Training, communications, mapping and engagement
The building blocks of change, a vital component
Benefits realisation, impact assessment too
These pieces all must fall into place,
If change is to ensue
Together, these six building blocks form the base
For successful change, the whole team must embrace
With careful planning and execution,
Success is within reach
A smooth transition, no one left to beseech
— Change Management poem
Organisational change management is a process. This process facilitates smoother organisation change. Smooth change is well-resourced and thoughtfully delivered. Significant changes include moving to a new office or changing operational working methods. Above all, good change management minimises disruption to employees.
Think of when you move to a new house. You have to plan out how you will pack and move your things. You use imagination and planning to work out what you need to do to make the new house feel like home. You also help everyone adjust to the new surroundings. Smooth house moves have considerable upfront planning.
So too, in organisational change management. You plan how hundreds of employees transition to the new way of doing things. You also help people adapt to the change.
Organisational change managers plan and execute organisational change initiatives. A range of strengths and values help change managers be effective.
Strengths include communication skills, adaptability and problem-solving skills. Leadership skills and emotional intelligence also help change managers guide stakeholders. An authentic approach helps change managers deliver unpalatable news while maintaining trust. Prized values include collaboration and integrity. It is a job where you can bring various strengths to bear — creativity, analytical skills or distress tolerance for instance.
Change management is often part of a project team. At first, the role of a change manager may seem ambiguous. Yet change management is a process with predictable elements. The ‘Change’ stream is one stream of work within a project. This stream involves several sub-streams of work. These sub-streams involve winning stakeholders ‘hearts’ or ‘minds’. The former is about shaping how people feel about a change. The latter is about data-informed decision-making for better change.
Communications, training, stakeholder mapping and engagement are some of these sub-streams. These sub-streams are about winning ‘the hearts’ of people involved in your change. We could liken each sub-stream to a building block for change.
Other sub-streams include impact assessment, capturing data for benefits realisation and change readiness. These sub-streams help win ‘the minds’ of everyone involved.
Communications
Before a significant change, speaking with stakeholder groups about the “what” and “why” of change is essential. Two-way conversations like these help them understand the change and not be worried or scared about it. Change managers need a reasonable amount of emotional intelligence to correctly ‘read the room’ when dealing with stakeholders.
Change managers often manage entire change communications campaigns too. These campaigns include a series of planned messages, posters, videos and other deliverables.
Training
It’s crucial to teach employees about new ways of working. This helps them know what to do and how to do it. Well-timed and comprehensive training can also help employees feel less worried or scared about the change. Project teams can also make quick reference guides and other materials to help the employees learn and remember the new way of doing things.
Stakeholder mapping and engagement
Moving house has a simple part to it. You know who will be affected by the move. This exercise — stakeholder mapping — is complicated at an organisational level. Change managers consult their project team and subject matter experts to flesh out a decent stakeholder map.
On identifying stakeholders, it’s time to start talking to stakeholder groups. Change managers also listen to what these people think about the change and try understanding their needs, concerns, and ideas. By doing these things, the organisation can ensure that the change is a good idea for everyone affected by it and that it will work well. This is called stakeholder engagement. Stakeholder engagement can include things like:
- Talking to people about the change
- Asking for their opinions through surveys or focus groups
- Including them in the decision-making process.
Impact assessment
It’s also vital to think about how the change will affect the people working at the organisation. This understanding positions change managers to help them with any problems.
Measuring stakeholder readiness for change
Measuring stakeholder readiness for change is a valuable part of change management. Measurement examines how prepared and willing stakeholders are to embrace a proposed change. What challenges and concerns do stakeholders may have about the change? How supportive are they of a given change? What project teams learn from employees and other stakeholders can make or break a change.
Findings help change managers develop strategies for addressing any resistance to change. This is especially the case if results reveal lots of negative sentiment. Yet findings are also positive. Change managers can build and aim to magnify this positive sentiment. This intelligent move helps project teams build support for the change among stakeholders.
Measuring benefits from the change
Benefits realisation refers to the extent to which the expected benefits of a change happen. Was the change successful in delivering the desired outcomes? Project teams can use this information to identify areas that need further improvement. Like moving house, change management is about supporting change smoothly, with minimal disruption.
Want to learn more about organisational change? Check out my book The Change Manager’s Companion. It’s available now. You can also enjoy my online course on Change Management.