Change Management an Introduction

Research says that there is “…an undeniable correlation between project performance, maturity level and change management. The majority of the best performing and most mature organisations always or frequently apply organisational change management to their projects.” (PwC, 2004)

There are four key activities that make Organisational Change effective (IBM, 2008):

• Prepare by gaining deep, realistic insight into the complexity of the change and plan accordingly
• Use a robust Organisational Change methodology aligned with a project management methodology
• Build and apply Organisational Change skills in sponsors, change managers and empowered staff
• Invest appropriately in Organisational Change management

It has been found that:

• The success rate of Organisational Change projects using a dedicated Change Manager rose by 19% compared to those that did not
• There is a close relationship between the effectiveness of organisational change management programmes and the proportion of projects meeting or exceeding objectives.  Those organisation change management programmes rated ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ had an above-80% success rate. Those rated ‘poor’ or ‘fair’ achieve less than 50% (Prosci, 2012)
• The effective Organisation of change management delivers improved adoption speed, utilisation rate, and employee proficiency [stressing] the importance of effective preparation for change, disciplined management, clear reinforcement, and careful handover (Ferris, 2013)
• Six to nine months after the project launch, projects with Organisational change management input were delivering significant performance improvements, financial results, and behavioural change.  A majority of the respondents attributed over 20% of the success directly to effective Organisational change management (ChangeFirst Limited, 2010)

What are the benefits of change management?

Change management reduces the risk that a new system or other change will be rejected by the enterprise. Change management by itself does not reduce costs or increase sales. It enables the enterprise to accept the change and operate more efficiently because it increases the need for teamwork.

When is organisational change management needed?

Any program or event that disrupts day-to-day operations requires Change Management.. Such an undertaking will have an impact on:

The work content of individual jobs. Most jobs require repetitive tasks to be performed. For example, an accounting department has daily, weekly, monthly, and annual tasks. Over time, most people become comfortable with the tools provided and the rhythm of the work calendar. Even simple changes may disrupt the workflow and be disconcerting for the staff.

The roles of individual employees. Many people view their value to the organization as being a good technical architect, programmer, or security specialist. When asked to take on a different role, they may become very uncomfortable. People with excellent technical skills often struggle when asked to become managers. Rather than performing all of the tasks, they have to learn to work through other people. Once they are no longer rewarded for the skills that made them successful, employees may question their purpose.

Organisation: Executive teams may debate major changes for months before making final decisions, enabling each member to gain a deeper understanding of the effects the change will have on the enterprise. Even if they don’t agree with the final decision, they have time to determine whether to accept the new direction or to depart gracefully. Individuals lower in the hierarchy rarely have time to process major changes. Executives do not want employees to worry about events that may never happen until it is clear the change will take place. In addition, tighter insider trading enforcement prohibits executives from sharing information about upcoming mergers, acquisitions, or divestitures. As such, individuals who are not part of the executive team have much less time to prepare for the planned change and may decide to leave while the change is undertaken, making change management more difficult.

Start learning more about organisation change today and take the first step in becoming qualified as an organisation change manager with our online self-paced foundation course.