PARTNERING WITH CHANGE PROFESSIONALS

When the change plan meets the room.

Change plans address the human side. I work inside it.

Sometimes an assignment needs another practitioner in the room: to help shape the approach, lead a piece of the work, or design the sessions where people move through the hardest part of the change.

For change, HR and organization development practitioners, inside an organization or advising one.

Where I can help

Design the session. A workshop, a leadership offsite or a longer group process, sequenced around the real issue and the people who will be in the room.

Facilitate the room. Groups that are hard to read: uneven influence, open disagreement, a team that has just lost colleagues. I work with what is happening as it happens, using experiential methods when they help.

Shape or lead a piece of the work. A thinking partner on the approach, or a defined workstream, end to end.

Build capability together. Co-facilitation and mentoring, so your team grows more confident designing and leading group work.

Before, during and after

Before. We work out what the group is really being asked to work through, who needs to be in the room, and how the session will run.

During. I work with what happens between people as it unfolds: who speaks, who holds back, where the energy shifts.

After. We connect what happened in the room to decisions, working agreements and next steps, so the work carries on after the session.

Experiential work is designed around the purpose of the session and the people involved. Participation is invited rather than forced, and the activities are connected to the decisions, relationships or ways of working the group needs to explore.

How we work together

Before we begin, we agree what I'll lead, how we'll work with your sponsor or client, how we'll stay coordinated, and who makes which decisions. I can join for one session, co-design an approach with you, or take responsibility for a defined part of a program.

In practice

At Amazon, I co-designed the first offsite for a newly formed Design and Construction team with its director and leadership team. We dedicated 30% of the agenda to connection. I served as emcee, facilitated experiential activities and helped make other sessions more participatory, bringing the voices of team members into the work.

Read the Amazon case →

At IAG, I worked with six senior divisional transformation managers on frameworks and tools for their own parts of a group-wide transformation.

Read the IAG case →

With the Change Management Institute in Sydney, I led the volunteer mentoring program for change practitioners in 2013–14, reworking its content and growing its enrolments.

In their words

“What stood out most about Samuel, beyond his knowledge and resources, was his genuine desire to share information with others and grow the capabilities of the internal team, stakeholders and client. I entered the project as the Change Communication lead and exited with a wealth of Change Management skills absorbed from our collaborations. Specifically, while designing sessions, I found his focus on ‘outcome driven content’ to be exceptional…”— Judy K., PCC, change and leadership consultant · worked with Samuel at Amgen

Methods behind the work

For practitioners curious about the craft, these are the methods I draw on.

Sociometry. Practical ways for a group to see who turns to whom, and for what.

Experiential group methods. Structured role play and group exercises to explore a real situation from another seat and try a different response. More than 800 hours of practice.

Relationship systems coaching (ORSC). Working with a team as a whole system, so it can see and talk about its own patterns.

Structured change management. Impact assessment, stakeholder engagement and readiness, with Prosci and ACMP certification.

Behind them sit a few principles: goals before roles, attention to what happens between people, and asking what needs to end and what is worth carrying forward.

Have a difficult room or a demanding assignment ahead?

Start a conversation ↗See ways to work together