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Practical training · 2 days

Change Facilitator Training

A toolbox of participatory methods for implementing organizational change that people actually accept.

In short

Change Facilitator Training is a two-day practical training that gives leaders, HR and OD practitioners a toolbox of participatory methods for implementing organizational change, structured on Kurt Lewin's three-stage model — Unfreeze, Change, Refreeze.

Duration
2 days
Format
Public course · In-company · Customized change programs
Group size
Max 25 participants
Who it is for
Everyone involved in implementing change — leaders, consultants, trainers, HR and OD practitioners

About this program

Change is difficult. A main reason major change efforts fail is that the fears, uncertainties and culture clashes among the people affected are ignored. Put the right resources into planning for the human effects, help the new culture emerge healthily, and the returns are substantial — the earlier the work starts, the higher those returns.

We also believe only self-determined change is sustainable. Employees act on what they understand and accept; they do not like being told what to think. Involving every employee in the reasoning behind the change is what makes it stick.

Kurt Lewin's change model — Unfreeze, Change, Refreeze

We use the practical framework developed by Kurt Lewin, a pioneer in social psychology, organizational development and change facilitation. Unfreeze: create understanding of the change and deal with resistance. Change: develop a concrete plan of what, who and when. Refreeze: review and re-energise the change. The training provides the best participatory tools for each of the three stages.

What you gain

Understanding before compliance

Tools that help people grasp why a change is happening, so they act on it rather than merely comply.

Resistance handled, not avoided

Structured methods for surfacing fears and objections early, where they can still be worked with.

Concrete, owned action plans

Every stage ends in agreed actions — what, who, when — that the group has built itself.

Program structure

How the modules build on each other.

Stage 1 — Unfreeze

Creating understanding

Communicating the change and dealing with the emotions it produces.

  • Communicating the change
  • Creating understanding
  • Dealing with emotions

Stage 2 — Change

Building the plan

Working through the barriers and converting intent into a concrete plan.

  • Dealing with barriers to change
  • Creating concrete solutions
  • Agreeing concrete actions; what, who, when

Stage 3 — Refreeze

Making it stick

Following through on progress and re-energising the effort.

  • Following through; successes and challenges
  • Creating concrete solutions to deal with challenges
  • Agreeing concrete actions; what, who, when

Tools and techniques

Every tool is demonstrated, practised and debriefed — you leave with a toolbox, not a reading list.

Change equation / change storyCycle of perceptionMe/We/UsBrainwritingAction RoadmapTimelineForce-field AnalysisOpen Space (business variation)Tools for prioritising ideas

Outline

The shape of the program. Exact sequencing is adapted to the group and the context.

Day 1 — Understanding and unfreezing
  • Presentation on change facilitation and creating alignment
  • The role of a facilitator in change implementation
  • The change process, and discussion
  • Unfreeze: creating a change story — the elements of an effective change story
  • Group work: building our change stories; individual work: building my own
  • Working with emotions and resistance to change
Day 2 — Planning, action and review
  • Recap of the change process and tools so far
  • Change: identifying and dealing with barriers
  • Creating concrete solutions with Brainwriting
  • Building a visual Action Roadmap — what, who, when
  • Refreeze: reviewing progress with Timeline and Force-field Analysis
  • Designing your own change workshop; how to select tools
  • Key learnings and closing

How the learning works

The same learning process runs through every JoyeLearn facilitation program.

Delivered in partnership with Grape People

Grape People is a Finnish company founded in 2003 by a team of facilitation pioneers. It develops organizations through facilitation and participative practice, and has helped hundreds of organizations build consensus and take action. JoyeLearn delivers these programs as an authorised partner.

The CSA Facilitator Certification Program is quality-endorsed by Education Finland, the national education export programme, and its quality has been audited by the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (karvi.fi).

Lead trainer Pepe Nummi has facilitated since 1998 and led international and virtual teams since 1990. A co-founder of Grape People and the inaugural chairman of the Finnish Association of Facilitators, he developed the Idealogue method and authored The Handbook on Facilitation, The Handbook of Virtual Facilitation, The Handbook of Facilitative Leadership and Beyond Brainstorming – Idealogue. He has provided facilitation services in over 20 countries and trained more than 10,000 facilitators.

Source: program content on this page is drawn from the official Change Facilitator Training program documentation. Accreditation and trainer credentials are as stated in that documentation. We do not promise specific business outcomes, rankings or certification results — what we commit to is the program content, structure and learning process described above.

Frequently asked questions

Straight answers to what people ask before booking a program.

Which change model does the training use?

Kurt Lewin's Unfreeze–Change–Refreeze model. Unfreeze creates understanding of the change and deals with resistance; Change develops a concrete plan of what, who and when; Refreeze reviews and re-energises the change. The training supplies participatory tools for each stage.

Who should attend?

Everyone involved in implementing change — leaders, consultants, trainers, HR and OD practitioners.

Is this theory or hands-on practice?

Hands-on. Both days are dedicated to practising and learning tools. You work through the stages of a change process and leave able to run change workshops yourself.

Why does the training focus so much on emotions and resistance?

Because a main reason major change efforts fail is that the fears, uncertainties and culture clashes among affected people are ignored. Only self-determined change is sustainable — employees act on what they understand and accept.

What do participants leave with?

A practical toolkit including the change story, cycle of perception, Me/We/Us, Brainwriting, Action Roadmap, Timeline, Force-field Analysis and Open Space, plus the capability to design and run a change workshop.

Next step

Bring this program to your organization.

Every program runs as a public course, as in-company training tailored to your context, or as part of a longer capability-building track. Tell us the situation you are working with and we will suggest the right format.