The Effective Change Manager's Handbook: Essential Guidance to the Change Management Body of Knowledge

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The change curve is a function of time. Some apparent ‘resistance’ simply reflects a difference between the position of those announcing a change and those receiving it. Those announcing the change have had a greater involvement in the process to this point, so their personal change curve is shallower and shorter. They have also had more time to process the impact of change on themselves, so are typically further through the curve. At the point of announcement those receiving the change are right at the start of their curve. Judging their early reactions too harshly as ‘inappropriate resistance’ simply fails to recognize the natural process of human change. I shall mention some of the research showing how often and how seriously change initiatives fail. More encouragingly I outline key research findings that show how a range of factors can be managed to increase the chances of successful change. The research offers change managers valuable evidence to use when advocating good practice. Maslow and the hierarchy of needsMany people have come across Maslow’s concept of the ‘hierarchy of needs’ (Maslow, 1943) either in academic studies or in business settings. Don’t confuse problems that people raise about the content of the change with those arising from people going through the change process. Problems raised about the content are valuable input and will improve the change.

The second of our two models of individual change was developed in the early 1990s by William Bridges. In his book Managing Transitions Bridges (2009) makes a key distinction between ‘change’ and ‘transition’: How much control or influence people feel they have over the change. This is why involving people as early as possible, and as deeply as possible, improves the prospects for successful change. Note that this may go a long way towards explaining the relatively small disturbance that follows ‘positive changes’; in many cases these are changes that we have initiated ourselves and feel more in control of. A picture that will engage the creative imagination of those affected, so that they can already ‘touch and feel’ the positive situation after the change.Letting go, repatterning and making a new beginning: together these processes reorient and renew people when things are changing all around them. You need the transition that they add up to for the change to get under the surface of things and affect how people actually work. (Bridges, 2009) Letting go of the old ways and the old identity people had. This fi rst phase of transition is an ending , and the time when you need to help people to deal with their losses. Balogun, J and Hope Hailey, V (2008 ) Exploring Strategic Change IBM (2008b ) Making Change Work Prosci (2012 ) Best Practices in Change Management – or a more recent According to Prosci (2012), with its focus on project change management, the top two ‘lessons learnt’ from previous change initiatives were both about preparation: 1) to get change sponsors actively involved at an earlier stage – from the very start of a project; and 2) to start change management activity sooner, right from project initiation. The interaction between one change and another in the life of an individual. Someone who possesses a stable and strong network of friends and family may cope with redundancy better than another person who is currently undergoing a messy family breakup. Again, if supervisors and line managers know their people well, they can help to asses such impacts.

A single-volume learning resource, it covers the range of underpinning knowledge required to embed change successfully. It includes chapters from esteemed and established thought leaders on topics ranging from benefits management, stakeholder strategy, facilitation, change readiness, project management and education and learning support. Covering the whole process from planning to implementation, it offers practical tools, techniques and models to effectively support any change initiative. A plan that is credible, and that gives people a clear route to success in implementing the change. It will be clear how closely this ‘transition’ process mirrors the change curve described above. It is also helpful to notice two key developments that Bridges’ thinking high-lights. First, he sees these three ‘phases’ as sequential but overlapping processes: each of these needs attention at the right time, to ensure that planned changes are actually implemented by people. These processes are explored in more detail below. Second, he focuses on the creative potential of the ‘neutral zone’, not just as a time of confu-sion and depression but as a time when there is suffi cient fl uidity for experimentation, a time when genuinely new attitudes and behaviours can be developed. A study of over 2,500 people in change management roles across 120 organizations was conducted by ChangeFirst Limited in 2010. It found that six to nine months after project launch, projects with change management input were delivering significant performance improvements, financial results and behavioural change. A majority of the respondents attributed over 20 per cent of the success directly to effective change management. The calculated return on investment (ROI) on large projects was calculated as a 650 per cent return on current levels of investment in change management. Advocacy of best practice across the organization, supported by effective information gathering, relevant case studies and application of lessons learned from past change initiatives.EBOOK [P.D.F] The Effective Change Manager's Handbook: Essential Guidance to the Change Management Body of Knowledge Read Online Details

Identify the reasons why the current situation cannot continue. There will be gains amongst the losses.PriceWaterhouseCoopers published a study (PwC, 2004) on project and programme management practices. They conclude, amongst other things: ʻThe survey reveals an undeniable correlation between project performance, maturity level and change management. The majority of the best performing and most mature organisations always or frequently apply change management to their projects.ʼ This highlights the need for alignment of change and project management practices and for ensuring appropriate organizational structure. Although some challenge the research applying this model to organizational situations, it remains a helpful way of looking at change. It is easily communicated and helps to explain many characteristic patterns of response observed in change processes. Figure 1.3 shows how personal performance, energy and, characteristi-cally, mood vary through the normal process of human change.