There is an increasing awareness in the technology space that change management is an important component to the execution of a successful implementation project. As a forward-thinking organization, it is likely you are becoming more assertive in inquiring if organizational change management (OCM) should be a facet of your technology project. Your curiosity can be especially relevant if your organization has encountered reduced levels of success with past implementations and recognizes the need for a different approach. Perhaps a failed project in the rearview mirror is giving you second thoughts about how to make the next project successful. Your initial discussion surrounding the addition of OCM to an upcoming project within your organization can be accomplished with several basic questions that can drive a constructive dialogue between yourself and your implementation consulting team:
1. What is the current stage of the project (i.e., scoping, planning, design, development, etc.)?
An early engagement with the project management team is always preferred (i.e., at Kickoff and during Planning). As the OCM consultant engages with the project in the beginning stages of the effort, their initial change planning activities such as an impact analysis, project health assessment and business discovery activities can benefit the entire project team. This is accomplished by providing insight into the organization change culture and the development of project strategy around the findings of the change exercises conducted with the business. This is especially helpful in the creation of communication and training plans.
2. Does the project have a designated executive sponsor? If so, do they have any prior experience with that role and the importance to the change management process?
Change managers are acutely aware from prior experience and years of practitioner survey data that the most important predictor of project success is an engaged and visible executive sponsor. This individual may have prior experience in this role or perhaps not. If not, they can be coached to recognize their primary objectives in this new role or reacquainted to those specific goals (i.e., communicating the business need for the project to the stakeholder level and building a coalition of change among their executive peers and frontline managers).
3. Has the corporate communications team been engaged related to the timeline of this project? Has any form of communication taken place regarding this effort?
The engagement of the corporate communications team is of vital importance since those professionals know the most effective means to communicate with the wider organization and the platforms accessible to deliver those messages. In addition, many utilities have corporate communications teams that want to be engaged in messaging being distributed to the business but may lack the technical knowledge of the specific project being implemented. This presents an opportunity for the change manager to collaborate with the communications team to craft effective and meaningful messaging to the stakeholder groups. As awareness is the first step on the individual change journey, any communication that has occurred will need to be identified and its effectiveness determined.
4. Does a dedicated training team exist within the organization and are they aware of the project and expected timeline? What is the proposed approach to training for this effort (i.e., Train-the-Trainer, Super-Users, etc.)?
The development of a training plan is a key component to the Change Management Plan deliverable for a project. Training approaches differ, and success rates of each approach can be variable based on the characteristics of the organization. As well, project implementation timing and geographic footprint of the organization may drive the selected approach to train stakeholders efficiently. Many organizations have attempted to utilize a train-the-trainer approach with mixed success. In turn, a dedicated training team within the organization may only be focused on specific aspects of job roles that do not involve technology initiatives. The earlier that the preferred training approach can be vetted, and resources identified, the more meaningful the training plan will be to those that implement it.
5. Is there any sense of what the level of impact may be to the organization (i.e., operating companies, departments, teams, etc.)? What is the estimated headcount of individuals that will be experiencing change?
One of the primary initial tasks of the change manager and OCM team is to assess the impact to the organization experiencing the change. This is accomplished by identifying the departments and individuals that will be subject to the change. In turn, the specific aspects of the change relevant to the users or stakeholders identified are also collected to generate roles or personas that can be beneficial to the development of targeted training activities for those user groups. This level of detail will also be valuable to the creation of the sponsorship model, which is used to represent exactly who is impacted and individuals communicating/driving the change at specific levels within the organization.
The answers to the five basic change management questions above will equip your consultant or project manager with the foundation for an engaging dialogue with the business leaders within your organization. In turn, the information collected will provide a basis of understanding for business user experiences and expectations related to change management activities for your project. This discussion will set the stage for moving forward with a basic strategy for leveraging OCM as an additional service to the forthcoming project and ensure that an increased probability of a successful implementation is within reach.
What do you think?