State of the Union for Change Management
By Jeff Hiatt, Prosci Founder and CEO
As we enter 2009, some 25 years after change management was first
introduced as a formal tool for managing people through change, we are
now seeing a broad adoption within business and government of structured
change management processes. The strength in the deployment of change
management is evident in the overall growth in revenue in change
management products and services, the creation of practice areas by
consulting firms, the commitment by companies to create formalized job
roles and training, and research work that identified change management
as the missing success factor for change. Overall, the deployment of
change management is strong and growing. In this “State of the Union”
address on change management, I share my personal observations and
philosophy, as well as a few of the trends we at Prosci see in this
field.
Observations and philosophy
1. Change management is both a process and a competency
From the process perspective, more projects are deploying change
management as a structured approach for managing the people side of
change. To ensure consistent use of change management going forward,
organizations also need to “hard wire” the application of change
management by setting investment thresholds that trigger:
- a requirement for change management to be applied on that
project
- dedicated change management resources as part of the core team
- an integration of change management activities into the project
plan
From the competency perspective, companies must recognize that
executives and senior managers must be active and visible sponsors of
change on many change programs. They must be able to build strong
coalitions, communicate effectively with employees and remain active
with the project team throughout the entire project. At the same time,
managers and supervisors must be advocates, coaches and change agents to
their employees during the change process. Organizations cannot assume
that the knowledge and skills required to fulfill these roles already
exists. In fact, recent research data suggests that this competency is
not present for a majority of managers and represents a new leadership
skill. Companies and government agencies must make a deliberate effort
to build these competencies into their leaders and managers.
2. Change management is both organizational and individual
Organizations that change effectively recognize two things. First,
that managing employees through change is a leadership responsibility
that requires top-down actions to lead that change. Second, that
organizations do not change, people change, one person at a time. The
best change management processes include an effective process for
managing organizational change and a companion process for managing
individual change. It is this partnership or integration of
organizational and individual change that ultimately produces results.
We should never believe that the actions of sponsors, the content of
communications, the knowledge from training or the coaching from
supervisors represents “change management,” unless these actions
transform the thinking and behaviors of individuals. We therefore must
utilize models for individual change that will help us guide and assess
the results of our organizational change management work.
3. Change management success is only measured through business
results
I can never imagine an experienced project manager saying that the
end goal of project management was to manage budget, tasks and
resources. They more likely would say it was to “successfully build the
fastest aircraft, on time and on budget” or “implement the best ERP
system to reduce operational costs.” Likewise, we should never think
that the end goal of change management is to implement a set of
activities or follow a recipe for managing people through change. We
implement project management and change management for one reason only –
to achieve business results. If you manage the people side of change,
you are accountable for the objectives of that initiative. You may be
responsible for communications, sponsorship, training, coaching and
resistance management as elements of change management. But you are
accountable for one thing – that the project meets or exceeds its
objectives. As soon as you step away from this final accountability, you
are no longer managing change.
4. Change management is not just a process for managing resistance
I am often asked why resistance management is left for the third day
in Prosci’s change management certification program. So many managers
and change practitioners believe that they are learning change
management so they can better manage resistance. The reason that Prosci
addresses resistance management at the end of our program is simple: We
do not believe that change management is solely a process for managing
resistance. Change management is a holistic approach to build engagement
from employees around change. Managing resistance is only a small part
of that process. We must focus on the tools and techniques for building
enthusiasm and passion for a change. If change management is reduced to
a process for identifying and managing resistance, then you will tend to
focus on negative elements of change. You will find exactly what you
were looking for. If, on the other hand, you implement change management
as a holistic process for engaging employees, the amount of resistance
will be less and the strength of that resistance will be lower. The
adage that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is as true
with people going through change as with good health. For this same
reason you cannot measure the success of change management by the
avoidance of all of the “bad things” that can happen during change. The
better position, that position of strength, is not focused on threat
mitigation, but rather around capturing the positive energy of employees
embracing change.
5. Change management experts and practitioners are not doers, they
are enablers
I like to use a theatre analogy to convey this idea. Consider for a
moment staging a play. In this play we will have script writers,
directors, stage hands, costume staff, lighting crews, set crews and
finally, actors. Change is akin to a play, in that many roles are
necessary to carry out a fantastic performance. We also know that the
play would likely not be a success if the director and script writer
decided they were going to be the actors as well. Each person has an
expertise and role to play. Great plays utilize the skills of all cast
and stage members. Likewise with change, any person who is not a sponsor
of change or a direct supervisor of an employee going through change is
at best a director, a script writer, or perhaps a stage hand. Change
practitioners must view their role not as an actor in the spot light,
but rather behind the scenes, ensuring that the right things happen at
the right time with the right people involved. This perspective is not
only important for change practitioners to have, but even more so for
the leadership and project team. So often a project assigns someone to
change management and draws the conclusion that they will carry out all
of the necessary roles. They mistakenly put this person in the role of
actor and assume that change management is “covered.” As a change
management expert and practitioner, one of your first tasks is to
clearly define the players, identify the actors and then enable them to
stage the best possible performance for this change.
Trends in change management
Enterprise Change Management - deployment of change management
across an organization
More and more organizations are deploying change management
throughout the organization rather than relying on a project-by-project
approach. Organizations who are doing this well recognize that effective
deployment of change management requires change management. This
statement takes just a moment to sink in, but we must recognize that the
adoption of change management processes and skills within an
organization is a change in and of itself. Therefore, the deployment of
change management must be treated like a project and must
utilize change management as part of that project.
Five elements of a balanced deployment for change management include:
- creating strong sponsorship for change management among business
leaders
- establishing standardized processes and tools for managing
change
- creating permanent roles like a CMO or change management group
to support change management and to manage the portfolio of change
- offering ongoing training programs in change management for business
leaders, supervisors and managers, employees and project teams
- developing project criteria, a gate process or performance measurement
system that ensures the consistent and effective application of change
management across all projects
Integration of project management and change management
We are seeing a greater intersect between project management and
change management – a very positive trend that is resulting in the
institutionalization of change management. More Project Management
Organizations (PMOs) are taking on change management responsibilities.
More work is being done to integrate change management activities with
project management activities. Project teams are recognizing change
management as a structured process that can be followed to manage the
people side of change. For the first time Prosci was invited to talk at
the 2008 PMI Global Congress, with an overwhelming interest shown in
this topic. This particular shift is reinforcing the message that
project management and change management are companion disciplines that
require effective integration in order for change projects to succeed.
Need for change portfolio management and the increase of change
saturation
As the amount of change grows within many organizations, employees
are experiencing change saturation. At the same time, the growth in
resources and expertise in change management is not always keeping pace
with the rate of change. This can result in more changes occurring with
a poorer implementation of change management. The result is compounding
business risks and projects that are not achieving their objectives.
Therefore, we have a growing need for an enterprise view of changes
underway in an organization with a central process for understanding the
impact on groups within the organization and for managing change
management resources. The trend here will be towards a greater effort on
managing the portfolio of change so that business leaders can set
priorities and make investment tradeoffs between competing initiatives.
Summary
A final note to change management experts and practitioners: However
cliché, change has become the norm. Changes are bigger. Changes are
happening more frequently. Changes are happening faster. For
organizations to survive and thrive in this ever changing environment,
the people cannot be left behind. Leading change – and being a change
leader in your organization – is a critical process and competency. By
bringing the people-side of change to the forefront, you are one of the
most vital assets and sources of success in your organization today.
