Reflections on Change Management

Organizational Change Management has become a very popular topic lately. If you have been working for a large organization over an extended period of time, I am quite sure that you’ve been in a situation where something in your environment was permanently changing - whether it was your organizational structure, the tools you use, your physical location, or certain processes your department has to carry out on a daily basis.

Typically, organizational change management goes hand in hand with a major project. Yet, surprisingly enough, in many situations, managers are so focused on delivering the project scope on time and on budget that they forget about the “people” component. For example, they may introduce a software tool that the entire organization is expected to use, yet pay insufficient attention to its adoption across the company. And most of the time, adoption requires more than just attending a training session.

Every employee in an organization develops their daily routine over time. They know how much time each task usually takes them, which allows them to manage their workload and visualize what their day will look like. They feel more comfortable making certain milestone commitments when they are familiar with their standard tools and processes.

When a new process is introduced, it often creates a lot of uncertainty. Everyone has their own tolerance for risk and their own level of personal responsibility. Each person has a pace at which they feel comfortable performing their duties. As such, organizational change management is always about individuals-not just “groups of people.”

I faced an “organizational change” myself not long ago. Twice a week, I show up at my client’s site. It became my routine to park at the far end of their large parking lot and take a one-minute walk into the building. Recently, most of the parking lot was closed for construction, and we were offered alternative parking areas. The tricky part was that some of these lots were located up to 30 minutes’ walking distance from the building.

Reflections on Change Management - PMAID Consulting Group

In this situation, everyone, including me, was looking for their own solution. For example, I had to wake up earlier and arrive on site an hour before my usual time to secure a spot in the nearest designated lot. I also noticed that different colleagues experienced different levels of stress or acceptance in this situation.

So, in this example, the project is the construction, and the change management is about accommodating the parking needs of all employees and consultants visiting the site.

Now think of an organization that employs tens of thousands of people and is undergoing a major change. How can you possibly reach every single person to address their needs and make sure they are comfortable with the change? You may not be able to do it physically, but you can design your change management tools in such a way that each person finds their own convenient, step-by-step way to adjust to the new reality.

You probably know about standard OCM tools like “change champions”- individuals who try the new process or product before others. They can provide early feedback and train their teammates. There are also multiple techniques to encourage people to use the new product, such as awards and recognition, to reduce resistance.

But here, I am talking about the very basics of change management - how to make it easier for every single person to adapt.

First, those planning the change need to understand why it is necessary. Then, they should break down the intended audience into smaller groups based on the type of communication they will receive. This breakdown does not have to be role-based. The change manager should consider all possible individual scenarios. For example, in the case of the parking lot relocation, some people might be perfectly fine walking 15 minutes, but what about those who have a physical disability?

In another example, such as a software upgrade, people have different learning curves. Some learn best by listening, while others need to see the process. As such, multiple learning options must be easily accessible. Whenever a process change is involved, it is important to incorporate process mapping into the training materials. The message becomes: “Previously, to achieve THIS you took THESE steps. Now, to achieve THIS, you will take THESE steps.”

In some cases, the change might be associated with entirely new processes that didn’t exist before, or with the elimination of old ones. Still, having clear, explicit instructions that everyone can understand makes a difference.

In my case, I received a map of the parking lot, and I could estimate that if I wanted to secure my parking spot, I should arrive 30 minutes earlier than usual. This was the simple yet clear outcome of my individual “change impact assessment.”