Change: The Conversation - Episode 7 - Change fatigue, burnout and the impact of COVID-19

In this episode, Natalia is joined by Jennifer Egelnick, a change management professional working in strategic change and transformation. We talk about the impact of COVID-19 on change management and change execution in organizations. Change fatigue and burnout are part of the environment of change in 2020 and 2021 - and we talk about strategies on how to be a successful change leader in this context. Typically when we talk about change fatigue, we mean that people are getting tired of the change we are leading, it is typically the lowest point in a change curve. But, what can we do in an environment when the fatigue isn't something that you can control? When we filmed this, it was the end of December, 2020, after another lockdown had been announced in our region and schools were closed. Within the context of a public health crisis, how does the external context that we can't control affect our ability to make change happen? We discuss the burdens that people are carrying with them, the "backpack of bricks" and the role of empathy and advocacy in how to work through this difficult period when we are still expected to deliver change.