Lightbulb Moment: Prosci Change Management Certification Training Program

The Lightbulb Moment series captures all the great insights I gain from trainings and events (professional and otherwise). I hope this series acts as a great repository for me to look back on, and for you to gather helpful information if you want to take similar trainings or join similar events.

What’s Change Management? When people first asked me about my profession in the past, I’d say I’m a Change Management Practitioner, which was often met with a quizzical look. So now how I introduce my profession is something along the lines of “You know how an organization sometimes changes it’s software and then everyone has to learn this new software? And how it can be frustrating and confusing for everyone to figure out the new software and how to use it? Well, I help organizations change to its new software and reduce the frustration and confusion everyone feels. I’m a Change Management Practitioner”.

Change can come in all shapes and sizes, not just related to software changes. Think new business processes, organizational structures, physical locations, or leadership. All of these require Change Management to get staff members from the current state to the future state with minimal distributions to staff members’ life and that the project’s goals are met. Changes can affect one staff member, a team, a department, or an entire organization.

The Change Management title can also come with many hats depending on the organization you work for (and usually depending on the size of the organization). For example, in my current role, by being a Change Management Practitioner, I also build learning strategies, develop and conduct trainings, create learning material, strategize on communication plans, kraft messages, and create and analyze surveys and interviews.

Why am I so interested in Change? For me, Change Management is so fascinating because you have to delve into the psychology of staff members, departments, and organizations to understand where they're coming from (current state) and kraft how you will help them get to where they’re going (desired state). I also particularly like the “trainer” and “interviewer” hat I put on, not only because I like spending time making and delivering beautiful and thoughtful presentations, but also because of the great feedback and thankful participants. Change Management can also come with constructive feedback, which I soak up because it gives me further data points to go to my client and share how we can resolve barriers, resistance, and risks.

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But you’re here to learn about if the Prosci Change Certification is right for you, right?

So without further ado, let’s get into what you can expect from the Prosci Change Management Certification Training Program. The below information is relevant as of March 2021.

Introduction to Prosci: Prosci is a world-renowned and reputable Change Management research and training institute with over 25+ years of experience in capturing industry best practices.

Snapshot of the training:

Title: Prosci Change Management Certification Training Program

Session: Virtual or instructor led (virtual during the pandemic)

Cost: 4,400 USD

Length: 3 days (with Friday-Sunday options)

Outputs to get certified: Presentation, exam

Learning material: By registering, you’re provided with physical copies of Prosci’s Best Practices in Change Management; Employee’s Survival Guide to Change by Jeffrey M. Hiatt; Change Management: The People Side of Change by Jeffrey M. Hiatt and Timothy J. Creasey; ADKAR: A Model for Change in Business, Government and Our Community by Jeffrey M. Hiatt; Prosci Change Management Practitioner Program Workbook (which you work through during the training); various stationary; free subscription (for one year with the cost of the training) to their online community, which acts as a repository for the plethora of materials, models, and best practice documents.

Overall training highlights: There is a lot of material, but work is highly practical and well paced with sufficient music-filled breaks. Courses are taught by top-tier instructors and producers who create an encouraging and open environment that gears you up for success. Furthermore, the training opens up a world of resources at your fingertips.

Prior to the 3 days of training, you complete a pre-work assignment relevant to a project you are currently or have worked on. This project is the foundation for your practical work within the program.

As someone with a foundation in Change Management, below are 3 key take-aways I got from each of the 3 days:

Day 1:

• How fundamental it is to not only have project Sponsor buy-in, but that Sponsors are also publicly engaged throughout the project.

• The PCT assessment is a great overall tool that can be easily used to assess the health of a given project.

• The difference between the sender and receiver of certain messages.

Day 2:

• Project team structure examples, along with when and why to use which structure.

• How to develop and assess a Sponsorship Coalition Model of key personnel.

• The preferred communicator of various different types of messages (including the Sponsor and Manager roles in this).

Day 3:

• How to assist supervisors and managers champion and lead their employees through the change.

• Methods to approach resistance management and remove barriers.

• Presenting, receiving feedback, and listening to the presentation of other project.

Should I take the training?

At a pretty steep price-tag of 4,400 USD, if you can, I would encourage you to explore if your employee would partially or fully take this cost on. If so, I would definitely recommend this course as it’s a great opportunity to showcase your expertise within the industry. If you would have to shoulder the costs yourself, I think the answer would be a bit more on an individual basis. Although I am freshly certified, I’ve heard that this certification has improved Change Practitioners' chances at employment and promotions. Therefore, if your organization won’t pay for it or if you’re currently unemployed, you would have to consider your personal finances and what the cost-benefit would be. Like many other certifications, these three days of training (along with the learning material and one year subscription to their online community) comes at a steep price-tag, which unfortunately makes the opportunity relatively inaccessible to those who may benefit from it the most. Looking ahead, I would love to hear if there are organizations who are alleviating some of the costs for those who cannot afford career-progressing certifications. I haven’t found any so far. If you cannot weather Prosci’s costs, the Certified Change Management Professional (CCMP) training is cheaper but also a great and reputable option.

Do you know of any organizations who help alleviate some of the costs for those who can’t afford career-progressing certifications? Let me know!