For most change initiatives the bigger part of the project is spend on the actual implementation of the planned activities. This phase however is also the one where you will be most likely to face crises and challenges – in working through an activity plan soon it becomes obvious if the project partners are able to work well together, if there are any underlying conflicting interests and if the different stakeholders will be able to meet their planned contributions.
This implementation phase is what the Dialogic Change Model defines as Phase 3. In this phase result orientation is a key factor for success: For Stakeholder Dialogues to deliver, it is crucial that stakeholders perceive visible change during the dialogue process; otherwise they might lose interest in the dialogue and in implementing change. It helps – particularly at the beginning – to concentrate on easily achievable results. The goal of a well-structured Phase 3, one could say, is to show that change is possible.
