Change Management Activities to Make Change Fun

Change management activities will help make your change initiative more fun, interesting, and productive.

In this list, you’ll find change management activities such as team-building and learning games.

But first, let’s cover a few benefits of change management activities.

Why Do Change Management Activities at All?

Change can be unsettling.

Any organizational shift can impact job responsibilities, career prospects, work environments, and more.

It’s only natural that many employees are anxious about business changes.

change management and activities are a great way to:

• change management
• Improve engagement
• Increase productivity
• Build enthusiasm
• Identify resistors and supporters

There are a few types of activities that can help ease your organizational transition:

• Team building activities
• Learning activities
• Games and activities that make work fun

We’ll cover these three categories below.

Learning Games

Learning games are excellent ways to gain insight into:

• The change program itself
• Reasons for resistance and fear
• The minds of your employees

They can also help you brainstorm ways to improve the change program or communicate more effectively.

Here are a few learning activities to get you started.

Making a List and Checking It Twice

List-making activities are much like the game “pack up your troubles.”

In this activity, employees write down one thing that’s been bothering them at work.

They crumple up the paper, then each team picks up problems at random. Teams discuss the problem and brainstorm solutions.

This same activity can be used in change management:

• Each person makes a list of 1-10 items – you choose
• Then each list is used as a discussion topic
• The discussion and the list content can offer excellent feedback, data, and insight into the program
• And it can help employees open up about their feelings regarding the change program

Here are a few ideas for lists to use:

• Ten things you like about the workplace / your team / your department / working here.
• Ten ways you can think to make the workplace better / more fun / more exciting.
• Five good and five bad things about the change program
• Five ideas for improving the change program

And so forth.

This type of activity can serve as a springboard for launching productive discussions.

White Walls

Everyone knows about white boards – but what about white walls?

Using white board panels, adhesive, or products like IdeaPaint, you can turn a wall into a white board.

They serve as excellent communication tools, during meetings or as permanent fixtures in the office.

Here are examples of how you can use white walls:

• Wall of Fame – A wall of fame can highlight employee accomplishments, client success stories, and so on. It’s a great way to reward success in the workplace.
• Wall of Change – The wall of change can be used for the change program itself, to announce changes, request feedback, and provide comments.
• Wall of Ideas – A wall of ideas can be used to get ideas from employees for the change program, or the workplace in general.

If you don’t have the budget or space for a white wall, a board will do.

Team Builders

Team-building activities can be especially useful if your teams are being shuffled about.

When it comes to team-builders, consider making them a regular thing.

Many companies engage in regular workplace get-togethers.

As we’ll see below, these are great opportunities for employee bonding.

And they’re great times to try out a few of these ideas:

• Cooking Contests – If you have employees that like to cook, try cooking contests – chili cook-offs, BBQ contests, hamburger cook-offs, and so on.
• Smoothie Contests – A variation of the cooking contest – this allows you to bring all the ingredients and let employees use their imaginations.
• Jigsaw Puzzles – Divide employees into teams, then have them race to complete jigsaw puzzles first.
• Talent Shows – Anything is fair game, from singing to dancing to arts and crafts
• Scavenger Hunts – Scavenger hunts are fun, affordable, and get everyone involved
• Pub Quizzes – These can be done at a local pub or you can organize your own at the workplace … with or without alcohol

These are just a few examples of team-building exercises.

Many more can be found online.

Make Work Fun Again

Counteract employee frustration by making work fun again.

To do this, associate your change initiative with engaging, exciting workplace activities.

These can also be used as platforms for discussing the change program, employee concerns, and plans for the future.

Examples include:

• Happy hours at local pubs
• Regular workplace yoga sessions
• Weekly catered lunches and informal discussions
• Monthly potlucks or BBQs
• After-work get-togethers, such as bowling
• Company-wide outings, to beaches, parks, and so on
• Regular workplace tournaments – good choices include foosball, ping pong, and video games
• Bring-your-dog-to-work day

Some companies make activities like these the norm.

As mentioned, incorporating them into your change program can reduce the fear of change, improve engagement, and enhance communication.

These, in turn, will boost the results of your program.

Conclusion: Making Change Management Activities Permanent

It’s a good idea to make these activities a regular part of your workplace.

Employee resistance will go down and support will go up. And they will offer more contributions to your initiative.

On top of the benefits to your change program, your workplace will become more appealing and productive.

Employees will actually like working at your company – so they will stay longer and work harder.

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