Change management and project management are both fields where shifts and adjustments are constant. Effective change management can be the differentiator between a project that flounders and one that flourishes. Focusing on key factors such as meeting objectives, staying on schedule, and staying within budget, let's examine the correlation between project success and the efficacy of change management.
Understanding Change Management
Change management is the structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and organisations from a current state to a desired future state. It involves anticipating, planning for, and managing change effectively to minimise resistance and maximise adoption. In the context of project management, change management encompasses processes and methodologies aimed at ensuring that alterations to project scope, schedule, and resources are implemented smoothly and efficiently. Project management is the method by which the future state will be delivered.
Meeting Objectives: The Basis of Project Success
At the heart of every project lies its objectives—clearly defined goals and outcomes that drive the endeavour forward. As projects unfold, objectives can evolve due to market dynamics, stakeholder feedback, or unforeseen challenges. This is where change management comes in.
Effective change management facilitates alignment between changing objectives and project activities. It involves constant evaluation of whether changes are in line with the overarching goals and, if so, how they can be integrated seamlessly into the project framework. By maintaining focus on the end goals while embracing necessary adjustments, change management ensures that project objectives remain achievable and relevant throughout the journey.
In an intelligence program for road congestion, solution providers were difficult to find. Cycles of market scans found part solutions and the plans submitted by consultants for managing the program became increasingly disconnected, creating new language for familiar terms, resulting in multi-levels in strategic and project goals. Spending hours with the various submissions, I drew physical and conceptual lines between all the concepts expressed, returning our key stakeholders to an understanding of how the various contributions were moving the program forward.
Staying on Schedule: Adapting to the Rhythm of Change
Time is the currency of project management, and staying on schedule is critical for success. But we know that projects rarely run exactly as planned. Delays, resource constraints, or shifting priorities can disrupt timelines, meaning adjustments to schedules. This is where the effectiveness of change management becomes evident.
A well-executed change management strategy anticipates potential schedule disruptions and mitigates this impact, recalibrating schedules that have become misaligned.
In a national rollout of a new banking scheme, system development slipped well behind the training schedule. The change team kept training on track by pivoting to use the test system for screen shots and training flows once User Acceptance Testing had cleared for sufficient confidence in the accuracy of the test system. By keeping training on track, we avoided further impacts to the project schedule.
Effective communication is paramount to keep all stakeholders informed about revised timelines and their implications on project milestones. By enabling agile responses to changing circumstances, change management helps projects stay on track and adapt to evolving timelines effectively.
Staying on Budget: Managing Resources Amidst Change
Budget overruns can spell disaster for projects, undermining their viability and eroding stakeholder confidence. Managing project finances amidst change requires more than just budgeting, it demands a robust change management framework that is able to anticipate financial implications, evaluate cost-benefit trade-offs, and optimise resource allocation.
In a major operating system replacement, my change management team partnered closely with the procurement team and benefits manager to draw focus to business case benefits. Focusing on benefits helped stakeholders understand the size of the budget and specific budgeting choices, allowing greater acceptance of the work of the project.
Projects with excellent change management effectiveness are nearly six times more likely to achieve successful project objectives. Excellent change management also correlates directly with staying on schedule and on budget.
Effective change management ensures that proposed changes are made in partnership, taking into account both tangible and intangible costs and securing buy-in from key stakeholders. This empowers project success enabling managers to make informed decisions about resource allocation, ensuring budgetary constraints are addressed without compromising project quality or scope.
Embrace Change Management Effectiveness for Project Success
Success lies not in cutting costs by avoiding standing up a change team, but in embracing change proactively and managing it effectively. Change management serves as an enabler upon which project success is built, structuring a way for organisations to move through the uncertainty, while adapting to evolving circumstances; and emerge to stronger with the project benefits achieved.
Project success is not just about meeting predefined objectives, staying on schedule, or staying on budget. It's about the ability to deliver into a changing environment. And at the heart of managing the changing environment lies the effectiveness of change management.
Agencia Change is a change management specialist. Talk to us about support for project delivery.
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