The challenge of deploying change
management
As Prosci works with numerous clients tackling change management
challenges, we spend time trying to understand:
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What they are trying to achieve?
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What are their pain points?
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What challenges are they facing?
Increasingly, clients are asking questions on how to spread change management throughout
their
organization. There is a growing recognition of the value of
getting the entire organization to improve how it manages
change.
Prosci has done considerable research and development on what
we are calling Enterprise Change Management - or the building of
an organizational change competency. Ultimately, organizations must
begin setting themselves apart with their flexibility and
durability - and taking on Enterprise Change Management is a
critical step.
This tutorial presents several common concerns we hear
from change implementers and practitioners. For each of the
statements below, we will look at the potential
consequences of addressing change management in an ad hoc
manner. We will conclude the tutorial with Prosci's definition
of and perspective on Enterprise Change Management.
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Prosci has a 3-pronged approach for helping you
deploy change management across your organization.
- ECM Vision - a one to two hour
conference call laying the foundation of
Enterprise Change Management (ECM)
- ECM Lab - an online, instructor-led
program for designing you deployment approach
- ECM Checkup - a final step to see how
your deployment has gone and audit your progress
Find out more at the
ECM webpage or
call 970-203-9332 to speak with an analyst. |
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What are the issues they are facing
"We've had too many different approaches in too many different places for
too long"
In some organizations, enlightened project leaders have begun to
adopt change management on the projects that they support. The problem
occurs when there are numerous leaders utilizing a wide variety of
approaches and tools. Some projects may not have any change management.
Others may build only a communications plan. Still others might focus
heavily on training but neglect the whole set of tools available to
manage change.
This lack of consistent approach does not deliver the benefits that
come from an organization-wide approach. There is also a danger of collision
of multiple approaches, where a single leader or manager is hearing
mixed messages from the different change management approaches being
utilized.
"We need a common language"
Without a common language, it is hard to have meaningful
conversations about change management. Sometimes, there is even
confusion over what "change management" actually means. Even if
different groups are applying change management, there is often confusion
when there is no common language. What one group calls stakeholder
management another might call the sponsor coalition. It is hard to
problem solve and capitalize on lessons learned when different
terminology is being used.
"We can't afford for our important upcoming changes to fail our past
projects"
Benjamin Franklin is credited with the quote: "The definition of
insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different
results." This statement holds true when thinking about change
management. Many organizations have projects that failed because they
neglected the people side of change. Observant leaders and project teams
are beginning to recognize that it is the people side, not the
technical side, that often derails a project. The "sane" step that many
are taking is to bring change management into new projects, especially
those with significant impact on the future of the organization.
How are they overcoming these issues
Below are several tactics we have seen for bringing change management
to an organization:
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Adopting a common change
management methodology for the organization - This is a critical
step in building change management competency. A standard, single
approach lays the foundation for a common vocabulary, more
consistent application and resource sharing. Lessons learned and
continuous improvement of change management can now take place
within a controlled organizational methodology. Selection of a
common methodology also sends a message to the organization about
the importance of change management and the organization's
commitment to improving how it manages the people side of change.
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Forming a Change Management Office
- The creation of a formal structure in the organization that oversees
change management is another step toward building the competency to
manage change. We have seen this formal change management group housed
in the HR department, within the Project Management Office (PMO), under
a director of strategy or transformation or even inside a particular
department that launches many changes like IT. A formal group can
support multiple projects and maintain the methodology, tools and
training that are utilized by the rest of the organization.
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Requiring change management plans
on all new initiatives - Typically by executive decree, this
approach requires that change management be applied to every major
change initiative in the organization prior to receiving business
case approval. We have also seen organizations set an investment
threshold (i.e. any project over $500,000 needs a change management
plan). Another approach we've seen involves creating a change
management risk analysis completed at the beginning of a project,
with change management plans required for any project that has a
high "people risk" factor.
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Selecting key projects and training
the project team - This approach implements change management within
the highest profile projects. The selection of key projects is tied to
the fact that these key projects are critical to the organization's
success and they are the ones that cannot afford the consequences of
slower adoption, under utilization or poor results. In some cases, this
is an intermediary step toward requiring change management on all
projects.
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Institutionalize change management
into the training curriculum - We have seen a number of
organizations thinking about "managing change" as an individual
competency that is necessary in employees throughout the
organization and not just at the project level. In these
organizations, training programs are established for project team
members, executives, middle managers and supervisors. This approach
lacks a direct connection to any one project but utilizes
educational programs to build knowledge about change management in
the organization.
Each of the above tactics have their merits. However, to truly deploy
change management in an organization someone must begin thinking about
the deployment as a project that must be managed. Managing the project
involves both a "technical" side - defining the desired future state and
the set of tactics the organization can employ to reach that future
state - and a "people" side - building support and buy in for applying
change management.
Below is Prosci's ECM Deployment Strategy Map that is covered in the
ECM Summit. The five
elements of the Strategy Map are based on research Prosci has completed
on deploying change management. The right approach is customized for
your organization and the particular circumstances you face, but in
planning the project of deploying change management each area must be
addressed.
Next steps:
Is your organization looking to deploy change management more
broadly?
- Attend the ECM Summit - The ECM Summit is a 3-day session
focused on deploying change management. Business leaders from all
types of organizations come together to build a strategy and set of
plans for deploying change management with a holistic approach.
Find out more about the ECM
Summit.
