The Organization's Four rooms of Change

In a previous blog post, I described my personal journey through the Four Rooms.

A team, a company, an organization - in other words a system - moves collectively through "Four Rooms" in a manner similar, but somewhat differently than is the case with individuals. 

Individuals, when faced with change or a critical incident, move from one Room to the next, beginning in the Room of Contentment through the Rooms of Self-Censorship and Denial, then into the Room of Confusion. The last room, the Room of Inspiration and Renewal, finally leads back to the Room of Contentment. This is the way individuals move through the Four Rooms. 

The movement of a system (team, organization, etc.) generally occurs in two directions. When most members of a system (organization, team, family) are in the Room of Contentment or in the Room of Renewal and Inspiration, the system tends to be influenced by the characteristics typical of these two Rooms;  collective characteristics and behavioral patters that are typical of these two upper Rooms are demonstrated and can be observed by others. As the two upper rooms influence the members of the team, they can be seen to expand in influence, thereby pushing back the two lower rooms (Self-Censorship and Confusion). If you so will, as the Rooms of Contentment and Inspiration expand, the Rooms of Self-Censorship and Confusion simultaneously contract and are pushed back. 

When the energy in such a system wears thin, it tends to produce more and more experiences typical of the Rooms of Self-Censorship and Denial, as well as the Room of Confusion. This expansion of influence of the Rooms of Self-Censorship and Confusion is essentially connected to the movements of individuals who are are moving towards the two lower Rooms called Self-Censorship / Denial and Confusion. The more team members that slip into the Room of Self-Censorship, the more experiences typical of this Room become visible and perceptible. As the influence of the two "lower" Rooms increase, the positive influence of the two "upper Rooms" diminish. If you so will, as the Rooms of Self-Censorship and Confusion expand, the Rooms of Contentment and Inspiration contract and are pushed back.

Enter a very useful analysis tool, the "Organization Barometer".  Building on the input of all team members, it is possible to determine precisely where the team or the organization experiences itself within the Four Rooms. Typically, teams experience  themselves in either the two upper Rooms (Contentment and Inspiration), or in the two lower Rooms (Self-Censorship and Confusion). In other words, it is typical that a team localizes itself more in the Rooms of Contentment and Inspiration, or more in the Rooms of Self-Censorship and Confusion.

This candid team feedback  feeds into the Organizational Barometer and facilitates a high degree of openness to talk about the strengths, but also the challenges and problems the team is experiencing.  Based on these insights, the team develops a joint, specific action plan designed to enable the return to the Rooms of Contentment and Inspiration. This action plan has a good chance of implementation because of the very mindful and collaborative way it has been developed. A plan that is brainstormed together stands a good chance of becoming reality and resulting in sustainable change.

Workshop: "Introduction to the Four Rooms of Change®"

 in conjunction with the The "organizational Barometer"

Experience and build the psychological model according to Dr. Claes Janssen ("Four Rooms of Change®") with the entire team. This workshop foresees the involvement of all team members as they jointly develop their very own psychology of change in a group process that Claes Janssen developed over several decades. 

Agenda

• Explanations of the psychological model behind the "Four Rooms of Change®"
• Joint analysis of your own team or corporate culture
• Development of first measures (action plan) for organizational development (reinforcement of promoting factors, minimization of inhibiting factors) by means of the analytical tool "The Organizational Barometer".
• Discovering and practicing a common language of change that gives a voice to existing resistance in the team / company

BENEFIT

• A practical management tool that you can apply immediately
• A navigation aid to better facilitate conflict resolution processes
• A jointly developed language to facilitate the resolution of hidden conflicts
• Insights into impact of different attitudes and different world views and how they can be the cause of resistance to change
• A facilitation tool to bridge the gap between opposing parties and people
• A healthier and more productive work environment (potential reduction of absenteeism, sick leave or fluctuation).
• The workshop "Four Rooms" described above can serve as an important and useful tool on your endeavour to implement your GBUPsych (Occupational Health and Safety Risk Analysis)