Week 4 Assignment
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Why You Need A Change Management Strategy
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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP ARTICLES
D eveloping a change management strategy providesdirection and purpose for all other change management activities. By outlining the unique
characteristics of the change and its risks and potential
resistance, change practitioners set themselves and their
project team partners up for success.
Why You Need a Change Management Strategy
A "one-size-fits-all" approach is not effective for change
management. Think about these changes:
Acquiring a company of near equal size1.
Getting suppliers to use a new web-based form and process2.
Relocating office spaces within an existing building3.
Implementing an ERP solution4.
These are all distinctly different changes, andeach requires
change management to be successful. Each impacts people and
how they do their job. Each can suffer from slow adoption and
low utilization. Each has risks associated with people not
becoming engaged or resisting the change.
While each of these initiatives needs change management to be
successful, the right amount and approach for change
management will be different. Change management strategies
define the approach needed to manage change given the unique
situation of your project. Below are the three steps to creating a
change management strategy.
1. Identify Change Characteristics
How big is the change? Who will it affect? What is the timeline and
does it compete with other initiatives? These are some of the
questions you will need to answer as you prepare a strategy for
Changes in senior leadership5.
managing change.
Changes can be formalized projects, strategic initiatives or even
small adjustments to how the organization operates.
Understanding the characteristics of the change requires you to
answer questions like:
2. Assess the Organization
What is the scope of the change?•
How many people will be impacted? •
Who is being impacted?•
Are people being impacted the same or are they experiencing
the change differently?
•
What is being changed (processes, systems, job roles, etc.)?•
What is the time frame for the change?•
Organizational attributes are related to thehistoryandculturein
the organization and describe the backdrop against which this
particular change is being introduced. Consider:
Impacted Groups
The final step in assessing the organization is developing a map
ofwho is impacted by the change and how they are being
impacted. A single change, such as the deployment of a web-
based expense reporting program, will impact different groups
uniquely:
What is the perceived need for this change among employees
and managers?
•
How have past changes been managed?•
Is there a shared vision for the organization?•
How much change is going on right now?•
Employees who do not have expenses to report will not be
impacted at all
•
Staff who travel once a quarter may be only slightly impacted•
Outlining theimpacted groups and howthey will be impacted
enables specific and customized plans later in the change
management process.
3. Create a Change Management Strategy
Successful strategies of change management include a team
structure, sponsor model, special tactics and risk assessment.
Without these elements, it will be very difficult to develop and
implement the change management plans you need for a
successful project.
Associates who are on the road all the time will be more
impacted, although filing expenses is only a portion of their
day-to-day work
•
Those in accounting who manage expense reporting will be
heavily impacted, as their jobs will be completely altered
•
Team Structure
The change management team structure identifies whowill be
doing the change management work. It outlines the relationship
between the project team and the change management team.
Frequent team structures include:
The key to a team structure is to bespecific when assigning change
management responsibilities and resources.
Sponsor Coalition
The sponsor coalition describes the leaders and managers who
need to be on board and actively engaged in leading the change.
The primary sponsor is the person who authorizes and
A change manager being embedded into a project team•
A centralized change management team supporting a project
team
•
Change management being a responsibility assigned to one of
the project team members
•
champions the change. This person must be actively and visibly
engaged in the change throughout the project. They also have a
part in building a coalition of sponsors across the organization.
When creating the sponsor coalition, choose leaders of the
groups impacted by the change. Each member of the sponsor
coalition has the responsibility to
buildsupportandcommunicatethe change with their respective
audiences.
Special Tactics for Anticipated Resistance
Many times, after a project is introduced and meets resistance,
members of the team reflect that they could have anticipated that
reaction. In creating a strategy for change management, identify
where resistance can be expected:
Are particular regions or divisions impacted differently than
others?
•
Were certain groups advocating a different solution to the
same problem?
•
Note particular anticipated resistance points depending on how
each group is related to the change. Once you have identified this
resistance, you can plan special tactics to overcome it before it
begins.
Project Risk Assessment
The risk of not managing the people side of change on a
particular project is related to the dimensions described in the
change characteristics and organizational attributes sections
above. Changes that are more dramatic and farther reaching in
the organization have a higher risk. Likewise, organizations and
groups with histories and cultures that resist change face higher
risk. In developing the strategy, the change management team
documents the overall risk and specific risk factors.
Are some groups heavily invested with how things are done
today?
•
What Happens Next?
Formulating the change management strategy is the first critical
step in implementing a change management methodology. The
strategyprovides directionfor informed decision-making and
brings the project or change to life, describing whoandhowit will
impact the organization.
The change management strategy contributes to the formulation
of the fivechange management plans recommended by change
management best practices. For instance, the groups identified in
the strategy should each be addressed specifically in the
communication plan. Steps for building and maintaining the
sponsor coalition identified in the strategy are part of
thesponsorship roadmap. Each of the subsequent change
management plans and activities are guided by an effective
change management strategy.
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