Change Management; Definition, Principles and Best Practices

The process of delivering your completed project and getting people to adopt it is called change management.

• Understanding change management can ensure that a project is completed successfully and that the organization accepts and adopts the recommendations from the project.
• When you understand change management and your role in the process, it can ensure a smooth rollout of changes and easier adoption.
• Adoption is often the first step to your project having the desired impact once it goes live.?
• It's important to recognize that it's the people in an organization who are directly impacted by any changes in the workplace. Implementing a new project can mean changes to processes, budgets, schedules, and employee roles and responsibilities.?
• ?Even aesthetic changes, like building a new wing, renovating the lobby, or switching to a new company logo, means employees will have to adjust to something new and different.?

Change management in project management is centred around three core concepts and best practices:

1. Creating a sense of ownership and urgency around the project.?

• Ownership means getting others to feel they are empowered to take responsibility for the successful completion of their tasks. Urgency means getting them to understand that the project is important and to identify what actions need to be taken to move the project along.?
• When team members feel a sense of ownership and urgency around a project, it increases interest, motivation, and engagement with the project outcome.?

2. Figure out the right combination of skills and personalities when selecting the people who will work on your team.

• Find people whose knowledge and skills complement one another. If your team is selected for you, see if you're able to choose who gets assigned which tasks. If that's not possible, then it's extra important for you to find ways to connect with your team.
• This will get them excited about the project so then they can be advocates for change when it's needed. One effective way of motivating your team is to communicate clearly your vision and approach for the project . Then you can share how you see everyone working together as a team to make it happen.
• Communicating this idea clearly allows others to share in your vision and take ownership in bringing it to life.?

3. Effective communication.

• Communication is key. Having effective communication with your team means being transparent and upfront with your plans and ideas and making information available.?
• Make sure your team, along with the rest of the organization, is kept up-to-date on your progress. This will allow everyone to feel like they're included and part of the project.
• Once your project is complete, you may experience some resistance or a few roadblocks. Remember, change doesn't happen overnight, so don't give up on it yet. If you do get some push-back, you can move the process along by helping folks adjust, rewarding their efforts, and reminding them of the overall value the project is providing long-term.?

Understanding the change process can help you determine how you can support a successful response to your project. For example, understanding the importance of communication will help you be mindful of clearly communicating project plans to your team, as well as communicating the expected impact of the project with the rest of the organization.?

Your project’s success depends on the adoption and acceptance of your project—whether that entails the launch of a new external tool or a process that will change operations at a production facility. In both cases, the greatest impact of the change will be on the people who use and interact with the product or process that is changing.?

As a project manager, you can think of change management as necessary for the successful outcome of your project. Both change management and project management aim to increase the likelihood of project success. They also incorporate tools and processes to accomplish that goal. The most effective way to achieve a project goal is to integrate project management and change management, and it is your responsibility as a project manager to do so.

When you are thinking about change management as it relates to your project, begin by asking yourself the following questions:

• How will the organization react to change?
• Which influencers can affect change??
• What are the best means of communication??
• What change management practices will lead to the successful implementation of my project??

Best practices for approaching change management on your projects

1. Be proactive

Proactive and inclusive change management planning can help keep any potentially impacted stakeholders aware of the upcoming changes.

• Incorporate change management into your project management steps . For example, you can schedule a time during team meetings or create a feedback document to ensure that your team members know there is a place to voice their suggestions and concerns.?
• You can also plan steps towards the end of your project to introduce the deliverable to stakeholders in the form of demonstrations, question and answer forums, or marketing videos. You can factor all of these decisions into your plan so that any potential changes are less likely to impact your timeline. If these steps have not been built into your plan, you can escalate and stress the importance of a change management plan to your stakeholders.?

2. Communicate about upcoming changes

Communication should occur regularly among impacted stakeholders, the change management team, and the project team. Check in and communicate throughout the project about how the changes will provide a better experience for end-users of the project deliverables. In this way, you support the process by providing everyone with the information they need to feel prepared to adjust to changes once the project is ready to launch.?

3. Follow a consistent process

Following a clear change management process helps maintain consistency each time there is a change. The change management process should be established and documented early on in your project to guide how the project will handle change. Your organization may also have an overarching change management plan that can be adopted for your project. This may include when the promotion of the change should happen when training should occur when the launch or release will occur, and corresponding steps for each phase of the process.?

4. Practice empathy

Changes are inevitable, but we are often resistant to them. By being empathetic to the challenges and anxiety change can bring, you can support the process in subtle ways.

5. Use tools

Incorporating tools to assist in the adoption of a change can be very helpful. Here are a few examples you can use on your next project:

• Feedback mechanisms, such as surveys, can capture input from stakeholders.
• Flowcharts can visualize the project's development process .
• Culture mapping can illustrate the company's culture and how the company's values, norms, and employees' behaviour may be affected by the change.

You may not always be responsible for leading and planning the entire end-to-end change management process. Instead, you may ask a member of the project team, your manager, or another senior leader to help take on that transition. If you are participating in change management, then someone else is responsible for successfully implementing the changes.?

The process of handing off the project, and the ways in which you, as the project manager who created the new system, can stay involved. Being empathetic to the challenges of change management can help you support the process in subtle ways.?

• Participating in change management might mean communicating with employees throughout the project about how the system will provide a better experience for their customers. You support the process by providing employees with information so they feel prepared to adjust to changes once the system is ready to launch.?