Change Management

Change Management (LEAD-520)

Description

This four-week, digitally delivered RPI ProCourse on change and change management immerses you in a unique scenario designed to deepen your understanding of how to lead and navigate change effectively. Through engaging in a simulation related to selecting a new community leader, you will explore the complexities of change, including managing emotions, diverse perspectives, and leadership transitions. By guiding stakeholders through this significant shift in their community, you will gain practical experience and insights that can be directly applied to real-world situations in your professional and personal life. Completion of this non-credit course will result in a digital credential and a Certificate of Completion from RPI.

Project Overview

Throughout this course, you will take on the role of a trusted advisor to a wise and respected community leader who is preparing for retirement. You will begin this journey by getting to know each of the stakeholders in the scenario and their feelings about the upcoming change. You will leverage Kübler-Ross’s Seven Stages of Change framework and Lewin’s three-phase change management model to anticipate and respond to stakeholder emotions around this change.

You will then draft a series of communications to assist in facilitating the election of a new leader, managing the group’s dynamics during this critical period and providing guidance to ensure the new leader can successfully take the reins. By the end of the course, you will have not only helped the community transition smoothly but also gained valuable insights into the principles of change management that you can apply in your own organizational context.

Technology & Logistics

You will complete all coursework through Rensselaer’s digital classroom environment, with feedback provided by your course mentor along the way. The coursework will primarily be self-paced, with synchronous sessions that will provide an opportunity to engage with the content and course mentor(s) in a live setting.

Audience

This non-credit course is designed for adult learners seeking to develop a skillset for successfully leading a change initiative. No prior education is required. 

Payment

Payment is accepted via credit card only. Refunds (minus processing fees) may be issued up to the course’s official start date. After the course has begun, refunds are no longer available. 

If you have any questions about the course prior to enrolling, please contact procourses@rpi.edu. 

Learning Goals

Course completion enables you to:

• Articulate a problem or decision underpinning a change initiative.
• Identify characteristics of a system and the unintended consequences produced by changes introduced into a system.
• Utilize a framework to enact change.
• Measure improvement in terms of benchmark and metrics.
• Prepare effective communication to stakeholders informing related to the change.
• Leverage proven strategies for managing resistance to change.