Organisational change management has now become a fundamental concept in the majority of business practices, essential for organisations seeking to adapt, evolve, and grow through dynamic environments. At its core, change management involves the systematic planning, implementation, and monitoring of changes within an organisation to ensure successful outcomes and minimise disruptions. Let's take a closer look at exactly what we mean by managed change, with a focus on planned change, its significance, and key components.
What is Organisational Change Management?
It's no mistake that we often start here in our Agencia Change articles. In years of practice, it's become clear that organisational change management is not always well understood. And it's a great shame, because when true change management is in play, projects, programs and the people involved with them are much happier and more sustainable places to be.
Organisational change management refers to the structured approach taken by organisations to manage transitions in processes, systems, structures, technologies, or cultures. It encompasses a range of activities aimed at preparing, equipping, and supporting individuals and groups within the organisation to navigate through change effectively. Change can be driven by internal factors such as strategic initiatives, technological advancements, or external factors like market trends, regulatory requirements, or competitive pressures.
One of the key reasons we see resistance to change is in an individual's personal objection to having their accountabilities shifted around. The change drivers mentioned above almost always (it's actually always always...) require a shift in accountabilities.
Change Leaders need to be prepared that change will bring shifts in accountabilities and Change Managers need to be empowered to help organisations deal with accountability shifts.
Dealing with accountabilities without formality and without appropriate tools can very easily deteriorate into challenging, if not tedious, exercises in base office politics.
Planned Change
Planned change is a proactive approach to changes that are intentionally initiated, designed, and implemented to achieve specific goals or objectives. Unlike reactive change, which is often driven by external forces or crises, planned change is strategic and deliberate, allowing organisations to anticipate and prepare for potential challenges and opportunities.
Once the crisis phase is successfully completed, crisis events should be assessed for whether planned interventions are required to deliver sustainable outcomes for the future. Reactive change may dictate faster outcomes and already carry a well-understood sense of urgency, but may still benefit from stepping through a considered change management approach.
Key Components of Managing Planned Change
Assessment and Diagnosis
The first step in managing organisational change involves assessing the current state of the organisation, identifying areas for improvement, and diagnosing the need for change. This may involve analysing performance metrics, conducting surveys, or gathering feedback from stakeholders to understand existing challenges and opportunities.
This is also often the first step in managing resistance. Many organisations engage a change manager or project team in the belief that the change has been well defined. However, human nature being what it is, well-defined changes are riddled with assumption and misalignment more often than Change Leaders would wish to believe.
Vision and Strategy
Developing a clear vision and strategy is essential for guiding the change effort, eliminating unnecessary assumptions and aligning stakeholders' efforts towards a common goal. Leaders play a critical role in articulating the vision for change, outlining the desired outcomes, and defining the strategies and tactics needed to achieve them.
When leaders support change managers in identifying high level impacts early on, alignment improves and the resulting boost in teamwork is significant as team members feel confident they understand the goal, can see it clearly and work towards it.
Stakeholder Engagement
Engaging stakeholders throughout the change process is crucial for building buy-in, fostering commitment, and addressing resistance. This may include communication, involvement in decision-making, and providing opportunities for input and feedback to ensure that the voices of all stakeholders are heard and considered. Experienced change managers will advise that stakeholder identification, needs analysis and engagement should occur far earlier than many methodologies would have it scheduled.
Change Planning and Implementation
Once the vision, strategy, and stakeholder engagement are in place, organisations can proceed with planning and implementing change initiatives. This involves developing detailed plans, allocating resources, defining roles and responsibilities, and executing the change activities according to the established timelines and milestones.
Change Leaders and change managers should be very active in this phase in order to ensure that team and stakeholders alike stay aligned; and any alterations to the vision or execution plans are accommodated and well communicated.
Communication and Education
Effective communication and education are key to ensuring that employees understand the reasons for change, the benefits it will bring, and their roles in the process. This may involve providing training, workshops, and informational sessions to equip employees with the knowledge and skills needed to adapt to the changes.
The execution phase is where many change programs fall apart having under planned the resource and budget requirements. Just like technology skills, the skills required to deliver effective training outcomes are specialised. Too many organisations assume that 'change manager' is synonymous with 'trainer'. However, after due consideration, it is clear that a single individual is unlikely to possess skills in technical writing, adult learning principles, instruction design, group facilitation, remote facilitation, video or print production, website development - and so on. It is further unlikely that the change manager will have all of these detailed specialties.
Read more here: https://www.agenciachange.com/post/the-change-training-myth.
In other words, the change manager needs to advocate early on for appropriate resource and budget allocation to enable effective execution of change plans. Change Leaders need to understand that if execution isn't well planned for and properly resourced, the resulting disappointment and confusion of the change audience can detract enormously from an otherwise successful solution design. The execution phase can become another hot-spot of resistance.
Monitoring and Evaluation
Continuous monitoring and evaluation are essential for tracking progress, identifying areas of improvement, and making adjustments as needed. This may involve collecting feedback, measuring performance metrics, and conducting periodic reviews to assess the effectiveness of the change initiatives and ensure that they are aligned with the organisation's goals.
It's essential to remember that the change effort doesn't end after two weeks of hypercare. It's advisable for a monitoring phase to be in place for at least 8 weeks during which agreed metrics are regularly checked and appropriate follow up actions agreed to promote early adoption.
Understanding Organisational Change Management: Planned Change
Organisational change management is a complex and multifaceted process that requires careful planning, coordination, and execution. A systematic approach to managing change in the hands of an experienced Change Manager, with resource and support from a willing Change Leader will minimise resistance, mitigate risks, and maximise the likelihood of successful outcomes. Planned change allows organisations to be proactive, empowering them to shape their future intentionally and drive innovation and growth. Throwing some change management at a project and hoping for the best is not quite the same as effective change management. And effective change management remains a critical capability for success.
If you or your organisation needs help with improving change management outcomes, Agencia Change has got you covered. Let us know how we can help.
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