Thoughts on Organizational Change Management - Where Should OCM Be Placed in an Organization?

In Organizational Change Management (OCM) there is a hierarchy that is often overlooked, taken for granted, or completely unknown. In most cases people that pursue careers in OCM start out a Project Managers (PM) for a team, department, or similar sized segment within the entity. After gaining some experience, the next step is Change Managerk for a division, subsidiary, or equivalent acquiring more background in the field. The next graduation is the Organizational Change Manager (OCM) who managed an entire scenario to look at things from a strategic sense, being objective in achieving the direction that the Board of Directors (BOD), President, CEO, or C-Suite wants the organization to go.

The best fit is to have OCM as part of the Business Transformation Office, Strategic Planning Team, or as the C-Suite. Here OCM can offer advice on what may be relevant to accomplish the organizaqtion's goals and objectives, make recommendations to what needs to be done and how to do it, or serve as a guide in implementing the new endeavor.

In bringing OCM into the change(s) it is important to have it at the beginning whenever possible. Things become more difficult the later OCM is included. From the beginning to 25% of the project success can be more certain. For 25%-50% there is still a good chance of having things completed on time, however, from 50%-75% although still feasible, risk is higher. After 75% the failure rate is higher and at 80%-90% OCM is often included only to serve as a scapegoat as the project is set to crash and burn. Don't let this happen to your OCM!

When it comes to strategic planning, most organizations look 1 or 2 years into the future, however, it is better to look from 5 to 20 years for where you want your business to be. Yes, things change, however, they also need to be kept on track or at least guided to a successful future. We want our organizations to be around for the good of whatever products, services, or technology we work for and everyone involved, so in this case OCM also serves as a steward to ensure as best it can, a better future for all involved.