When it comes to projects that will impact the way a business operates, Change management and project management activities are complementary. Project management processes provide the building blocks for the transformation and when properly administered, change management serves as the bonding agent that can make the different elements of the initiative that didn’t initially seem to fit, stick together: change management activities can fill gaps and help realign various organizational components.
Over the past half century, Project Management (PM) has been evolving into a defined discipline. Over the past decades, the Project Management Institute (PMI) has played an important role in promoting a unified body of knowledge. On the other hand, change management (CM) has evolved into various schools of thought with very rich knowledge bases. The impacts of change on organizations have been analyzed from various perspectives: ranging from a business strategy or operations stand point, to the social, psychological, anthropological perspectives. The conclusion is always the same: managing change that is happening in an open system with a multitude of variables that are sometimes unpredictable is a daunting task. As Linda mentioned in her comment on last week’s blog: “Change is never easy, even when the audience knows and wants it” (posted on the PMI LEAD CoP blog medium).
Even with all the progress that has been made to advance this multidisciplinary field, the Change Management body of knowledge remains fragmented. Even though it has become a popular term that is increasingly being used within many functional areas in contemporary corporations, the term “change management” (as it pertains to organizational change) holds a different meaning depending on who you ask. In the context of this blog, which focuses on change management as it pertains to project implementations, I’ll define change management (CM) as the set of activities that takes place in order to align all organizational components: stakeholders, policies, processes, technology,… It ensures that groups of impacted stakeholders are prepared and empowered so that they can successfully transition from the current state to the new way of doing things. From beginning to end, the stakeholders should be at the heart of the change management strategy; its purpose should be to address their concerns, to align them, to enable them, and to equip them so that they can successfully operate in the desired future state. CM activities should further help enable and reinforce the realization of the benefits identified in the initiative’s business case.
Communications management is NOT change management, simply delivering training is NOT managing change; even though, in most situations, a comprehensive communication plan and a robust training program may be two of the most important instruments in the change management toolbox. The goal is to proactively identify organizational hurdles along the way that might be an obstacle to the project (or program’s) success and attempt to address them so that the project team can execute. At the end of the day, if the change management component of an initiative is handled properly, some of the issues that typically plague projects can be avoided. That means the project is IMPLEMENTED WITH the stakeholders, as opposed to having the project be IMPOSED ON the stakeholders:
- Impacted stakeholders are properly identified and engaged, which in turn allows for better management of potential resistance to the change.
- Better alignment and better feedback loops exist between the project team, the business leaders, and the impacted stakeholder groups.
- Business ownership is maximized and the burden for a successful implementation is shared.
- Key stakeholders across the organization clearly understand their roles and responsibilities as enablers of a successful implementation and are accountable their small, defined piece of the puzzle.
- Change agents are properly identified and engaged. A common mistake is to assume that the best change agent will be someone in a position of authority and that is not necessarily the case. - Expectations are managed across the board.
- The level of benefits anticipated is realistic and linked to clear accountabilities on the business side.
- The impacted stakeholders fully understand not only the project's benefits but also its shortcomings and any collateral/side effect. If the shortcomings are identified and understood early enough, the impacted groups can begin to prepare to address any adverse effects. - The implementation plan takes into account organizational culture and the rollout is design to address cultural hurtles that may negatively impact the execution of the project and/or the realization of anticipated benefits.
- Risk management is expanded to proactively identify and tackle organization-related issues that might negatively impact the project.
- Change management activities pave the way for a smoother transition to the desired future state and establish an environment that can sustain the new way of doing things.
- Impacted individuals are adequately equipped to operate in the new environment.
As a Project or Program Manager, how do you deal with the challenges that stem from running an initiative that will impact the way a business operates? How do you typically deal with culture? How do you align stakeholder groups that seem to have divergent goals? How do you define “change management”?
