Change Management - Why is this important to a project manager?

Introduction

As a seasoned project manager, you would have delivered a number of projects. Most often, your projects will have a direct impact on companies’ ways of working and organisation and its people/end-users. Managing these projects is not only about the technical implementation but it is as preparing teams/end-users that will be affected by your project.

Change management can be challenging and difficult. Your end-users have been doing things in a certain way, and that has always been the “right” way to do it. Now, you and your project team come along and tell them that they need to adopt new ways based upon the new solution that you and your team will be delivering. As you can appreciate, resistance to change from your end-users is almost inevitable.

‘Kübler-Ross Five-Stage Model’

There many change management models however, based upon my experience, l will refer to the ‘Kübler-Ross Five-Stage Model’ also known as the ‘Change Curve’. This model differs from the others as it deals primarily with the feelings of your end-users as they go through a change process. 

Understanding the Kubler-Ross Five-Stage Model will help you to prepare for their reactions as you embark on and finally complete your change process.

For those of you, like me who have implemented a new solution into the business, the response stages from the end-user generally go like this:

1. Denial: “No! We don’t need to change!”
2. Anger: “After all these years, I have to change! It makes me angry!”
3. Bargaining: “Can’t we just keep this?”
4. Depression: “I see that change is inevitable. I am sad that everything will be different now and I feel insecure and a little worried.”
5. Acceptance: “I will try this change, and I will do my best to make it work.”

Ok, let’s go through the steps to win your end-users over and have them accept the new solution that you and your team are implementing.

Step #1: Begin with the objective

Before you set out on your project, you will have an outcome in mind. When preparing for change, you will know where you are now and where you want to be. Make sure to define this as specifically as you can – you’ll need to have the rest of the organisation buy-in on your vision.

Step #2: “Sell” the need for change to your management team

Although you and your project team might already have a good idea of what the project is looking to change and the importance of why it needs to be changed, you will need your end-users to want that change as much as you do. Getting your end-users on board isn’t going to happen through a quick update during the course of the project. What you need to ensure is two-way communication.

Step #3: Identify change champions

Not all the end-users who will facilitate the change process will be managers. Identify ‘influential staff’ members at each department level. These people must become your ‘change champions’. Talking, listening, and asking for their commitment are the best ways to get them on your side.

Step #4: Create and communicate the vision

In the initial steps of the process, you and the project team have worked together and have formulated a vision of what the project needs to achieve. The bigger the changes the project wants to make, the more compelling this vision must be. Keeping in mind, ‘resistance to change’ is very much a part of human nature and the challenge for you and the team is the need to overcome it. The more people who will wholeheartedly commit to change, the better for your project.

Step #5: Look for stumbling blocks and remove them

Preparing your end-users to adopt change is vital to a successful change management process, but you also need to look for stumbling blocks that could hinder the most committed of your change champions.

Step #6: Set achievable milestones

Change always serves a goal – and that goal can seem far away and even unreachable at the beginning of your project. Milestones not only help you as the project manager to track progress to see whether the change is moving towards your project goals, but they also give you and your project team something to celebrate along the way.

Step #7: Shoot for quick wins early on

Nothing is more motivating than success. Having a series of ‘quick wins’ during the project puts the project in a good light and provides confidence for those following the journey of the project. But when things fail, especially early on in a change process, it’s easy for everyone to become discouraged. 

Step #8: Keep tabs on implementation

Like other forms of management, we can consider change management as a process that consists of planning, organising, leading, and controlling (or monitoring) that feeds back to planning. Reaching the implementation phase is already something to celebrate, but your journey is not yet over!

and finally...

Step #9: Incorporate the changes into the organisational culture

When the change that you and your project team have embarked on becomes part of your organisational culture, you are nine-tenths of the way there – even if there is still much to achieve. But it isn’t time to rest on your laurels. There is always room for improvement, and living up to the principle of continuous improvement will involve further changes along the way.

Summary

Change management is used for one reason: 'To ensure business success'. Without change management, the risks of missing project objectives, losing productivity, or complete project failure all increase and threaten a business’s future. Lacking effective, thorough and timely change management is extremely hazardous to an organisation.

How have you managed change across the company as part of your project delivery? What obstacles have you had to overcome? I would be interested to hear your views and experiences -