Behaviour change techniques are a big part of all of my Agile Change courses and here’s why. Change means behaving differently, which demands a lot of energy from our brains. Our brains like the certainty of our existing habits, so to give up existing routines and replace them with something new and different requires a lot of energy.
Until the change becomes something familiar and comfortable, our brains will constantly tell us “This is too hard, let’s go back to the old way of doing things” – so we need short-cuts to help us.
Neuroscience helps us understand how the brain reacts to change, which is a great source of ideas for how to work with the brain, giving it what it needs to make the switch to new ways of working as easy as possible.
There are several different behaviour change techniques out there. As part of my change courses, I have developed a nine element plan for success.
Prime your brain to be ready for change by clearly defining what you want to do differently and why this will help you. This will help your brain to stay focused and engaged. Imagine:
Deliberately schedule time for doing things differently. Choose moments in your day when you’re most alert and free from distractions – perhaps early morning or as a wind-down routine. Reflect weekly on what you’ve learned to reinforce new insights.
Make changes part of your existing routine so they are easy to remember. For example, read the new report when you have your morning coffee, so you remember the new behaviour because you never forget your coffee!
Regularly connect your new changes to your current and future roles. Connect the changes to your values and priorities or remind yourself how the changes fix problems and save you time.
Draw pictures of what your changes represent using simple mind maps, diagrams or dashboards. Pictures help the brain process and remember information more effectively and keeps your objectives front-of-mind.
Count the number of changes you are making. Even a simple list that you mark with a tick, or a star creates a sense of accomplishment and makes you feel energised for more change. This style of progress tracking is called Gamification and is a great way to motivate your brain to continue and chase the next goal.
Discuss your elements of change with colleagues, mentors, or even friends and family. Talking about what you are doing differently helps clarify how far you have come and makes the journey feel shared and supported. In today’s fast paced world, we often forget how important social validation can be to our success.
Recognise every small achievement. Reward yourself with a small treat, a break, or a moment of reflection. Positive reinforcement makes it more likely you’ll keep going.
Showcase your growth by sharing badges, certificates, or lessons learned on platforms like LinkedIn. Writing or speaking about your change development helps solidify it – and signals your commitment to professional growth.
I am passionate about enabling behaviour change techniques for everyone who wants to further their learning. Using all my knowledge of positive psychology and neuroscience I have created a series of course and master classes to give you practical, easy to use techniques so you can change how you work, and you can support others as they change too.
My Agile Change Coach course is packed with 43 change techniques that we will learn together over 2 days. Some of these techniques take 10 minutes, others take longer, but I promise you, by the end of the 2 days your personal toolkit will be overflowing and you will have a globally recognised certificate and digital badge to let others know how brilliant you are. Celebrate and success and share your progress!
Join me for my next course – all welcome, no special knowledge or experience needed to get the most from this training.
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