How to Lead a Team Through Change: A Six-Week Plan

You've read about six conversations. You probably recognised your team in at least one of them. Maybe you recognised yourself.

Here's the risk. It stays an idea. Something you meant to do when things calm down. And things don't calm down.

So before you close this page, answer one question: what conversation do you need to have? Not eventually. This week.

Think back to the start. Is there a conversation that changed everything for you once? This could be the next one, for you or for someone on your team.

Your 30-day commitment


The conversation I need to have
Who it's with
When I'll have it
The question I'll open with
Who will hold me to it
Where it is on the Depth Index today (1 to 5)
Where I want it to be in 30 days

Keep track: the monthly Depth Tracker

Once a month, take five minutes. List the conversations that matter most to the change you're in. Score each from 1 to 5. Ask whether it has moved in the last 30 days, and set one next step for each.

It's simple, but it stops important conversations drifting for months without anyone noticing.

The six-week team plan

If you're leading a team through change, here's a simple way to work through the conversations together. One conversation a week, around 30 to 45 minutes, in your normal team time.

Week	Conversation	What you'll come away with
1	Take the Change Readiness Check together	A shared map of where you're stuck
2	Your lowest-scoring conversation	One agreed step
3	Your second lowest	One agreed step
4	Your third lowest	One agreed step
5	What's really in the way? (always worth revisiting)	Anything still unspoken, out in the open
6	Retake the check and agree your commitments	Proof of what's moved, and what's next

Each conversation page has everything you need to run it: the questions, the steps and a printable worksheet.

One conversation at a time

You can't navigate a new world using an old set of charts. But you don't redraw the whole chart at once. You draw one line. Then the next.

Change happens one conversation at a time. Start with yours.

Want to start the conversation across your whole organisation? Caspar Craven speaks to leadership teams and conferences worldwide about leading through change. See Caspar's change keynote

Questions people ask

How long does it take to lead a team through change?

Longer than the plan says. People go through transition at different speeds. A rhythm of one conversation a week for six weeks gets most teams moving, and the Depth Index shows what's moved.