Project managers can make change stick!

 

Organizational change management (OCM), while not a new discipline, is receiving more air time than it used to when the focus used to be on “just do it”.  Whether this is the outcome of well publicized changes which didn’t get implemented as well as planned, brainwashing by consulting firms, or an evolution in thinking on the part of leadership teams, it is a positive step.

So what does this mean for a project manager?

In most organizations, the project manager’s role begin once some financial justification has been provided to initiate a change and will end once the deliverables required to implement the change have been completed and transitioned to operational team.  Viewed through that lens, a project manager might feel that OCM takes place before and after their involvement.

While this is partially true, it doesn’t mean that a project manager can’t take a leadership role in setting the organization up for change success.

Here are a few of the ways in which this can happen:

• Reminding the change leadership team of the importance of an easy-to-understand end state.  Change champions might have a crystal clear vision of what they are trying to accomplish, but if that same vision is not consistently shared by those expected to adopt and sustain the change, it will become very difficult to get commitment and alignment towards the same goals.  Through regular stakeholder analysis, a project manager can identify gaps in understanding and buy-in and can help to focus communication efforts from the change leadership team.
• Ensuring that adoption and sustainment deliverables are not given a lower priority.  If the project falls behind schedule or runs over budget, it might be tempting to cut back on the scope on key OCM work packages.  In such cases, the project manager should engage appropriate stakeholders to identify and quantify the risks of such short cuts to avoid the “operation was a success but the patient died” syndrome.
• Helping the change lead develop a detailed plan for delivering OCM work packages.  While a high-level change plan should exist in advance of the project’s initiation, that will not be at the right level of detail to identify timing risks with key communication or procedural deliverables.
• Ensuring an appropriate level of involvement by those affected by the change in key activities.  Whether it is in requirements elicitation, user interface prototyping, desk-level procedures development, or communication messaging, active participation from those who are expected to adopt the change is a recognized good practice but may not be given the attention it needs due to competing operational or project priorities.  The project manager can help to reinforce the importance of this involvement and should escalate through their defined governance escalation path if end users are not being engaged at expected levels.

Project managers are expected to go beyond just meeting the triple constraint by helping the business to realize the expected outcomes of the investments made in projects.  Active involvement and support for sustainable organizational change practices is one path for them to meet those expectations.

(Note: this article was originally written and published by me in January 2014 on my personal blog, kbondale.wordpress.com)