Prosci Project Change Triangle (PCT) - Part 2

Leadership and sponsorship is the responsibility of executives and senior managers in the organization who authorize, fund and charter the top-down organizational changes that end up as projects or initiatives. They are primarily responsible for making decisions, providing direction, and demonstrating their own and the organization's commitment to the particular change - whether it is a new product, an ERP system, a reorganization, or any number of organizational changes. The role of 'sponsor of change' is not one that can be selected or assigned; it is tied to and dictated by the actual change that is being implemented.

From an organizational perspective, leadership is key in establishing the strategy and direction. Additionally, leaders must communicate this strategy and direction in a way that individual employees understand and can make sense of given their role in the organization. Finally, leaders must establish priorities within the organization, between the projects and the different changes that are happening. Effective changes are clearly aligned with the vision and strategy of the organization.

From a project perspective, leadership must support both the project management side (the technical activities to manage the development of a solution) and the change management side (the specific activities to help manage the people side of change) of a project or initiative. Leaders play key roles in both these other disciplines, represented by the connections in the Prosci Project Change Triangle (PCT). These connections will be examined in more detail in upcoming Prosci Project Change Triangle (PCT) tutorials.

Project management is the set of processes and tools applied to business problems or opportunities to develop and implement a solution. One of the key components is having a change defined - you must know what is changing (processes, systems, job roles, organizational structure, etc.) in order to manage that change effectively.

Project management involves understanding the tradeoff between the time, cost, and scope of change that can be achieved. The time component is related to the key milestones and timeframe for the specific initiative, from problem identification through solution implementation. Cost is associated with the resources used in the development of the solution, both the people resources tied to the project team and others in the organization supporting the project and the investment in the selected solution. The scope describes what is changing as part of this initiative, and what is not changing or 'out of scope'.

Finally, project management is the application of the discipline called 'project management' that is a structured approach for managing tasks, resources, and budget in order to achieve a defined deliverable. This discipline has been well-documented and includes a number of tools and software applications to manage the technical side of a project. Successful changes apply project management tools and processes to their initiatives.

Change management is the set of processes, tools and practices that are used to manage the people side of a change. Change management is the bridge between "implementing a solution" and an organization ultimately realizing the benefits associated with the change. While change management is sometimes considered the 'soft' side of the project, research and numerous empirical examples show that effectively managing the human side of change is repeatable and systematic.

Change management requires two perspectives - an individual perspective (how people experience change) and an organizational perspective (how groups can be managed through a change). For individuals to make a change successfully - as characterized by Prosci's ADKAR model - they need an Awareness of the need for change, Desire to participate and support the change, Knowledge on how to change, the Ability to implement the required skills and behaviors, and Reinforcement to sustain the change.

Change management is the process of helping employees transition from the current state to the future state (as defined by the change) in a way that minimizes productivity loss, negative customer impact and employee turnover, while at the same time maximizes the speed of adoption and ultimate utilization of the change throughout the organization. Tools like communication, sponsorship and coaching are used to help employees make their own individual transition. Business results are only achieved when employees are involved and participating in the change. Change management is the final element of realizing change effectively.