Why even consider Change management?

You need your team to work in a new way because you are automating processes with new technology, or you have changed the roles and functions in your team but haven't thought through how that will change your day to day work. Not only that but you haven't thought yet about how your team works with other areas or departments. Now you face spending the next 3 months working out all of the details and getting back on your feet. How could this have been avoided? Through the discipline called Change Management.

In business the main question you ask when looking at introducing something new, is 'how soon can we get this in?'. A better question would be 'how long will it take to get to the end state we are pitching for?'. Another great question is 'what will the return on my investment be'?, even on projects that are mandated from the powers that be. Whether it be changing the way you do things, introducing new products, or modifying existing products with tightening profit margins and decreasing budgets how you invest your money in business is becoming even more and more critical.  

And Change Management is the discipline that if implemented well, by experienced practitioners, and integrated into your company culture will return on its investment over and over again.

There is nothing 'soft' about change management

In fact if you have someone refer to change management as 'soft skills' then I wouldn't hesitate to say that the individual should go and learn about it to understand it properly.

Organisations invest large sums of money in projects every year. Business areas on top of that deliver changes on a continual basis. Restructures are taking place every 3-5 years as Management and the economy changes, yet there are extreme inefficiencies if Change leadership and Change management capabilities aren't supporting the business throughout that time.

In addition to this some projects deliver on time and within budget but not all realise the benefits they identified as to the reason the investment should take place in the first place. Success is defined as delivery, not value to the organisation. Change management is responsible for ensuring as much value as possible can be realised from these investments.

How many times in your organisation do you find that projects have to be stopped or revisited (phase 2 anybody?) because the change hasn't been factored in? Ever witnessed the deployment of a new system which has been 'shoved in' because of Executive directive and then spent the next 6 - 12 months making changes to the solution and re-training everyone? 

In these instances, a more progressive conversation ensures change is factored in, and then the go ahead is given to deploy.

What do you get for your money?

By investing in change management skills within your project teams and strategic areas, you will soon realise that those with Change management skills are able to do the following:

• assist in maintaining or improving (depending on your organisation's culture) staff engagement scores which in turn yield greater productivity 
• increase the benefits realisation of projects that are funded
• provide critical information regarding resourcing and client impact for changes being considered by the organisation to support prioritisation decisions
• improve over time the leadership skills within your organisation
• improve communication within your business.

Everything is measurable, and there is nothing 'intangible' about change management processes and skills. If you bring them into your organisation you should be able to measure a return on investment over time.

How well do you understand Change Management?

You can view our quick explainer video on what Change Management is. It provides you with a practical overview of Change and why it exists today.