Organisations that embark on implementing enterprise-wide change management are faced with many factors that require careful consideration and strategic planning. The success of the endeavour hinges on a well-thought-out approach based on fundamental principles that underpin effective change management practices in any context. Running and operating an in-house change function requires commitment from the organisation and sustainable leader sponsorship.
When change initiatives arise, the in-house change team is responsible for overseeing and implementing the people side of those organisational changes. This implies the need to be able to identify the changes occurring, advise on the right strategy for managing each particular initiative, develop a change plan, support the implementation, monitor progress across the full portfolio, understand, articulate and evaluate enterprise-wide impacts of change and monitor outcomes assessing the success of the change and identifying lessons learned.
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Recent studies quantify the benefits of change management, stating that with change effective management involved, 71% of projects stayed under budget, 65% of projects stayed on, or ahead, of schedule, and 88% of projects met their objectives. If organisations want to gain these impressive results regularly from an in-house change management team, there will be a degree of investment required.
What do Organisations need from their Change Management Function?
Change in most contexts benefits from the familiar attributes that we regularly discuss in this blog. An enterprise-wide function additionally needs to consider uplift of capability over time while delivering strong change management performance. Key outcomes of strong enterprise change management include:
strong leadership to drive change and secure necessary resources,
a dedicated team to plan, implement, and monitor change initiatives,
clear and consistent communication to keep all stakeholders informed and engaged,
capability uplift that provides employees with the skills and knowledge needed to adapt to change, and
monitoring progress and gathering feedback to make necessary adjustments.
For organisation-wide change management or portfolio management, it is also important to consider building a change culture over time. Factors like transparent leadership, maintaining and inspiring confidence among employees, a robust framework for managing change, resistance and challenges, integration with risk management, driving innovation, continuous learning, and adaptability through change initiatives, and setting clear metrics that deliver the organisational view.
How can Change Teams Deliver an Enterprise-Wide Change Management Function?
Through leadership partnerships and a comprehensive change management framework, in-house teams can understand organisational requirements for their function and build it in to a sound change management approach tailored for maximum impact.
When developing a structured change management framework, teams should primarily consider its effectiveness. The framework should incorporate means of managing all kinds of change including culture, systems, and processes.
A framework should clearly outline and guide the key processes involved in managing change: how it will be initiated, assessed, approved, and implemented.
Clearly defining roles and responsibilities is essential in an enterprise-wide change management function. Without this clarity, it will be ambiguous as to who is responsible for what tasks, decisions, and communication channels in which specific change initiatives, resulting in confusion and duplication; and eroding accountability.
It will be important to involve stakeholders from different levels of the organisation to ensure that all perspectives are considered and that there is buy-in from all parties involved. While stakeholders may indicate support for the concept of an in-house team, they may have in mind a more federated model that allows them greater control over the process, rather than a centralised one-stop shop.
To get, and sustain, the Investment you need in your change function, it should operate from a sound framework. The framework should include mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating the progress of the change initiatives, allowing for adjustments to be made as needed and ensuring that desired outcomes are achieved.
Developing a Single View of Change
Developing a single view of change may be the Holy Grail of the in-house change function. Organisations that manage this truly get to move the dial on strategic change implementation. Coupled with digital adoption tools, having a single view of change is set to be the next big leap forward for change management outcomes.
There are many digital tools perfectly positioned to enable the coordination of change communications, activity tracking, content and people management across a single view of enterprise change. The key is for in-house teams to create a business case that speaks to the return on investment at the enterprise level.
Business Needs Presentation
Change practitioners take pride in delivering quality outcomes for their stakeholders, but it may not feel quite so natural for change teams to seek investment in their own processes. At some point, though, when seeking budget or investment for the internal tools or capability required to manage change management, a formal case will need to be put forward to the right decision makers.
Matt Dragun, Founder and Managing Director of Matae, recommends creating a high level framing document to elicit buy-in to the value proposition in the investment sought by the change team. This may be for the purchase of a change management tool, framework development or acquisition, or for change management training products or services. This presentation would serve as the foundation for the business case.
Step 1: Just as in any other good change management process, engage with stakeholders and secure a key sponsor who can confirm that budget is available for the investment required.
Step 2: Undertake a product scan and trial the options available where you can.
Step 3: Establish the costs of the investment you're seeking to undertake, as well as the benefits it will yield. Put this forward clearly in financial terms that show a compelling return on the investment.
Step 4: Seek all the approvals required. If an IT implementation is required, approvals might include the architecture review board or and a cybersecurity or data privacy review. For non-IT investments, there will still be financial boxes to tick, and there may be key stakeholders like Learning or Legal teams that need to be involved.
Step 5: Establish the proof of concept by using the tool, framework, training or other purchase in a live environment. Use this time to ensure it works in the environment, meeting the objectives you set out to achieve, or make any necessary adjustments.
How to get the Investment you need to Grow your Change Function
In-house change management teams play a crucial role in effective organisational change. However, securing the necessary investment to grow and enhance their capabilities can be challenging.
Demonstrate the return on the investment you're seeking, quantify the benefits like cost savings, increased efficiency, or improved customer satisfaction.
This helps to build a compelling business case making a persuasive argument that anticipates the achievement of expected outcomes.
When this is aligned with strategic goals, it becomes possible to show how change management initiatives directly support the organisation's overall objectives.
Use data from the organisation or industry benchmarks to demonstrate the effectiveness of change management efforts.
Foster collaboration and partnerships, building relationships with key stakeholders and seeking their support for investment.
By highlighting how the better management of enterprise-wide change contributes to the organisation's shared vision, in-house change management teams can secure the investment required to effectively drive organisational change, uplift and improve their function over time and achieve long-term success for their stakeholders and the changes they support.
For support developing your in-house change team, book in a free consultation to find out how we can help.
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