Project management and change management go hand-in-hand to ensure project success. As the project team executes the project, the change management team helps all affected users transition to the new way of doing things. Both are crucial to achieving the project objectives. Show
Integrating change management in project management reduces employee resistance and ensures you leave no one behind during the changes. Yet half of all change initiatives fail because of employee resistance and other reasons. This guide covers the basics of change management to get you in the right direction. What Is Change Management In Project Management?Among other plans, a project management process includes a change management plan which controls the deliverables, budget, time, and quality. It outlines the process for managing change (i.e., who controls what, when, how), the tools, and change control activities (submitting change requests, reviewing, approving, documenting change impact, etc.). It is a systematic approach to transitioning an organization’s goals, processes, or technologies. Change management implements strategies for effecting change, controlling change, and helping people adapt to change, with change managers typically working side by side with project managers. Organizations can analyze a change’s impact through change management strategies and can also implement strategies to reduce the time to implement the change and support the employees. Ultimately, change management at the project level helps achieve the expected benefits by supporting a person’s transition. Similarly, project management focuses on achieving the project’s goals. What Are The Four Different Types Of Change Management?We can categorize change management processes based on the types of change, including; anticipatory, reactive, incremental, and strategic change. AnticipatoryAnticipatory changes are expected/planned changes to compete better in the future. For example, if a business is growing fast and needs to automate routine tasks, change managers will help the employees learn how to use the new system quickly and with minimal errors. ReactiveReactive changes are unexpected circumstances (e.g., a business collapsing because of war/political instability). The reactive approach often occurs when no one anticipated the incident leaving little or no time to curate a structured approach to handle it. This means that senior leaders must use the least amount of time to tackle obstacles. IncrementalIncremental changes occur in small increments until you meet the organization’s intended goals. Since you roll out the changes gradually, it gives employees enough time to adjust and allows teams to gather feedback and make informed decisions throughout the change process. StrategicStrategic changes are more impactful and may affect overall organizational success — for example, a change in response to a market threat or opportunity. So top management is usually in charge of such changes. Change Management For Project Management: The Main StepsBelow are what you need to do to manage organizational changes in project management. Accept & Understand The Need For ChangeWhat’s the change, why does it need to happen, and how will it happen? Understand the need for the change to communicate its benefits and implement it effectively. Understand:
Identify Stakeholders’ NeedsStakeholders are the influential people in a project’s success. Each has a different perspective, skill, and pain point. So instead of a generic approach to every stakeholder’s needs, you need to dive deeper. What are their motivations? What do they want to see in the business? How will they measure success? Examples of internal stakeholder groups include:
To identify the influential stakeholders, create a list of the groups affected by the change. Here are some questions to identify key stakeholders (all answers should be either yes or no):
Then for each stakeholder, answer these questions:
Finally, interview each stakeholder to identify their interests, limitations, needs, and processes. That’s a stakeholder analysis. Analyze the data from the research to identify trends or conflicting interests. You’ll then group the stakeholders according to their requirements. If the stakeholders’ requirements don’t match the project’s core requirements, you may need to readjust or reevaluate the project’s direction. Make Sure Roles & Responsibilities Are Clearly DefinedProminent roles in change management include the change manager, change management process owner, and Change Advisory Board members. But depending on the organization structure, you could have a change submitter, change implementer, emergency Change Advisory Board, etc. Here’s how to build your change management team. The change management process owner will monitor the change process and review it at a high level to ensure it’s consistent with the organization’s overall strategy. They also ensure that the change manager has all the resources needed to implement the change. And they resolve any disputes in allocating responsibilities. They also provide the mission statement, strategy, roadmap, metrics, and process (including getting the process approved). The change manager executes the change management process. They’ll coordinate the change activities to ensure they operate within the agreed process and integrate with other processes. They also set targets, review the efficiency of the change processes, conduct performance audits, and chair the Change Advisory Board. They report change management activities to top management. The change manager will steer the changing focus while the project manager steers the project focus in upper management meetings. The Change Advisory Board members schedule, assess, and approve changes. Have members who understand the project’s technical and business viewpoint to ensure the change activities align with the technical, business, vendor, and customer viewpoints. They also review the change records for accuracy and advise the change manager on maintaining and improving the change process. The change submitter will plan, initiate, and execute change requests. They’ll also create the change implementation plan and communicate the change status and results. The change implementer implements the change requests they receive from the change submitter. Build A Communication Plan That Keeps The Project On Its ToesEstablish a clear and straightforward communication plan to inform the affected people of where the organization is going and why, the changes that will happen, dates, and milestones. The communication plan will persuade stakeholders and employees to adopt the changes if the following three things are clear: what’s in it for them, why the change is important, and how it will happen. To create a communication plan, consider:
Here are the steps for creating a change communication plan:
Involve Employees In The Decision Making ProcessGathering the employees’ feedback before, during, and after the change process builds empathy, which is key to leading organizational change. Gartner found that involving employees in planning could increase a change initiative’s success by 12%. Consider how a CEO involved employees at all levels in a European retail bank change initiative. The CEO created a top-level story and let the directors add chapters to the story. The directors added the chapters and asked their teams to add more details, including how the changes would impact them and their responsibilities. They did this five levels down to branch managers, ensuring that everyone knew their part in the upcoming changes. And in the process, one director shared the concern that customers wanted faster services – which the branch staff responded by saying the document imagers caused delays. The employees ended up causing a practical and much-needed change because they felt involved in the organization’s strategy. When creating a communication plan, first interview a sample of employees to determine whether they’re excited, frustrated, or frightened by the change. Then segment the employees. Another CEO created audience personas based on key employee segments for their communication plan. They interviewed employees in each segment to reveal questions, beliefs, feelings, and concerns about the current business strategy. Then they designed communication using the information from the interviews. For example, excited employees were encouraged to motivate their unmotivated peers. The CEO also addressed revealed concerns publicly, which built the leadership’s credibility. Such interviews should continue during and after implementing the change to match messages to the employees’ moods. Develop, Redevelop & Constantly Evolve Change Management PlansA change management plan outlines the process for implementing change. It includes well-defined goals/objectives, a communication plan, a training plan, and mitigating resistance to change. Here are the steps to create a change management plan:
After execution change management plan, keep gathering feedback and communicating with the key stakeholders to improve the plan. For example, personalize the change plan to address each affected individual’s concerns. Will they still have a job after automating half of their tasks? What will they do with their free time? How will their roles change? Implement, Execute & Enforce Change Management PlansWhen implementing change, keep these tips in mind:
Tips for leading change:
Evaluate & Assess ProgressWe need to evaluate and assess change activities progress to improve constantly – whether in the activities, training, communication, technologies, or any other aspect of the changes. Typically, organizations evaluate change management against the project baseline (scope, cost, and schedule). Some tools to evaluate change management progress in project management are change management surveys, employee satisfaction surveys, system usage reports, project KPI measurements, cost/risk/benefits analysis, flowcharts, and process maps The typical metrics for measuring change are how much time the people take to adopt the changes, the number of people who adopt the changes, e.g., live users in an app, and how successful the employees are in their tasks after implementing change. Organizations also measure whether the change management strategy is in line with the overall business strategy, the level of satisfaction with the communication and training efforts, and the level of comfort/frustration when using the new system. Other metrics are organization performance after the change, compliance with the project plan, employee engagement, and stakeholder buy-in. When evaluating your leadership in change management, think about where you improved communication, created more clarity, and upskilled people. For new hires or fires, how did it affect your team? And with all that, what can your team accomplish now? And how did you help them deliver their work? Also, consider the stakeholders. How did you support them? How did you improve the organization’s future with your decisions? Get Started With Change Management At The Project LevelProject management and change management facilitate achieving a project’s success and organizational goals. The project leaders work with change leaders to achieve the project requirements while helping the people transition to the new processes. Change management involves identifying stakeholders’ needs, helping them understand the changes, and evaluating the progress. How to integrate change management and project management?Action steps for Integrating Process. Be structured in your approach. The more rigorous, process-oriented and milestone-driven your change management approach, the more easily it can be integrated with the project management approach.. Define your deliverables. ... . Actively identify key points in time for integrating activities.. How can change management be built into the project plan?Follow these six steps to developing a change management plan to ensure a smooth organizational transition.. Step 1: Build your team. ... . Step 2: Set goals. ... . Step 3: Create a plan. ... . Step 4: Do the work. ... . Step 5: Support the change.. What is a project managers role in change management?The project manager focuses on the project's design, development and delivery—the technical side of the change. Without direction and management, the technical side of the project will not move forward.
What should be fully integrated into the change process?What Happens When an Organization Successfully Integrates Changes?. Stage 6: Integration of the Changes.. Refreeze Your Organization After Change.. Identify Additional Needs for Changes.. Systems and Processes Need Changing.. Hiring.. Training.. Organizational Structure.. Rewards and Recognition.. |