Change Management: An Introduction
Change management is crucial for the success of any project. While project outcomes often focus on technical solutions, insufficient attention is given to how the change affects people. As a result, organisations may implement technically sound projects that fail to deliver benefits due to resistance from employees. The success of change adoption depends heavily on an organisation’s culture and attitude towards new ways of working.
Why is Change Management Important?
In today’s fast-paced world, organisations must maximise the benefits of their projects. Change is constant, and helping people adapt is critical for success. Research shows a clear link between project performance, organisational maturity, and effective change management. High-performing organisations regularly apply organisational change management (OCM) to their projects, leading to higher success rates.
Key Activities for Effective Organisational Change
According to IBM, there are four essential activities for successful organisational change management:
- Preparation: Gain deep insights into the complexity of the change and plan accordingly.
- Methodology: Use a robust OCM methodology aligned with project management principles.
- Skill Building: Develop change management skills among sponsors, change managers, and staff.
- Investment: Appropriately invest in OCM to ensure success.
Research-Backed Benefits of Change Management
- Projects with a dedicated Change Manager have a 19% higher success rate (Prosci, 2012).
- Organisations with highly rated change management programmes see over 80% of projects meeting or exceeding objectives.
- Effective change management improves adoption speed, utilisation rates, and employee proficiency (Ferris, 2013).
- Six to nine months after project launch, OCM input leads to significant performance improvements and financial results (ChangeFirst Limited, 2010).
Benefits of Change Management
Change management helps reduce the risk of rejection by ensuring employees accept new systems or processes. While change management doesn’t directly reduce costs or increase sales, it enables the organisation to operate more efficiently by fostering teamwork and smoother transitions.
When is Change Management Needed?
Organisational change management is required whenever a project or event disrupts day-to-day operations. This can impact:
- Work Content: Changes to daily tasks can disrupt established workflows.
- Employee Roles: Individuals may feel uncomfortable when asked to adopt new roles, especially if these differ from their previous technical responsibilities.
- Organisation: Executive teams have more time to process major changes, but employees at lower levels may struggle to adjust quickly, increasing the need for effective change management.
Start Your Change Management Journey
Interested in learning more? Take the first step towards becoming a qualified change manager with our self-paced online foundation course.