What is Change Management Training? The Complete Guide

Change management is an enabling framework for managing the people side of change. How your organization manages change impacts the things that matter most, including employees, customers, and profitability. Prosci’s research consistently shows that organizations with excellent change management achieve greater success with change. 

So, how do you equip yourself or your organization with change management skills? The right change management training program can equip you with the skills, tools, and confidence to manage changes of various complexities. This article explores why change management training is essential and details what to look for in a program.

Why is Change Management Training Essential? 

When change occurs, training is a critical component that helps organizations enable successful change at the individual level and achieve change at the organizational level. 

There are two important types of training organizations need during a change: 

• Functional training for users who must adopt and use the change in their work (e.g., employees learning how to use a new system or process) 
• Role-based change management training for people working alongside change practitioners to prepare people and the organization during the change process

When employees don’t receive enough training during a change initiative, organizations may experience heightened resistance, leading to anxiety, disengagement, and a reversion to previous behaviors. Prioritizing comprehensive training programs that equip employees with the necessary knowledge and skills to adapt to changes combats this. 

Preparing individuals in core roles is also essential for driving change. An effective change management approach includes role-based training of key critical roles. Functional and role-based change management training is essential for successful change outcomes. 

What’s the Purpose of Change Management Training?

Change management training equips individuals in key roles, including sponsors, people managers, change practitioners, and project teams, with the knowledge, skills, and tools they need to fulfill their specific responsibilities during change initiatives. Together, these individuals create a coordinated system of support that effectively leads the change process. The ultimate goal of change management training is to prepare, equip and support people through their change journeys by ensuring that every role effectively contributes to the people side of change.

Who Needs Change Management Training? Levels of Training by Role 

Different types of change management training are available to meet the needs of various roles. Below is an overview of who needs change management training, the necessary level of training to fulfill each role successfully, and why these opportunities are helpful for organizations and individuals. 

Change management practitioners (change managers)

Most professionals start with a foundational change management training to gain or enhance the skills they need to drive transformational change results and outcomes. An introductory level change management training provides a look at the definition and value of change management, how to apply methodologies and models to your change initiatives, an understanding of roles that contribute to change success, and practical tools you can use. 

Programs like these are beneficial for employees responsible for driving change on a team or across an organization, including: 

• Change leaders 
• Project managers
• Change management practitioners 
• Continuous improvement specialists 
• IT professionals
• Human resource business partners
• Organizational development professionals 
• Project team members

Advanced change management practitioners 

Once a change management practitioner excels at the foundations and gains experience managing change, they may want to acquire advanced knowledge and skills or need an additional certificate to advance their career and tackle more complex change challenges.

Skill specialization 

Advanced practitioners have various opportunities available depending on what they want to achieve as advanced change practitioners. For example, they may pursue a certification to focus on a specific facet of change, such as improving project health, preventing change resistance, resolving change barriers, or monitoring and measuring change performance. 

Training specialization 

Seasoned change management practitioners may pursue a route that equips them with the skills and credentials necessary to facilitate change management training and internally teach programs. These people become critical players in deploying change management training across organizations, educating employees and building change capabilities across teams.

Change-capability specialization

Finally, seasoned practitioners responsible for building change capability, or enterprise change management (ECM), in their division or organization can become enterprise change management deployment leaders. Leaders can participate in training offerings that help them assess their level of change capability, map out a path between the organization’s current and future state, and learn how to use tools to execute a change-ready strategy. This certificate benefits heads of organizational strategy, HR leaders, IT leaders, change management practice leaders, and directors.

Organizational business leaders and critical teams

In addition to change-specific roles and teams, organizational business leaders and other employees require role-based skills to do their part during projects and initiatives. Helping individuals learn about the core roles in change management is necessary for success, and includes:

Sponsors (senior leaders)

Effective executive sponsorship is the greatest contributor to successful change, according to all nine of Prosci’s benchmarking studies. When sponsors don’t understand their sponsorship roles or how to lead change effectively, the success of the change is at risk. Business leaders who are leading change and need to understand their role as sponsors so they can deliver effective, meaningful change with measurable results can attend sponsorship training sessions to learn how to fulfill their roles and support employees.

People managers (supervisors and middle management) 

People managers deliver communications, support and coach teams through their transitions. They are close to the action and are essential during any change. Change management training for people managers teaches individuals how to prepare themselves for change and offers practical frameworks and tools they need to show up as effective change leaders.

Other organizational leaders 

Senior leaders, key stakeholder groups impacted by significant changes, change agents, and project teams can benefit from training that provides participants with an understanding of fundamental change concepts and the organizational benefits of effective change management. Programs like these level the playing field and introduce change management knowledge and a common language into an organization before pursuing advanced training. 

Project managers

The disciplines of change management and project management both contribute to the success of an organizational project or initiative. Prosci benchmarking research shows that 47% of participants who integrated project management and change management reported meeting or exceeding project objectives, 17% greater than those who did not. Project managers and teams can attend change management training to equip themselves with an understanding of the importance of change management in meeting project objectives with a common language for change.

Employees and end users of changes

Change management training benefits employees or end users of change because it helps them develop the mindset, skills, and adaptability needed to navigate organizational changes successfully.

The Core Components of a Change Management Training  

The specific topics you will learn during change management training depend on the course you choose, but generally, these are the core components of effective change management training programs you can expect:

1. Understanding of change management principles

Training should cover change management basics, including the value it provides, benefits, and the psychology of change. This foundation helps participants understand why structured change management is vital for success.

Additionally, familiarity with established methodologies, such as the Prosci 3-Phase Process and the ADKAR Model, is crucial. Proven frameworks and processes provide a structured yet flexible approach to managing change and achieving desired outcomes, so you can adapt them to meet the needs of your organization or change initiative. 

2. Role-specific training

Change management requires individuals in key roles to engage with the change and coordinate their efforts in defined ways. An entire system of people within the organization must support employees through a change implementation, which is why role-specific training is a critical component of change management training programs.

For instance, courses may be tailored to:

• Executives – Focuses on sponsorship roles, leadership responsibilities, and strategic alignment
• Managers and supervisors – Emphasizes leading teams through change, communicating effectively, and addressing resistance
• Change practitioners – Provides in-depth training on applying change management methodologies and tools, arming participants with tactics and activities to help them achieve change goals

3. Skill development

The precise skills vary depending on who the training course is tailored to, as described above. However, training should include the development of practical skills related to change management, such as:

• Communication skills for effectively conveying messages about the change
• Resistance management techniques to identify and address employee concerns
• Stakeholder engagement strategies to foster buy-in and support for the change

4. Tools and resources

Training participants should be exposed to various tools, templates, and resources that can facilitate change management efforts. These include assessment tools, communication plans, and training guides. Additionally, providing hands-on opportunities for participants to practice using these tools in real scenarios enhances their learning experience and builds confidence. 

5. Evaluation and feedback

Training programs should incorporate methods to evaluate participants' understanding and application of learned concepts. These can include surveys, quizzes, and practical assessments, which allow trainees to test their knowledge before applying it to real-world change initiatives.

The most effective change management training programs also implement mechanisms for participants to share their feedback. Gathering feedback about the training process helps improve the training program and address gaps for future learners. 

6. Ongoing support and development 

Offering ongoing support after the initial training, such as online and tech resources, coaching, and mentoring, can help reinforce learning and encourage applying skills in real-world situations. Providing opportunities for further education and advanced training in change management opens the door to continuous learning and development, ensuring trainees can commit to their education for the long haul.

Best Practices for Change Management Training

Not all change management training programs are created equal. Below are some best practices for change management training to keep in mind when selecting a program or hiring an organization to train your employees: 

• Tailor training to roles – Effective change management training content fits the specific needs of key roles in change management, including executives, people managers, and impacted employee groups. Tailoring training ensures that each group understands its responsibilities and provides an opportunity for senior leaders to engage in the training process, allowing them to serve as effective sponsors.
• Incorporate various training methods to cater to different learning styles – Combining formal classroom training with hands-on techniques, including coaching, group projects, and homework, helps learners apply their new knowledge.
• Integrate change management training into other learning initiatives – If your organization wants to offer change management training to employees, consider embedding it into existing programs, such as employee onboarding or manager development workshops. This helps institutionalize change management as a core competency. Additionally, ensure your curriculum includes ongoing training opportunities to reinforce skills and knowledge over time. 

Choosing a Change Management Training Program

For 30 years, Prosci has been laser-focused on change. We have the knowledge, the

expertise, the resume, and the comprehensive solutions to ensure your change initiative succeeds. Whether you’re expanding your change management skills or looking for a partner to help you build an enterprise change management capability, the Prosci team is committed to your change success.

No one delivers on change success like Prosci. Here’s how we can help:

Change Management Certification

Prosci's world-class Change Management Certification Program equips you with the tools, expertise, and ongoing support to lead transformational organizational change. In it, you’ll learn our industry-leading change management methodology, access decades of industry research, and be equipped to help your organization meet its strategic objectives.  

Enterprise Solutions

Whether you’re managing essential changes or building enterprise change capability, we offer Enterprise Change Management Solutions to help your organization succeed at change. Prosci partners with and equips organizations for success by working alongside them to deliver change success. We have a philosophy of building change resilience to make you stronger for every future change.

Prosci's engaging, interactive training is designed for the roles critical to implementing change in a complex, accelerated environment. Whether certifying practitioners or training your managers and sponsors, you'll strengthen your change strategy, capabilities and results, preparing your team to withstand market disruptions, including restructures. 

Change Management Consulting

Prosci's organizational change management consulting can help you maximize your change investments. Our experienced Change Advisors link arms with you to support the development of enterprise strategies and implementation plans while transferring capabilities along the way, through:

• Change management coaching for key individuals 
• Hands-on support alongside your team during projects and initiatives 
• Consulting support to add capacity to your team 
• Building enterprise change capabilities and growing change management maturity through a structured and intentional approach 

Empower Change Success with Change Management Training

Serving as an effective change practitioner and playing one’s part during a change initiative in a core role requires comprehensive change management training and continuous learning and development. Our programs are built to address all roles and scale across organizations of all sectors and sizes. Change (done right) is all we do.