speak to those people you’ve identified, using appropriate settings, including face-to-face meetings and informal chats. Do they know anyone else who may be affected that you may have overlooked?

That’s OK, that’s what this step’s all about. Acknowledging you’re not ready is a great opportunity to explore what’s needed to get you ready. Building your own awareness of the changes and understanding why they’re important is a key part in the change journey. Taking the time to do this properly will mean the process is more likely to be a positive experience for you and those around you. It’ll also mean the changes are more likely to be successful.

Once you understand the changes and feel personally ready to lead change, you’re ready to support others in your patch who’ll need to adopt the changes too. To be able to support everyone in the right way, consider the following questions:

• Who will the changes impact in my area?
• Do they understand the changes and the need for it?
• Are they motivated to make the changes successful?
• Do they know how to practically make the changes happen?
• Do they have the skills to be able to adopt the changes?
• What challenges or barriers might they face and how can we overcome these?

We’ve created a tool that’ll help you to answer these questions and map out how ready your local area is for change, so that you can create a thorough plan in response.

Download the 'Is my patch ready for change?' tool

Change can often take a long time to achieve. It’s common in many types of change to come up against barriers, or resistance.

If you’ve used the 'Is my patch ready for change?' tool, then you might already have a good idea of the types of barriers people in your patch will face when getting ready for change.

There are several different ways in which you might help people in your patch overcome some of these barriers, such as:

1. Communicate the 'Big Why' and the reason for the change

Ongoing communication’s an important part of change. We’ve developed a set of tools to help you plan the best ways to communicate with the people in your patch. Communicating and helping your patch to be aware of and understand the reasons for the change is the first step in helping them overcome any barriers they might face.

2. Discuss the benefits of the change

Talking about the benefits a change will bring can help to overcome barriers, build desire and increase momentum. When discussing the benefits, you can talk about the overall benefits or positives that’ll come from the changes, but also how the change will personally benefit your patch.

3. Engage with people directly and listen to their concerns

It’s only natural that there may be some concerns about change. For some people, this’ll be an emotional time and they may have a variety of feelings about the changes, especially if it impacts them personally. That’s why it’s important to understand the changes yourself so you can understand the impact it will have on others.

Are you ready to move onto Step 2? Before moving on to plan, the people leading the change should:

• understand the changes and be able to confidently explain why they are needed
• recognise how the changes will affect their local area
• know who the changes will impact in their patch and have considered those people’s understanding of the changes
• have explored the barriers they may face to implementing change and how to overcome these