Interview with Director of R&D, Tim Creasey
2009 edition of Best Practices in Change Management

Change Management Learning Center (CMLC):  So, we know the new benchmarking report has just been released. Describe for us the overall process and lifecycle to reach the point of having the physical report in hand.

Tim Creasey, Director of R&D (TC):  First, let me say that this is an exciting point in time for me. I love that moment where I shift from working on the report to getting to talk about the report. I'm chatting with folks on the phone every day about the new report, I'm helping people think about holding a Best Practices Roundtable and I'm delivering webinars about the findings. How exciting to begin sharing what we've worked so hard on creating over the last year. And, this is by far the most complete and comprehensive report we've released, so I'm personally very proud of the work that went into the report and the final output. 

Each benchmarking undertaking has about a one-year lifecycle. We begin by reviewing the previous study and then deciding on the questions that will be asked in the upcoming survey. This is actually a pretty intensive process. Once we establish the set of questions, we create the online survey that participants will use to share their stories and experiences. We announce that the study is open and make it widely available on the website. Then, I sit back and watch the completed surveys come in. The collection process is a calm point. Once we close the survey the real significant work begins. Analyzing the quantitative questions is not that time consuming; the real intense work is reading the responses to open ended questions and analyzing the data and patterns. We spend a significant amount of time writing about the patterns and findings, and then another chunk of time reviewing, proofing and editing the actual report.

CMLC:  We see that there are some new questions and some questions asked in previous studies that weren't asked in this study. How do you go about creating the survey used for the study?

TC:  There is certainly some thought, time and art in the creation of the survey. I'm working to balance the length of the survey, from the participant's perspective, with the topics and questions I want to have answered. There are a certain set of questions we ask in each study - to continue to establish trends and evolving aspects. The real art comes in deciding which questions we won't ask again and which questions we want to add. For example, the findings on reinforcement and feedback were very solid out of the 2007 study. So, we removed these questions and asked new questions on team structure, resourcing and working with project teams. In the manager section, we moved away from questions about what they needed to do in times of change - since the findings in the 2005 and 2007 studies provided a solid model - and asked more questions about how to engage them in the change itself and what support can be provided. Over time, we have been able to create a robust set of findings across all facets of managing the people side of change.

CMLC:  How long was the survey open to participants this time?

TC:  The 2009 study was opened in early December of 2008 and was closed in February of 2009. This was actually a shorter time period than previous studies, but we ended up with nearly one-third more participants than in the last study.

CMLC:  Who participates in the research? What are the qualifications of a participant?

TC:  The main qualification is that the study participant has a current or recent project they are supporting. What I'm looking for is their story - how did the project play out? How did they manage the people side of change? What worked, and, sometimes more importantly, what didn't work? What would they do differently on the next project? I'm really interested in their story and perspective about the change project. The participants come from many different industries, geographic locations and sizes of organizations. Some participants are change management leads while others are project team members and others are consultants. But, in the end, they all have a project that impacts people that they can reflect upon.

CMLC:  Are there any new sections that you found particularly interesting in the 2009 edition?

TC:  What struck me about some of the new findings in the 2009 edition was that there were a lot of new questions and sections on the pragmatic application of change management and the change management team or resources. We always ask when did you start change management and when would you start it if you had the choice, but this time we went deeper and asked about consequences of starting late, contributors to starting early and action steps if you had a late start. We asked about which team structure was being used, whether it was a resource on the team or a resource external to the team. We then took the next step and asked about advantages of each structure. We also included more data about the budget and Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) for change management on projects. And, a whole new section on where the change management group resides, where it should reside, and advantages of different locations is a nice set of data that practitioners have been trying to find for some time.

CMLC:  You mentioned the Best Practices Roundtable. Tell us a little about this.

TC:  The Best Practices Roundtable was a brainchild of the question I was asking myself: how can I help change management practitioners and evangelists start the change management discussion. A Best Practices Roundtable is a small group discussion focused around some important findings in the 2009 report. I created a Best Practices Roundtable: Discussion Guide that includes three key sections of the report - the greatest contributors to success, the biggest obstacles and the top trends. These are three very important sections of the report, and I wasn't sure about making them readily available for free. But, I realized that if I was going to make a tool that made these discussions easy to have, I needed to include some key findings as the basis for the roundtables. In addition to the findings, the Discussion Guide includes a set of questions to consider, kind of like a book club, a trends assessment and a project diagnostic teams can use to evaluate their performance. My goal was to create a tool that would make it easy for change management professionals and evangelists to start the conversation - and I think we accomplished that with the Best Practices Roundtable.

CMLC:  Now that the research report has been released, what comes next with the new findings?

TC:  The first step is getting the new research report into people's hands. After the initial roll out, we'll begin updating our materials with the new data and findings. This includes the 3-day certification program, the Change Management Toolkit and the Change Management Pilot to start, and then on to our executive training program, manager training program and employee training program. That is one of the things that sets Prosci apart - that our tools, methodology and approach are based on best practices and are continually updated with the latest research and lessons learned from real practitioners.

CMLC:  Any concluding remarks about the latest iteration of the benchmarking report?

TC:  This week, I sat back at my desk and looked at all six of the Best Practices in Change Management benchmarking reports that Prosci has produced. The 1998 report had 102 participants and looks like a brochure. The latest report had 575 participants and is a substantial book with over 100 pages of findings. It just made me stand back in awe for a minute, seeing how far Prosci's research has come and how far the discipline of change management has come.

Finally, I want to thank everyone who helped create the report. First - Jeff Hiatt, Prosci's founder and CEO. From the time he founded Prosci over 15 years ago, the research was his focus. His passion and commitment to the research and the resulting learnings permeates everything that Prosci does.

I had a great team help me with creating the survey, drawing on their experiences with clients and in certification programs. Adrienne Boyd, Becky Fiscus, Ashley McNeal and Avery West helped to ensure we were asking all the right questions. The analysis of open-ended questions and the resulting write ups are the centerpiece of the report and the best practices that drive better change management application. Our analysts for this year's report were Adrienne Boyd, Becky Fiscus, Jude Larrimore, Ashley McNeal, Allison Seabeck, Martha Wawro and Avery West. The entire office jumped in for a proof read and review competition to make sure we didn't have any errors in the final version. Adrienne Boyd, Stephanie Butts, Becky Fiscus, Mandy Gould, Ashley McNeal, Allison Seabeck, Maggie Trujillo, Martha Wawro and Avery West all took part in this competition. And finally, Jude Larrimore and Kathy Spencer are the two best copy editors an author could ever hope for - their attention to detail and ability to ensure that meaning was conveyed effectively contributed greatly to the final product.

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