Definition of change management
Helping others understand change
management in relation to project
management and organizational change
By Tim Creasey
Director of Research and Development
Prosci Research
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Change management: the process, tools and
techniques to manage the people-side of change to achieve
a required business outcome.
Providing context - the background of this definition
"What is change management?" This is a question you may have heard
from colleagues or coworkers in passing or in formal presentations. While many of us 'know'
intuitively what change management is, we have a hard time conveying to
others what we really mean.
In thinking about how to define change management, it is important to
provide context related to two other concepts - the change itself and project
management. This tutorial shows how change management and project
management are two critical disciplines that are applied to a
variety of
organizational changes to improve the likelihood of
success and return on investment.
Ultimately, the goal of change is to improve the organization by
altering how work is done
When you introduce a change to the organization, you are ultimately
going to be impacting one or more of the following four parts of how the
organization operates:
- Processes
- Systems
- Organization structure
- Job roles
While there are numerous approaches and tools that can be used to
improve the organization, all of them ultimately prescribe adjustments
to one or more of the four parts of the organization listed above. Change
typically results as a reaction to specific problems or
opportunities the organization is facing based on internal or external
stimuli. While the notion of 'becoming more competitive' or 'becoming
closer to the customer' or 'becoming more efficient' can be the motivation to change, at
some point these goals must be transformed into the
specific impacts on
processes, systems, organization structures or job roles. This is the
process of defining 'the change'.
Formally defining change management and project management
However, it is not enough to merely prescribe 'the change' and expect it to
happen - creating change within an organization takes hard work and structure
around what must actually take place to make the change happen. To
begin, lets look at the formal definitions of project management
and change management - two key disciplines required to bring a
change to life. These are two commonly accepted definitions that help us
begin to think about these two distinct but intertwined disciplines.
| Project management |
Project management is the application of
knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities
to meet project requirements.
Project management
is accomplished through the application and integration of
the project management processes of initiating, planning,
executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing.
* From PMBOK® Guide, Third
Edition |
| Change management |
Change management is the process, tools and
techniques to manage the people-side of change to achieve the required business outcome.
Change
management incorporates the organizational tools that can be
utilized to help individuals make successful personal
transitions resulting in the adoption and realization of
change. |
Figure 1
As shown in Figure 1, both project management and change management
support moving an organization from a current state (how things are done
today), through a transition state to a
desired future state (the new
processes, systems, organization structures or job roles defined by 'the
change'). Project management focuses on the
tasks to achieve the
project requirements. Change management focuses on the
people impacted by the change.
Any change to processes, systems, organization structures and/or job
roles will have a 'technical' side and a 'people' side that must be
managed. Project management and change management have evolved as
disciplines to provide both the structure and the tools needed to
realize change successfully on the technical and people side.
| Discipline: |
Process: |
Tools: |
| Project management |
- Initiating
- Planning
- Executing
- Monitoring and controlling
- Closing
* From PMBOK® Guide, Third
Edition |
- Statement of work, Project charter, Business case
- Work breakdown structure, Budget estimations,
Resource allocation, Schedule
- Tracking, Risk
identification and mitigation, Reports on performance
and compliance
|
| Change management |
- Planning for change
- Managing change
- Reinforcing change
* From Prosci's research-based methodology |
- Individual change model
- Communications
- Sponsorship
- Coaching
- Training
- Resistance management
|
Thinking about what each tool is trying to achieve
So, project management outlines the specific activities for defining
and prescribing how to move from point A to point B (by changing
processes, systems, organization structures or job roles). Change
management outlines the steps needed to help the individuals impacted by
the change adopt it and do their jobs in the new way (for example, people
transitioning from fulfilling function 'a' to function 'b' as shown in
Figure 2).
Figure 2
The goal of project management is to effectively deploy resources in
a structured manner to develop and implement the solution - in terms of
what needs to be done to processes, systems, organization structure and
job roles. The goal of change management is to help each individual
impacted by the change to make a successful transition, given what is
required by the solution.
Using the right amount
Each initiative or project you undertake requires
some level of
project management and change management. These two disciplines are tools used to support the implementation of a variety of changes that
you may be undertaking. For example, think about the simplistic but
illustrative table below:
| Project: |
Needs PM? |
Needs CM? |
| Deploying an ERP solution across the entire
organization |
Yes |
Yes |
| Reengineering the work processes and contact
scripts of your call center agents |
Yes |
Yes |
| Integrating two organizations and their
information systems following a merger or acquisition |
Yes |
Yes |
| Redesigning the physical layout of an office
space |
Yes |
Yes |
| Developing a new sales channel |
Yes |
Yes |
Note: All of the projects mentioned above need both project
management and change management. There are very few instances where you
will not need both disciplines.
Change management and project management are tools that need to be
applied independent of the actual change that you are
undertaking. Anytime you alter processes, systems, organization
structures or job roles, you need a structured approach to manage
both the 'technical' side and the 'people' side of the pending change.
Do project management and change management look the same for every
initiative? Typically not. While the right amount of project management
and change management is at least some, each of these tools are
at their best when they are customized for the unique situation that you
are facing and are fully integrated. Your organization, its culture and history, and the specific
change that you are implementing all influence the right amount
of project management and change management.
|
How much project management is
needed? |
How much change management is
needed? |
| Depends on the complexity and
degree of change to processes, systems, organization structure and job
roles |
Depends on the amount of
disruption created in individual employee's day-to-day work and the
organization attributes like culture, value system and history
with past
changes |
Separate but integrated in practice
So far in this tutorial, project management and change management
have been discussed as two distinct disciplines. While separate
as fields of study, on a real project change management and project management are
integrated. The steps and activities move in unison as teams work to
move from the current state to a desired future state.
As an example, think about what activities occur during the planning
phase of a project. On the project management side, teams are
identifying the milestones and activities that must be completed. They
are outlining the resources needed and how they will work together. They
are defining the scope of what will be part of the project and what will
not be. From a change management side, teams begin crafting key messages
that must be communicated. They work with project sponsors to build
strong and active coalitions of senior leaders. They begin making the
case of why the change is needed to employees throughout the
organization, even before the specific details of the solution are
complete. The most effective projects integrate these activities into a
single project plan.
Summary
It can sometimes be hard to separate out 'the change', project
management, and change management. In practice, these three components
are intertwined in order to deliver a positive outcome to the
organization. However, there is value in separating out the components.
First, thinking about the three components separately makes it easier to
define and help others
understand these distinct elements. Second,
separating out these three components is a solid first step when
troubleshooting on a particular project that may not be moving ahead as
expected. For instance, are our challenges coming from issues around
designing 'the change'? Are the issues related to the 'technical'
steps, activities or resources (project management)? Or are concerns coming from how individuals
are accepting or resisting the change (change management)?
Think about what each component is trying to achieve (see the table
below) - this is the best way to tell someone else what change
management is, and how it is related to 'the change' and project
management.
| Element: |
Goal or objective: |
| "The change" |
To improve the organization in some fashion
- for instance reducing costs, improving revenues, solving
problems, seizing opportunities, aligning work and strategy,
streamlining information flow within the organization |
| Project management |
To develop a set of specific plans and
actions to achieve "the change" given time, cost and scope
constraints and to utilize resources effectively (managing
the 'technical' side of the change) |
| Change management |
To apply a systematic approach to helping
the individuals impacted by "the change" to be successful by
building support, addressing resistance and developing the
required knowledge and ability to implement the change
(managing the 'people' side of the change) |
What do you think?
Tools for applying change management:
- Change
management certification ($2100) - 3-day program where you bring
a project you are working on and apply all of the assessments and
tools as you learn them - taught by former Fortune 500 executives at locations across the U.S.
- 2007 Best Practices in Change Management benchmarking report
($249) - journal-style report with lessons learned and best practices
from 426 participants, presented in an easy-to-use format - reads as
a checklist of what to do and what not to do
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Change Management Toolkit ($349) - hardcopy 3-ring binder presenting
Prosci's change management methodology, includes templates, checklists
and assessments for managing the people side of change (includes CD-ROM)
- Change
Management Guide for Managers and Supervisors ($189) -
tools to help supervisors engage and coach their direct reports
through change (includes 4 copies of the Employee's Survival Guide)
- Change
Management Pilot ($449) - online tool including Prosci's change
management methodology, eLearning modules and downloadable templates,
assessments, presentations and checklists
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Change Management Pilot Professional ($559) - the content of the
Change Management Pilot plus additional benchmarking data and an
online version of the Change Management Guide for Managers and
Supervisors
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Change Management: the people side of change ($18.95) - a primer for anyone
involved in organizational change that addresses why manage change,
individual change management and organizational change management
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Employee's Survival Guide to Change (14.95) - a handbook to help
employees survive and thrive during change, answers frequently asked
questions and empowers employees to take charge of change
*** Prosci also offers
leadership packages - groupings of products at discounts that
offer you some of the most helpful and common combinations of Prosci
change management resources
Email this page to a friend
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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