Dispelling change
management myths - Myth 3
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| The first of the "Dispelling change management myths"
tutorials released by Prosci and the Change Management Learning
Center presented the four major objections to change management often heard from project team
members and senior leaders. This tutorial looks specifically at myth #3:
"We are introducing change and managing the project, so
aren’t we managing change?"
Root causes of this myth:
There are a variety of reasons that you might hear the
objection: "We are introducing change and managing the project, so aren't we managing
change?" Below are some common reasons for this objection followed
by actions you can take to address the specific objection.
1. 'Project management' is a discipline in and
of itself, separate from change management. Managing a project effectively has
its own set of processes and tools, which are different
than those for managing change.
| Action
Steps |
Project management is defined by PMI in
the Third Edition of the PMBOK® Guide: Project management is the application of
knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to a broad range of activities in order to meet
the requirements of a particular project. Project management is comprised of five Project
Management Process Groups - Initiating Processes, Planning Processes, Executing Processes,
Monitoring and Controlling Processes, and Closing Processes - as well as nine Knowledge
Areas. These nine Knowledge Areas center on management expertise in Project Integration
Management, Project Scope Management, Project Time Management, Project Cost Management,
Project Quality Management, Project Human Resources Management, Project Communications
Management, Project Risk Management and Project Procurement Management.
from http://www.pmi.org/info/PP_AboutProfessionOverview.asp
While the definition is complex, it highlights some of the key project management
tools. Project managers use tools like work breakdown structures, issue tracking,
scheduling, cost estimation and risk management techniques to move the 'hard' side of the
project forward. Change management has its own set of tools
to move the 'people' side of a change forward, including readiness
assessments, sponsorship and coalition building, coaching, communication, training and
resistance management. |
2. There is not an understanding of what change management really means.
| Action
Steps |
As in myth 2, your job
is to give the organization an understanding of the whole system
of change management. You want to show the people in your organization introducing change
that change management is a holistic process for
implementing change successfully in an organization.
It is the set of tools that allows management to accelerate the speed of adoption and
overall participation in change. Like project management, change management follows a
process of understanding the situation and then utilizing the right tools to make the
change happen. The Positioning
to Succeed in 2006 webinar and checklist present a one-page tool you can use to build
a fuller understanding of all the pieces that make change management work. |
3. Change management has five distinct tools that can be
applied to accelerate change adoption.
| Action
Steps |
Just as project management has a number of
tools practitioners can use to keep the 'hard' side of a project on track, change
management has five distinct 'levers' that are used to
make the people side of change successful. Prosci's research-based
methodology uses the following plans to build buy-in, control resistance and accelerate
how quickly people adopt a change:
- Communication plan
- Sponsorship roadmap
- Coaching plan
- Training plan
- Resistance management plan
The hardcopy Change
Management Toolkit and the online Change Management
Pilot provide step-by-step instructions for applying a holistic change management
process, including templates for developing each of the plans mentioned above. |
4. Projects have an organizational perspective, change management includes both an
organizational and an individual perspective.
| Action
Steps |
Typically, project management is concerned
with organizational factors - what changes are needed to improve how the organization
operates. Change management is effectively and successfully moving the
individuals in an organization from the current state
to the desired future state. The organizational
change management tools map directly to the project management organizational
factors. In addition, change management incorporates
the individual perspective of a project by utilizing
the ADKAR model. The ADKAR model is a
results-oriented change management tool used to help project teams and change management
teams understand how an individual experiences a change. Each individual who changes
how they do their job needs the five ADKAR elements to make the change successfully.
Figure 1 below shows the ADKAR elements as they align with management activities or other catalysts that enable
employees to move from one ADKAR element to another. In this figure, the elements of ADKAR
are shown on the left hand side, and the enablers or catalysts for change are shown on the
right hand side.
|
|
 Figure
1 - ADKAR Model mapped to enablers and management activities |
5. If a project changes the way people do their work, then you
need change management.
| Action
Steps |
If the project you are
working on involves people, change management will be necessary for success.
According to the 2005 Best Practices in
Change Management Report, the number one reason for
resistance in projects was not the lack of a good project plan or project
solution but a lack of awareness about the change and the business reasons for the change.
In an empowered work force, the right answer is not enough.
People need to have answers for 'why' changes are taking place as well as 'what' is
changing and how these changes will affect them personally. Assess the levels of awareness for your project by using the ADKAR model
presented in action step 4. For complete details on how to use the ADKAR model
together with an organizational change management model see the hardcopy Change
Management Toolkit or the online Change Management
Pilot. |
| Reader comments: "My
organization has a strong culture of belonging and a lack of accountabilty. When change is
initiated, managers often agree with the change (to belong)but do not take the necessary
steps to ensure the change happens and are not held accountable for making it happen. This
poses a problem in the ADKAR model and project management. The Desire to change may be
there for managers but their lack of follow through creates a lack of desire in the
employees. This happens in project managment and company initiatives. Long story short, if
upper managment is lax on holding leaders accountable for the change, the project will be
another program of the month."
"This is an excellent piece. Our organization
has a well established project management process and highly effective project office. One
danger is the implicit assumption that managing the project IS managing the change. Most
of our project managers rely on their intuitive sense of the people impact and that often
serves them well. However we have been having discussions recently about precisely this
topic and so your article is very timely and well appreciated.
The challenge now is to avoid the trap that suggests
that change management is one persons 'job'. The upside of this assumption is that it buys
HR a seat at the project table, the down side being that the HR/Change Management person
is expected to 'do' the change management. Sharing this responsibilty with the project
manager and the line managers impacted, then building awareness and skills is our current
challenge.
This article will help. Thank You."
"It is a fact that organization can change only
if the behavior of the organizational members change. But studies suggest that
'Desire to Change' is applicable at the level of individual and also at the level of
organization. Factors like locked-in-investment, loss of strategic position etc.
also effect the desire to change at the level of an organization."
"I find that my clients can best understand the
difference between managing the project and managing the change when I ask them to
construct a vision for the change. Almost inevitably, they come up with a project vision.
When I ask them how the working world and the people within it will change as a result of
the project, what they will be doing differently and (hopefully) better, then they start
to "get it" - that managing the change includes the people and that is different
than just managing the project or the technology."
|
Recapping Myth 3: "We are introducing change and managing the
project, so aren't we managing change?"
| "We are introducing change and managing the project, so
aren’t we managing change?" |
- "Just because you are introducing a change does not mean that you are managing the
people side of that change. Change management is a systematic
approach to accelerate adoption and mitigate resistance." 5
- "Change management is the process, tools and techniques
for managing the people side of change. It is not sitting around in a circle singing
'kumbaya'. It is a proven management process for
leading people through change."
- "There are five 'levers' you can pull to encourage effective change -
sponsorship, communication, coaching, training and resistance management. These are the
tools of organizational change management. Effective
change management uses all of these tools in the right mix to achieve the desired
outcome." 5
- "In the same way that you have tools to manage the project side of the change -
issue tracking, documentation, work breakdown structures, design processes - there are
specific tools you can use to encourage adoption, to mitigate
resistance and to manage change."
|
| Share
your thoughts - Prosci will post reader comments on all of the myths - tell us
what you think |
Share your thoughts
For the change management myths tutorial series, Prosci wants to hear
what you think. Click the link below to
provide comments on one of the particular myths, a strategy you used to deal with one of
the myths or a general comment. The Change Management Learning Center will update this
page, and add your comments on upcoming tutorials. Be sure to bookmark this page so you
can return to see what other Learning Center members have to say.
Share
your thoughts
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Summary
Download a handout for
the dispelling change management myths tutorial
Remember, when you ask a project leader or project team to apply change
management, you are asking them to make a change to
how they do their jobs (the same is true when asking senior leaders to be sponsors of
change, or supervisors to be coaches of change). The ADKAR model can be applied to
understand the key building blocks for individuals to make the change (i.e. "applying change management") successful.
Awareness of the need to apply
change management process and principles
Desire to participate and support
the application of change management
Knowledge on how to fulfill my
role in change management
Ability to implement the skills
and behaviors of my role in change management
Reinforcement to sustain the use
of change management
Project teams are a key source of information related to the details of
the change, and they will be crucial partners in efforts to integrate
change management and project management activities. Understanding the most common change
management myths and objections will help you facilitate the individual change of "applying
change management" with your project leaders and team members.
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Resources for developing your change management plans
Utilize research-based, holistic, easy-to-use materials from Prosci and the Change
Management Learning Center:
Email a Prosci analyst or
call 970-203-9332 with questions about the methodology, its application, or finding the
right resources to support your change management activities.
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