Integrating change management and project management
Applying change management to business initiatives
Change management can be applied to many types of business improvement programs - from
radical changes like BPR, mergers and acquisitions or new product releases to incremental
changes like continuous improvement processes or Six Sigma. Change management is the
process and tools - such as communications, sponsorship, coaching, training and resistance
management plan - for addressing the people side of change. Change management is not an
event - it is a process of helping individuals understand, internalize and support a
change. The challenge for project teams is to effectively
integrate change management with their project management activities.
Conceptual business improvement and change management processes
To see how integration takes place, we begin by looking at a conceptual picture of a
business improvement process and a change management process. Although the pictures below
show high-level steps, most business improvement processes (TQM, BPR, Six Sigma,
reorganization, etc.) contain the five steps below. Likewise, while the change management
process will vary and be more complicated than shown below, these five areas represent
some of the major activities of change management. At the end of the tutorial,
downloadable documents show the detailed Level 1 and Level 2 activities for the integrated
process.
Business improvement process
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Change management process
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Your starting point changes what you do first
If you begin change management when you begin your project, you are able to integrate
the change management steps into the project steps. This is shown conceptually in the
table below called Scenario 1.
| Scenario 1 Integration
primarily occurs in one of two ways. First, someone from your team (like you)
introduces the importance of change management and the people side of change at the
project initiation or second, your organization has made a commitment to building change
competence and utilizes change management as standard practice on every project. When
change management is started at the beginning of a project, the activities can be fully
integrated. Your first step will be to develop a change management strategy based on the
characteristics of your particular change and the attributes of your organization that is
being changed. Change readiness assessments will help you decide on your strategy and how
you will customize the change management plans you are going to develop. |
Integration of change
management
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| Scenario 2 Unfortunately in many cases,
change management is added on to a project after it is well underway. The
project team may be preparing for implementation or implementation may have already
started, and often times the catalyst for using change management is resistance by
employees, supervisors and managers. In this situation, your project has already begun to
experience difficulties, including productivity declines, active and passive resistance,
and possible loss of valued employees (all of these can be prevented or minimized when
change management is integrated from the very beginning). In this scenario, your first
activity is to find out what has already happened. You must take the pulse of the
organization, identify the source of resistance, why it has emerged and manage it
effectively and quickly. After you have controlled the damage that is already done, you
move into the change management process and develop a strategy for the rest of the
project. |
Add-on of change management
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Change management process
The picture below depicts the three-phase change management process and the associated
outputs of the process. This process is based on best practices research with over 900
organizations. The new Change Management Pilot
is built on the process, including all of the associated templates and assessments for
each phase of the process.
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Outputs:
- Change characteristics profile
- Organizational attributes profile
- Change management strategy guidelines
- Change management team structure
- Sponsor structure and responsibilities
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Outputs:
- Communications plan
- Sponsor roadmap
- Training plan
- Coaching plan
- Resistance management plan
- Master change management plan
- Project team activities
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Outputs:
- Compliance audit reports
- Corrective action plans
- After action review
- Transition plan
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What does an integrated process look like
To integrate change management steps into your project, we have provided a detailed
example.
Below are three word documents that show the Level 1 and Level 2 process activities for
the business improvement process, the change management process and the integrated
process. These steps are set up as documents that can be downloaded and imported directly
into a project management software like MS Project. If you get a gray dialogue box asking
for login information, just click 'Cancel'.
Level 1 and
Level 2 business improvement activities
Level 1 and
Level 2 change management activities
Level 1
and Level 2 integrated project activities
By integrating change management and project management, you will be ensured of a more
effective implementation of your project.
Next steps
The Change Management Pilot application is
an online tool with the complete change management process, methodology and over 30
downloadable templates and assessments you can begin using on your project right away.
Single user licenses are available for $449.
Sign up today for the upcoming change management webinars.
These free one-hour sessions include a web-based portion given through the CM Pilot and a
conference call where change management experts provide tips, stories and answer questions
about key change management topics. Upcoming webinars will cover developing your sponsor
model, preparing your team and managing resistance.
"This is the most beneficial webinar I have
attended. Your delivery was to the point and interesting."
Angela M, Wells Fargo
"It's great having an opportunity to network with others
who are facing similar challenges with implementing effective change management [AND] the
take aways are excellent."
Sheryl C, Lakeland Electric
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