Diagnose why a change initiative has stalled using the COM-B capability-opportunity-motivation model.
Leadership & Management
Applying Behavioural Science and Nudges to Organisational Change
Use behavioural science, choice architecture and nudge techniques to diagnose why change initiatives stall and design interventions that make new behaviour the easy default.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
Change programmes usually assume that a clear business case and enough communication will move people to new behaviour, yet employees keep using the old process because it remains the easiest option, and no amount of further messaging fixes a default that was never redesigned. Behavioural science offers a more precise diagnosis: it separates capability, opportunity and motivation as distinct barriers to a target behaviour, using models such as COM-B, and it supplies a practical toolkit for redesigning the environment around a decision rather than only trying to change minds. This course develops nudge theory and choice architecture as applied craft, including how to make a new behaviour easy, attractive, social and timely, how to set defaults that favour the intended outcome without removing choice, and how to run small trials before scaling an intervention business-wide. Hands-on work centres on a real stalled change initiative: participants diagnose it, design two competing nudge interventions, and specify how they would test which one actually works.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Apply the EAST framework to redesign a target behaviour so it is easier to adopt.
Design choice architecture, including default options, that favours the intended behaviour.
Distinguish ethical nudges that preserve choice from manipulative or coercive design.
Draft a small-scale trial that tests a behavioural intervention before it is scaled.
Use social proof and commitment devices appropriately within a change communication plan.
Present behavioural diagnosis and intervention design to sponsors in non-technical language.
Who Should Attend
Change managers and transformation leads whose initiatives have lost momentum.
Internal communications professionals designing messages that must change behaviour.
HR and people teams introducing new policies, tools or ways of working.
Operations managers trying to embed new processes beyond an initial roll-out.
Public sector and policy teams building behavioural insight capability in-house.
Product and service teams designing enrolment, onboarding or compliance journeys.
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01Behavioural Science Foundations for Change
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Why Rational Persuasion Is Not Enough
- Contrast System 1 and System 2 thinking and their effect on workplace decision-making.
- Explain why communication-only change strategies fail to shift everyday habits.
- Identify cognitive biases, such as status quo bias, that anchor employees to old behaviour.
- Distinguish behavioural science from generic persuasion or motivational messaging.
Session 2Core Models: COM-B and MINDSPACE
- Apply the COM-B model to separate capability, opportunity and motivation barriers.
- Use the MINDSPACE checklist to review a change plan for missed behavioural levers.
- Map a target behaviour precisely enough to design a specific, testable intervention.
- Select the model that best fits a given change diagnosis, rather than defaulting to one.
02Diagnosing Behaviour Before Intervening
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Behavioural Diagnosis in Practice
- Observe and document actual behaviour, rather than reported behaviour, in the target process.
- Interview employees to uncover the real friction points blocking the desired behaviour.
- Separate capability gaps from motivation gaps that look similar from the outside.
- Prioritise which barriers to address first based on their effect on the target behaviour.
Session 2Mapping the Decision Environment
- Map every touchpoint where an employee currently chooses the old behaviour over the new.
- Identify current default options and who set them, intentionally or not.
- Assess environmental cues, timing and social context around the target decision.
- Document the decision environment in a format the intervention design can reference.
03Designing Nudges and Choice Architecture
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Applying the EAST Framework
- Redesign a process step to make the intended behaviour the easiest available option.
- Increase the attractiveness of a target behaviour through framing and visible cues.
- Use social proof to show employees that colleagues are already adopting new behaviour.
- Time prompts and reminders to arrive at the moment a decision is actually being made.
Session 2Setting Defaults and Preserving Choice
- Set default options that favour the intended outcome while keeping opt-out genuinely easy.
- Distinguish an ethical nudge from covert manipulation that removes meaningful choice.
- Use commitment devices to help employees follow through on stated intentions.
- Review a proposed nudge against transparency and fairness criteria before launch.
04Testing, Measuring and Scaling Interventions
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Running Small-Scale Trials
- Design a before-after or randomised trial to compare a nudge against current practice.
- Select a measurable behavioural outcome rather than a satisfaction or awareness proxy.
- Choose a trial group and duration realistic for the organisation's change timeline.
- Interpret trial results honestly, including when an intervention has no measurable effect.
Session 2Scaling and Sustaining Behaviour Change
- Scale a validated nudge across additional teams or sites without losing its key mechanism.
- Monitor for behavioural rebound once initial novelty or attention fades.
- Hand over intervention ownership to line managers who will sustain it day to day.
- Report behavioural results to sponsors in terms that connect to the original change goal.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
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