what is change management?

Change management is a structured approach to shifting/transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future state. It is an organizational process aimed at empowering employees to accept and embrace changes in their current business environment.[1]. In project management, change management refers to a project management process where changes to a project are formally introduced and approved.[2]

Examples of Organizational Change such as Missionary changes, Strategic changes, Operational changes (including Structural changes), Technological changes, Changing the attitudes and behaviors of personnel.

As a multidisciplinary practice that has evolved as a result of scholarly research, Organizational Change Management should begin with a systematic diagnosis of the current situation in order to determine both the need for change and the capability to change. The objectives, content, and process of change should all be specified as part of a Change Management plan.

Change Management processes may include creative marketing to enable communication between change audiences, but also deep social understanding about leadership’s styles and group dynamics. As a visible track on transformation projects, Organizational Change Management aligns groups’ expectations, communicates, integrates teams and manages people training. It makes use of performance metrics, such as financial results, operational efficiency, leadership commitment, communication effectiveness, and the perceived need for change to design appropriate strategies, in order to avoid change failures or solve troubled change projects.

Successful change management is more likely to occur if the following are included:

1. Benefits management and realization to define measurable stakeholder aims, create a business case for their achievement (which should be continuously updated), and monitor assumptions, risks, dependencies, costs, return on investment, dis-benefits and cultural issues affecting the progress of the associated work.

2. Effective Communications that informs various stakeholders of the reasons for the change (why?), the benefits of successful implementation (what is in it for us, and you) as well as the details of the change (when? where? who is involved? how much will it cost? etc.).

3. Devise an effective education, training and/or skills upgrading scheme for the organization.

4. Counter resistance from the employees of companies and align them to overall strategic direction of the organization.

5. Provide personal counseling (if required) to alleviate any change related fears.

6. Monitoring of the implementation and fine-tuning as required.

References

1.Hiatt, Jeff. "The definition and history of change management", 2010.

2.Filicetti, John (August 20, 2007). "Project Management Dictionary", 2009.

3. wikipedia, May 2011