This document provides an overview of change management from a project implementation perspective. It discusses why change management is important for project success and defines key change management concepts. The document emphasizes the importance of communication for change management and provides tips for effective communication, including identifying stakeholders, tailoring messages, using multiple communication channels, and selecting communicators. It also stresses including change management tasks in project plans and treating them with the same importance as other project deliverables.

1. Thanks to the International Institute of Business Analyst – Central VA Chapter for
having me.
A little bit about my background:
Jeff Bennett
Senior Consultant with Dominion Digital
Almost 6 years of consulting experience
Prosci Change Management Certified
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3. Change Management:
When people hear the words “Change Management” they can think of many things.
For Example:
• The Change Control process – how one introduces changes to projects or systems
• Financial Management – some people might think of it as “change” or coins
The title of this discussion is intended to be rather ambiguous to show the need for
proper communication on projects.
Our focus today is Change Management from a project implementation perspective
and how to ensure the people affected by a project accept and utilize what’s
implemented.
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4. Most people think that they are not involved in Change Management on their projects. Most don’t
realize that everyone on a project team will play a key role as a Change Agent, even if it is specifically
called out in their job title. Their own demeanor, communication about the project successes, etc. are
all picked up on by the organization at large. Negativity travels a long way. If the people working on
the project are negative about how the project is proceeding, how can the rest of the organization be
looking forward to the change it will bring.
Goal for Today:
Demonstrating Importance of Change Management
Cross Arms Exercise:
Cross your arms; now cross them the other way. How awkward did that feel? It’s because you’re used
to crossing your arms the same way every time. Imagine if I told you that you were going to have to
do your job left-handed today – that’s how some projects can make employees feel. That’s why
Change Management is such an important part of any project.
If a project is delivered on time, on budget, and delivers the intended scope is that project a success?
Most would argue yes, but if the project doesn’t deliver the intended improvements on an
organization then the project is actually a failure.
There was a project I worked on for a Federal Government agency and we met our timeline, stayed
within budget, and delivered everything within the scope of work, but the project was abandoned not
long after it went live. I can assure you that the managers we were working with did not view our
project as a success. Where did we go wrong?
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5. Case Study – A project where change management wasn’t addressed:
Scenario:
A government agency was seeing the productivity of it’s Human Resource processing center decrease; HR actions
that should have taken less than a day to complete were taking almost a week. One look at the processing center
identified multiple problems. The files they used to process were all paper. All of the requests were submitted
electronically, then a workflow coordinator printed all documents and attachments (as many as 15) and
distributed work to processors. Work went into inbox trays on each processors desks where they were mixed
with other older requests. This lead to some requests waiting extended periods of time before they was
processed. After a request was processed, all the documentation was taken (paper files were physically walked to
another level of the building) to a Quality Assurance person where it went through the same process for QA
before it was signed-off on and manually input into the system.
Solution:
The solution was to automate the process, setup a work flow system that prioritized requests based on the time
that they were received, routed requests electronically for QA, and then automatically added them to the
employees HR account. In theory this seemed like a simple solution that should have improved productivity, cut
costs in the processing center, and improve customer satisfaction.
Result:
The project came in on time, on budget, and delivered an automated workflow solution that met all the
requirements laid out in the design. However, the processors were not ready to accept the system, didn’t feel as
though they had adequate training, didn’t understand the rationale for instituting a new system, and utterly
rejected the new automated solution. At first it was only the “complex” cases that the processors printed out and
reverted back to their old ways on, but within 2 months all of the HR requests were being printed out and utilizing
the old method of paper processing.
Lessons Learned:
The end users of the product need to feel comfortable with what they are going to be asked to do, understand
why they are being asked to do it, and ready to accept the new product when it is finished. Otherwise the project
team can be very successful meeting the triple constraints of project delivery, but still have a project that fails to
meet the overall business goals.
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7. In my experience very successful projects have had 3 key components. You can think
of them as legs of a tri-pod.
Those 3 components are:
• Leadership (both at an executive level and more junior level)
• Effective project management
• Effective change management. Just like a tri-pod without one leg the project will
not be balanced and will topple over.
Leadership – states the vision and provides examples of the behavior people should
exhibit
Project Management – ensures that the project is delivered successfully
Change Management – ensures that the organization is ready to accept the project
and implement the new
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8. The definition of Change Management (from Wikipedia) is:
Change management is a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and
organizations from a current state to a desired future state.
Every project ever undertaken has had some future state that the organization is
hoping to get to.
Without proper change management the individuals affected can’t get to that desired
state. You can build the greatest system in the world, or come up with the best
redesigned process but if the people we aren’t able to interact with that system or
process, then the project is doomed to failure right from the start.
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9. The Change Curve – the ride can be a bumpy experience
The stages of the change curve are:
• Denial
• Resistance
• Exploration
• Commitment
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10. There are multiple methods and interpretations of change management. A lot seem
to prescribe that there is only one way to do change management and that way is
their way. I’ve come to believe that change management can’t be written out like a
prescription, and that project teams will need to be flexible and adaptable based on
their own circumstances.
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11. However there are some common themes that come up regardless of the
methodology or expert that you might talk to.
These common themes are:
• Communication
• Training
• Corrective Action Planning
• Celebrating Successes
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13. Why is Change Management Important?
In today’s business environment it’s the nimble companies that are able to thrive.
Change has become essential for corporations to keep up with evolving customer
needs, industry competition and governmental regulations.
Those companies who do not embrace change will get left behind in this new
business environment.
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14. Why is Change Management Important?
• According to the last Standish Group CHAOS Report 68% of projects fail to meet
their business objectives.
We’ve seen that even if we deliver a project on time, on budget, and with completed
scope – that doesn’t guarantee meeting business objectives
The best ideas can fail to be implemented without acceptance from end users
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15. The Return on Investment from Change Management
Three different studies over the past four years have shown that the total value
created by a project is directly related to the application and effectiveness of change
management practices.1
Correctly applying change management can directly impact:
1. Speed of adoption – how quickly the change is adopted into the organization and
how well the project stays on schedule
2. Utilization Rate – the overall level of participation and ultimate utilization of the
new processes, tools and job changes
3. Proficiency – how employees perform in the new environment: are they achieving
the expected performance levels
1 Helping
Employees Embrace Change, McKinsey Quarterly, Issue 2 2002; Deliverables,
PM Network, October, 2005; Best Practices in Change Management report,
Procsi, 2005.
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16. The main issue with project implementation from a change management perspective
is the impact to the employees that are going to be affected. The project is likely to
change the way they perform their jobs. This person’s livelihood is going to be
impacted by the work that a project team is doing.
The longer a person has been doing their job a certain way, the more resistant to
change they are going to be. Having an understanding of the people affected by the
project is a requirement of effective change management.
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17. The change process is often equated to the grieving process.
How familiar are these stages:
• Confusion and Denial
• Anger or Blame
• Bargaining
• Depression
• Acceptance / Moving on
These are the Kubler-Ross stages of grieving. If you think back to the stages of the
change curve, you will see that these are very similar.
It’s important to understand that the same strong emotional response can be found
in both change and death. Understanding this and allowing for this best enables a
project team to address the sensitivities issues associated with any change project.
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19. Today I want to drive more into the critical change management aspect of
Communication
Communication has been mentioned in every project retrospective that I have
participated in.
On the very successful projects it was called out as a reason for the successfulness of
the project.
On the unsuccessful projects it was called out as something that we should have
done better.
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21. Interoffice gossip is going to occur. The bigger the project the more prevalent gossip
will be. Project teams should go ahead and plan for this inevitability and not be
deterred when it happens.
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22. The goal of all of this communication is to make certain that there are no surprises
for anyone involved in this change. Surprises are what lead to people feeling out of
the loop and not involved in the change. When surprises happen it will lead people
to wonder what else they don’t know, and what else is being kept from them.
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23. For people to be able to accept the change that is required for a project they are
going to have to understand why and what things are happening.
It’s only after the appropriate messages have been communicated that people can
understand the need for change and being to accept the new responsibilities.
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24. After the appropriate communication has happened, people can the understand the
rationale and how the organization and their own job will be improved.
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25. What should be remembered about communication?
It needs to be done early and often. It’s critical to get the message out early to try to
stop rumors from spreading and it’s also critical to consistently reinforce that
message throughout the project.
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26. Most people need to hear things 7 times before they fully receive the message.
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27. Project communication should be thought of as an essential part of planning for the
project. There needs to be a communication plan in place before the project even
begins.
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28. There are key topics that need to be communicated to the entire organization
These topics are:
• Expectations
• Timeline
• “What’s in it for me?”
• Rationale / Corporate Benefits
The goal of communication is to ensure the project does not cause any surprises in
the organization
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29. It’s vitally important to communicate the expectations of the people affected by the
project and how these expectations will differ from the current roles and
responsibilities
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30. Also vitally important is the timeline for the project. Everyone in the organization
needs to understand the timelines and when to expect things to happen. It’s not
enough to just communicate the go-live date, rather people need to understand all of
the intermediate deadlines that lead to the overall go-live. This way everyone
understands all the work and thought that has gone into the project.
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31. After the timeline and expectations are fully known, the most important message
that needs to be communicated is “What’s in it for me?”. This is where you
communicate to each audience the benefit of the project to them and ensure they
understand why their daily work will change-change for the better.
This is the most critical message that will be communicated for the project. Human
nature leads people to be focused on self-preservation. This has been true since the
caveman, and it continues to be true in the corporate world today.
People need to understand what they are going to get out of the change before they
will be willing to accept it.
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32. The final piece that is absolutely essential to communicate is the rationale / corporate
benefits. Knowing that the overall company will in a better position competitively
after the change is implemented will help people accept what’s being asked of them.
Linking the employee’s improved job to an improved company shows the alignment
of self and company that can lead to great change.
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33. Who do I communicate to?
All people in an organization should be communicated to regarding a change.
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34. To determine the people in an organization that need to be communicated to, the
project team needs to perform a stakeholder analysis to determine how the different
groups of people will be affected by the change.
The team should breakdown all of the people who will know, feel, or interact with the
change and then understand how affected these groups will be.
Typically a matrix is produced that lists the name of the stakeholder group, the level
of interaction with the change, and the level of affect the change will have on their
day to day activities.
It’s expected that people will fall into more than one stakeholder group.
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35. Communication should be targeted at each stakeholder group. The message should
be tailored to the stakeholder group and specifically addresses how they will interact
with the change.
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36. There are multiple mediums of communication and each has it’s own advantages and
disadvantages. A good communication plan has a mixture of types of communication
to take advantage of the strengths of each and mitigate the risks of each message.
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37. A blast communication can reach a very large audience and help ensure that
everyone receives the same message. This is a very good method to explain
corporate benefits and demonstrate executive sponsorship.
A risks of this type of communication is that typically it can lead to a lot of
speculation regarding the specifics and it is impersonal. So for those who will be
directly impacted by the change, they will need more details and a more personal
touch
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38. Face to Face communication is a great method to make each employee affected by
the change feel important. For communicating the “What’s in it for me message?”
there is no method that’s better.
The risks of face to face communication is that there will likely be different people
delivering the message to different employees. This opens up room for interpretation
and there is no way to ensure the same message is given because there is less control
over the sender.
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39. The group communication method is another very useful medium. Examples include
a town hall meeting or a conference call where a presentation on the project is given
to a group of employees and then there is a Question and Answer session afterwards.
These sessions allow a group to interact with the presenter and raise any questions
they might have. It can help discover questions or misinterpretations the group my
have of which the project team is completely unaware.
The risks of this type of communication is that there is no script and it’s possible that
a question will be asked that the presenter cannot answer. Also, some people do not
like to speak up in a group and therefore would not raise a valid concern because of
the setting.
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40. Key messages should always be available and in plain view of project members and
non-project members. Everyone needs to be on the same page when it comes to the
key messages associated with the project.
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41. The communicator is another important part of each communication. The message
will be received differently based on who give the message.
There are really categories of communicators:
• Executive Level
• Direct Manager
• Peer
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42. Executive communication is often the best way to distribute the corporate benefits /
rationale for the project. This shows executive sponsorship of the project and
alignment at the corporate strategy level to the significance of the project.
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43. The direct manager of an affected employee is often the best person to communicate
how the project will directly affect them. This is where the “What’s in it for me?”
message must be communicated. The affected employee needs to understand how
their day to day activities will change and the benefits of undertaking this change.
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44. A peer of an affected employee is another important communicator. They can give
testimonials to how they see themselves being affected and the benefits the
organization will see.
Each communicator has benefits and risks associated. A well designed
communication plan uses each communicator to maximize the benefits of sending
the message and minimizes the risks of misinterpretation.
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45. So how can we build in accountability for change management into projects
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46. Incorporate change management tasks and deliverables into the project plan. They
need to be treated with the same urgency and importance of all other project tasks.
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47. Some examples of communication deliverables include:
• Communication Plan – the plan that includes the communication title, distribution
date, sender, message delivered, and audience
• Stakeholder Analysis – identifies the different groups of people who will be affected
by the change, the level of affect the change will have on each group, and the level of
resistance the group may have against the change
• Draft Communications – each communication should be drafted, reviewed, and
approved prior to the distribution date
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48. The best way to ensure change management and communication are given the
importance they deserve is to have a dedicated resource to management the change
management process.
This person would be lead:
• Communication Management
• Training Development and Delivery
• Stakeholder Analysis and Management
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49. Even if there is a dedicated resource every project member has a key role to play in
change management. All project members are change agents.
Their responsibilities include:
• Knowing the key messages
• Developing and giving a 10 second elevator speech when necessary
• Speaking up when people are talking to ensure that false assumptions aren’t made
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51. Important lessons learned from past projects:
• Keep communicating – even after you think the messages have been understood,
it’s important to keep communicating to ensure the message is always front of mind
• Communication has to be thought of as a deliverable with the same deadlines,
urgency, and quality as any other project deliverable
• Never underestimate the importance of face to face communication
• Gossip and misinterpretation will happen – just plan for it and address it when it
does happen
• Giving people the opportunity to participate in communication (e.g. Town Hall
meetings, Conference calls, etc.) can allow misconceptions to be address that the
project team might not know about
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52. What questions do you have regarding change management or communication?
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