Melanie Franklin

HI! I'm Melanie.

I'm a Change Management Specialist & Mentor.

My unique profile means I can deliver high impact consulting alongside active training and leadership roles to effect change.

I have dedicated the last 20 years to understanding then communicating the drivers for change in organisations. This has exposed me to a wide range of organisational structures and individuals from around the world and it is this experience that I build on every day. Aside from the academic and professional qualifications that I acquired over this time, my ability to share new concepts and inspire others to embrace change and strive to improve their personal and professional performance is what I am most proud of.

I am in a unique position because I balance being an active practitioner of change with transferring my knowledge to others, whereas most people with my experience are either solely leading change or training and coaching full time. I believe this balance ensures my advice is relevant and practical.

Each assignment or course is delivered with passion, energy and focus that only a true practising professional can offer. Incorporating latest innovations and practical techniques, clients and delegates can be confident that they will find immediate use of the knowledge shared in their operational environment.

Why work with me: my passion and track record is for:
✅Transformational change consulting
✅Executive Coaching
✅Workshop design and delivery
✅Exceptional delegate results

I am in a very fortunate position in that I love my work
According to Maslow I am at the point in my career where I am ‘self-actualising’! I find it hard to draw a line between work and hobby as I find what I do so stimulating and rewarding. I want my legacy to be increased skills and confidence in others to help make a difference. I measure my success by the success stories of those whom I coach and train and I am in the fortunate position that they write to me from all over the world to share their achievements.

As part of this I regularly write papers and host webinars on the development of the change management profession and I am the author of 8 text books on project, programme and change management, including the development of an agile change approach. I support an examination body in devising its syllabi for change management qualifications and am developing a new agile change management qualification for 2019.

My motivation
I believe that the ability to manage ourselves successfully through constant, never-ending change is core to reducing our stress at work. Less stress means we are able to enjoy life more, which means we put more positive energy into the universe. We need positive people, because humans are programmed to find the negatives of any situation quickly and to hold onto these downsides for longer than we retain the upsides.

I want to use my 30 years of experience to create simple to use, intuitive solutions to the difficulties of shifting from our current ways of working. I am fed up with management gurus telling me what I should be doing, I want ideas for how I should improve, and the people who enjoy working with me want the same thing.

I don’t just want to keep up to date, I want to remain at the forefront of new ideas and original thinking. I don’t stagnate, I put a lot of energy and effort into continually developing my knowledge and updating my skills and I enjoy working with others who do the same.

I enjoy the intellectual challenge of finding solutions to problems and I love coming up with creative ways to explain new techniques to others. Everything I do is underpinned by being “brain-smart” recognising that I need to engage the brains of my stakeholders because that is where true motivation, persuasion and inspiration takes place.

My approach
I always like to start with the end in mind. I will often ask “what do you want to be able to do at the end of this activity that you could not do before?” because I think this keeps us both focused on creating a solution and building capability. This is longer lasting and more impactful than knowing something you didn’t know before.

To be creative I need to be alone, and I need to work with others – what can I say, I am a complex personality!

If I have been training all day, I need to be alone with my thoughts to process my ideas. This means I might work late or get up early to create quiet time in my schedule. I might send you emails out of hours but I don’t expect you to respond to them until you are at work.
In brainstorming sessions I benefit from sharing my ideas visually, so I might me discussing something with you as a I draw a quick visual on the screen. I am inspired by your ideas and perspective so I will often ask if we can record the session so I can play it back later.

My clients
I am trusted by respected organisations in many sectors

Private sector
Penguin Random House; Saudi Electricity Company; Zain; National Grid US; SABIC; FIFA; Hoelscher Wasserbau

Public sector
UK Parliament; United Nations; European Medicines Association; Welsh Government

Not for profit
British Red Cross; European Patents Office; The Stroke Association

Requests for my time
I am deluged by opportunities to contribute to others work. I try to say yes to as many of these requests as possible but it is not always possible. Make it easier for me to say yes by clearly describing what you want me to do, when, where, with whom and for how long.