Leaders play many roles in times of change. They are vision establishers, expectation sharers, direction setters, and success definers. They are credibility and authority providers, commitment demonstrators and decision makers. They also are change igniters - through strategy setting, project launching and priority setting (both formally and informally).
In the end, they must also be benefit realizers - as financial, strategic and organizational success depends on and comes from those benefits being realized. And to this end, they need to create an environment where change efforts can succeed and create value. On a project or initiative level, this means ensuring that the people side of change is managed with intent and conviction, since results from change are only achieved when the individuals impacted by the change adopt it. At an organizational level, this means creating a culture and environment where great change management is institutionalized and embedded into how the organization operates.
This article outlines 1) change management as a benefit realization tool and 2) change management capability as a core competency and differentiator. Our experience and research shows that - if done with structure and intent - you can become a more change adept organization by building this crucial competency. Are you ready to make great change management the expectation, not the exception, in your organization and in the process improve change success?
Change Management - A Benefit Realization Tool
Changes ultimately create value and deliver the expected results when a solution is designed, developed and delivered effectively and that solution is embraced, adopted and used proficiently by impacted employees in the organization. Prosci defines change management as the application of processes and tools to manage the people side of change from a current state to a new future state so the desired results of the change (and expected return on investment) are achieved. An organizational change - in the form of a project or initiative - ultimately requires individual change - changes to the processes, tools, systems and behaviors of the specific employees impacted by that change. When employees are encouraged to embrace, adopt and use changes, and they are supported through their own change process, change results are achieved. Leaders play a key role in both ensuring that change management is used on projects and in actively and visibly sponsoring the change efforts they launch.
Data shows a direct correlation between supporting employees through their own change process and the project meeting objectives, on time and on budget - if we bring people along in change, we reach our goals. When the people side of change is ignored, there are additional costs and risks to the project and the organization - resistance, rework, delays, morale declines and engagement issues. Effective change management increases the effectiveness and efficiency in moving from a current state to a future state. The people side of change is part of any effort that impacts how people do their jobs (which is most if not all). So, what are you doing to support your people through change?
Prosci's change management methodology integrates individual change management (how a single person makes a change successfully) and organizational change management (the process and activities executed on projects and initiatives) to drive benefit realization. This integrated approach yields both an outcome-focus and activity-focus. Each month, hundreds of project team members learn how to apply the research-based methodology with a focus on improving results, outcomes and the ROI of change. Project teams bridge the gap between implementing a technical solution and realizing results and outcomes through readiness assessments, stakeholder analysis and targeted plans to help employees embrace and adopt change.
We use change management as a benefit realization tool on particular projects and initiatives. But, most organizations have dozens, if not hundreds, of projects and initiatives underway. And, the managers and leaders throughout those organizations are all supporting their people through numerous change efforts. And, the horizon appears to be one of even greater, faster and larger change. So, how can you set your organization up for success by building a true organizational capability in change?
Change Management Capability - A Core Competency and Differentiator Enterprise Change Management is the structured and intentional effort to build change management capabilities and competencies. A change agile culture is created as "effectively managed change" becomes common place and the norm, and as individuals throughout the organization build the skills to be change leaders regardless of their title or role. As change management is embedded and integrated into how the organization operates and changes, it becomes a shared value, part of the culture and indiscernible from the fabric of the organization.
Leading organizations across the globe are beginning to extend change management past a tool applied on discrete projects and toward a source of competitive advantage and core competency. What is interesting is that there are many different paths these organizations are taking on their Enterprise Change Management journeys. Here are just a few example approaches we've seen:
Organization A had a very mature project management discipline and focus. This organization's approach to institutionalizing change management focused on integrating change management activities into the existing project management approach to create a single project delivery process that addressed both the technical and people side of change.
Organization B took a much different approach. The initial focus for this organization was providing training for employees throughout the organization, including project teams, solution developers, senior leaders, managers, supervisors and front-line employees. The first step toward institutionalizing change management for this organization was to focus on individual competencies and to help each employee become a great leader of change regardless of their role.
Organization C took yet another approach. A senior leader recognized the need for better change management, and in response created a functional group - a Change Management Office - to support and drive more change management application. The journey to institutionalizing change management for this organization began with creating a functional group on the org chart.
These three organizations took dramatically different approaches to institutionalizing change management - one focusing on projects, one focusing on skills and one focusing on organizational structure. But in the end, each had a single goal in mind - to increase the success rate of change and drive greater benefit realization across the portfolio of changes occurring in the organization. Regardless of the chosen path, Prosci defines three components of change management capability and competency: 1) common, consistent, constant application of change management processes and tools on all change efforts, 2) individual competencies in "leading change" from the CEO to front-line employees, and 3) a strategic capability to thrive and routinely achieve successful change rather than painfully stumbling through change. So, what steps can you take to build your organization's change management capability?
Three Steps to Get You Started
Over the last eight years, Prosci has conducted considerable research on and watched numerous clients take steps toward institutionalizing change management. After watching many successful and unsuccessful attempts, Prosci has identified three important steps to get you started on the path of building change agility in your organization:
1. Start applying change management on particular projects and initiatives - the path to change management capability begins with using change management to drive benefit realization at the project level. These proofs of success lay the foundation for a broader deployment across the organization.
2. Treat "building change management capability" as a project and as a change to manage - ignoring this tip is one of the biggest pitfalls we have seen. We must be structured and intentional when working to build a change management capability - it does not happen simply because we want it to. This step alone has significant and critical implications in terms of designing the right approach to making change management second nature in your organization.
3. Leadership is critical - if "building change management capability" is a change, then does it not need the same engagement from leaders as other changes? Each of the roles outlined at the beginning - vision establisher, expectation sharer, direction setter, success definer, credibility and authority provider, commitment demonstrator, decision maker - will be important for this particular change as well. Leaders must be out in front building the support, buy-in and expectation of what it means to be a change agile organization. And, if approached with structure and intent, leaders can also be "benefit realizers" - creating this crucial core competency that delivers more successful change across the board.
In 2012, Prosci has rolled out an ECM Suite to support organizations moving to institutionalize change management and build an organizational capability. The Prosci ECM Suite includes the Change Management Maturity Model Audit (web-based self assessment), the ECM Roadmap (an online instructional guide) and the ECM Boot Camp (one-day workshop). Visit www.prosci.com/ecm/ or email Tim at tcreasey@prosci.com to learn more.
Tim Creasey is the Chief Development Officer at Prosci, a world leading change management research, publishing and training firm. He holds a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Economics and Political Science from Colorado State University (Go Rams!) and an MBA from Boston University. Tim has lived in Boise for 7 years now with his wife Angie, a native, and their sons Carter and Benny.
Copyright 2012 Prosci Inc. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
