Input of Change: Change Management

MODULE 3
Input of Change: Change Management
What is Change Management?
Change management is the discipline that guides how we prepare, equip and support
individuals to successfully adopt change in order to drive organizational success and
outcomes.
While all changes are unique and all individuals are unique, decades of research shows
there are actions we can take to influence people in their individual transitions. Change
management provides a structured approach for supporting the individuals in your
organization to move from their own current states to their own future states.
Three Levels of Change Management
Individual Change Management
While it is the natural psychological and physiological reaction of humans to resist

change, we are actually quite resilient creatures. When supported through times of
change, we can be wonderfully adaptive and successful.
Individual change management requires understanding how people experience change

and what they need to change successfully. It also requires knowing what will help
people make a successful transition: what messages do people need to hear when and
from whom, when the optimal time to teach someone a new skill is, how to coach
people to demonstrate new behaviors, and what makes changes “stick” in someone’s
work. Individual change management draws on disciplines like psychology and
neuroscience to apply actionable frameworks to individual change.
After years of studying how individuals experience and are influenced in times of
change, Prosci developed the ADKAR Model for individual change. Today, it is one of
the most widely used change models in the world.
Organizational/Initiative Change Management
While change happens at the individual level, it is often impossible for a project team to
manage change on a person-by-person basis. Organizational or initiative change
management provides us with the steps and actions to take at the project level to
support the hundreds or thousands of individuals who are impacted by a project.
Organizational change management involves first identifying the groups and people
who will need to change as the result of the project, and in what ways they will need to
change. Organizational change management then involves creating a customized plan
for ensuring impacted employees receive the awareness, leadership, coaching, and
training they need in order to change successfully. Driving successful individual
transitions should be the central focus of the activities in organizational change
management.
Organizational change management is complementary to your project management.

Project management ensures your project’s solution is designed, developed and
delivered, while change management ensures your project’s solution is effectively
embraced, adopted and used.
Learn more about the Prosci 3-Phase Process, which provides a research-based

approach and full set of tools for applying change management at the initiative level.
Enterprise Change Management Capability
Enterprise change management is an organizational core competency that provides

competitive differentiation and the ability to effectively adapt to the ever-changing world.
An enterprise change management capability means effective change management is
embedded into your organization’s roles, structures, processes, projects and leadership
competencies. Change management processes are consistently and effectively applied
to initiatives, leaders have the skills to guide their teams through change, and
employees know what to ask for in order to be successful.
The end result of an enterprise change management capability is that individuals

embrace change more quickly and effectively, and organizations are able to respond
quickly to market changes, embrace strategic initiatives, and adopt new technology
more quickly and with less productivity impact. This capability does not happen by
chance, however, and requires a strategic approach to embed change management
across an organization.
The Four Principles of Change Management
How to Support Change in Your Organization
No organization can afford to stand still. There are always new challenges to meet, and
better ways of doing things. However, every change you need to make should be
planned and implemented with care, otherwise it could end up doing more harm than
good!
That's where change management comes in. It's a structured approach that ensures
changes are implemented thoroughly and smoothly – and have the desired impact.
In this article, we explain how you can enact positive and productive change in your
organization using four core principles of successful change management.
The Four Principles of Change Management

Successful change management relies on four core principles:
1. Understand Change.
2. Plan Change.
3. Implement Change.
4. Communicate Change.
Let's explore each of these in turn, along with some tools and techniques that you can
use to put them into practice:
Principle 1: Understand Change
To successfully promote the benefits of the change, you need to understand them
yourself. So, think about:
• Why you need to change. What are your key objectives?
• What will the benefits of the change be to the organization?
• How will it impact people positively?
• How will it affect the way that people work?
• What will people need to do to successfully achieve the change?
It can also be helpful to think about what the negative outcomes of not making the
change would be. Beckhard and Harris' Change Equation shows that, for change to
work, there has to be sufficient dissatisfaction with the old way of doing things. But
people also need to feel confident that the new approach will be better – and that there's
a clear route to get there.
Principle 2: Plan Change
Effective change doesn't just happen by chance, and any plan you make has to be right
for your organization. The way that change projects are managed can vary from
organization to organization. Some have very rigid change methodologies, while others
are more open and flexible in their approach.
However, in general, you'll need to consider the following:
• Sponsorship. How will you secure, engage and use high-level support and
sponsorship of the change?
• Involvement. Who is best positioned to help you to design and implement the
change? For example, will you need external expertise? Or can you use internal
resources?
• Buy-in. Change is most effective when you are able to win support from people
across the business. How do you plan to achieve this?
• Impact. Finally, think about what success should look like. How will you predict
and assess the impact of the change that you need to make? What goals do you need
to achieve?
Principle 3: Implement Change
So how exactly are you going to make change happen?
As we've seen, there are many different strategies that you can choose to put your
change into practice. Kotter's 8-Step Change Model, for example, explains how to inject
a sense of urgency into your actions, so that you build momentum and encourage
everyone to get behind your changes.
Meanwhile, the Change Curve reminds you to be mindful of people's feelings while
putting your plan into action. It shows the stages that we all tend to go through during
organizational change – from shock and denial, to the point where we're fully invested in
the new approach.
Whatever tools you choose, the following steps can help you to implement change in a
positive way:
Ensure that everyone involved in the changes understands what needs to happen – and
what it means for them.
• Agree success criteria for your changes, and make sure that they're regularly
measured and reported on.
• Map and identify all of the key stakeholders that will be involved in the change and
define their level of involvement.
• Identify any training needs that must be addressed in order to implement the change.
• Appoint "change agents," who'll help to put the new practices into place – and who can
act as role models for the new approach.
• Find ways to change people's habits, so that the new practices become the norm.
• Make sure that everyone is supported throughout the change process.
Principle 4: Communicate Change
Communication can be a make-or-break component of change management. The
change that you want to implement has to be clear and relevant, so people understand
what you want them to do and why they need to do it. But you also have to set the right
tone, so that you get the emotional reaction you're hoping for.
It's a good idea to link the changes that you're planning to your organization's mission or
vision statements. Not only will this help people to see how the change positively
impacts the "bigger picture," it will also provide them with an inspiring, shared vision of
the future.
Also be sure to practice good stakeholder management. This will ensure that you give
the right people the right message, at the right time, to get the support that you need for
your project.
The ADKAR Change Management Model is a particularly useful tool that you can use to
help communicate your change. It outlines five things you should address in your
communications:
• Awareness (of the need for change).
• Desire (to participate in and support it).
• Knowledge (of how to change).
• Ability (to change).
• Reinforcement (to sustain the change in the long term).
What Can Prevent Change?
Even the best-laid plans can suffer setbacks, so be ready for problems when they arise.
Some people may be pessimistic about your plans, so you'll need to acknowledge,
understand and address any resistance to change.
You may even come up against cultural barriers to change. If your organizational culture
doesn't embrace change – or even pushes against it – you'll have to find ways to reward
flexibility, create role models for change, and repeat your key messages until the mood
starts to improve.
Which Leadership Style Is Best for Change Management?
There's no "one-size-fits-all" approach to change management – so there's no perfect
way to lead it.
But, in general, it's important to stay authentic and to lead in a way that's right for you.
You can also flex and adapt your approach to suit the particular challenges that your
organization faces – and the behaviors that you're trying to change.
Successful change leaders tend to show the following characteristics:
• The ability to build coalitions and inspire trust.
• Strong communication skills at every stage.
• Emotional intelligence to pick up on resistance to change and acknowledge the
personal difficulties that people have with it.
• The ability to think strategically and link the change to the "bigger picture."
Key Points
Change management is a structured approach to implementing change in an
organization. It recognizes that change can be a painful process which can have a far-
reaching impact on the organization and the people who work for it.
There are four key principles of change management:
• Understand Change: for change to be effective, you need to understand all the "ins
and outs" of the change. For example, what it is, how it will be achieved, and why it
needs to happen.
• Plan Change: this can include achieving high-level sponsorship of the change project,
as well as identifying wider involvement and buy-in opportunities.
• Implement Change: when you come to carry out your plan, you need to ensure that
everyone involved knows what they're doing. This may encompass addressing training
needs, appointing "change agents," providing support for people across the
organization, and setting specific success criteria.
• Communicate Change: everyone needs to know why the change is happening, feel
positive about it, and understand how they can achieve success.

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MODULE 3

Input of Change: Change Management

What is Change Management?

Three Levels of Change Management

Individual Change Management

While it is the natural psychological and physiological reaction of humans to resist

Individual change management requires understanding how people experience change

Organizational/Initiative Change Management

Organizational change management is complementary to your project management.

Learn more about the Prosci 3-Phase Process, which provides a research-based

Enterprise Change Management Capability

Enterprise change management is an organizational core competency that provides

The end result of an enterprise change management capability is that individuals

The Four Principles of Change Management

How to Support Change in Your Organization

The Four Principles of Change Management

There are four key principles of change management:

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