Change Management

Change management is the discipline that guides how we prepare, equip and support individuals to successfully adopt change in order to drive organizational success and outcomes. While all changes are unique and all individuals are unique, decades of research shows there are actions we can take to influence people in their individual transitions. Change management provides a structured approach for supporting the individuals in your organization to move from their own current states to their own future states.

Change Management is effectively leading an individual, team or organization through change. Action and change take place at an individual level - defining each role, recruiting the right person, expert or leader - orienting and preparing each person for their role; calibrating each contribution so that it leads to team success. Moving from the current to the future state requires marrying both the technical and people sides of change.

Figue 1. source: Tekara

Change Management Types

Different Types of Change Management
To first wrap your head around change management models, it’s important to distinguish change as occurring in three distinct categories. By breaking the large subject of change into small subsets of change it immediately becomes more manageable.

• Individual Change Management: People are the root of all change. You can change systems and procedures, but if you don’t address the human in the room, then you’re not changing anything. To get people to change, you must know your subject. What do they need to hear to become open to change? How and when should training be offered to help them with the transition? The tools of this trade are psychological; even neuroscience can help with finding the right angle to steer a person from one behavior to another more productive one.
• Organizational Change Management: While the people on your team are the core target to effect change, there are also larger, more organizational issues you must address if you want to create real change in a project. To do so requires first identifying the groups that require change and how they must change. Then, create a plan that addresses these components of the project, which includes making everyone aware of the change, leading that change through coaching or some other method like training, and then driving that change in congress with the management of the whole project.
• Enterprise Change Management: Taking a step up from the organizational change is to address the entire enterprise. It’s basically taking change management writ large to encompass all aspects of an organization, meaning roles, structure, process, projects, leadership, etc. By approaching change on the macro-level you’re more likely to implement change on the micro-level, as a strategic engagement with change has been applied to the very workings of the organization. It creates a nimbler organization, able to stay flexible and adapt quickly to changes as they occur.

Change Management Model

Elements of a Change Management Model
Figure 1 depicts the elements of a change model and the sequence in which they occur.

Figure 1. source: ASQ

In the center of the change management model figure, all changes move from the current state, through a transition phase, and into the desired improvement state.

• In the beginning, it is important to create, or affirm, a broadly understood need for the change (creating a shared need)
• It is equally important to create and share an idea of what the outcome will look like (shaping a vision)
• Throughout the change effort, there must always be sufficient resources dedicated to it (mobilizing commitment)
• There must be a way to track the change efforts (monitoring progress)
• A person or team must assure that the change reaches completion (finishing the job)
• From the very beginning until the end, the change effort must have the backing of management, and leadership from an accountable person or people (leading change)

Some Change Management Models

3 Change Management Models
Change is hard as-is. There’s no need to go in blind when you can follow the change management models that have been developed and proven by experts.

• The ADKAR Model

“ADKAR” is an acronym that represents a successful change management process in terms of the phases your employees will go through along the way: It stands for:

• Awareness of the need for change.
• Desire to implement change.
• Knowledge of what must be done to achieve successful change.
• Ability to implement the new way of working.
• Reinforcement of the new methods by continuing to implement them in the longer term.

For a successful change management process, you’ll have to lead your employees through each step.

• Lewin’s Change Management Model

According to Lewin, we can sum up change management by seeing it as a process consisting of three phases:

• Unfreeze: A block of ice has a fixed shape. Just as you would melt ice if you wanted to form it into a new shape, so you need to “unfreeze” people’s mindsets out of the old way of doing things. Again, it comes down to recognizing the need and being willing to try something new.
• Change: Now that people are ready to change, you can begin with implementation. But there will be pressures and unforeseen difficulties. Now is the time when your people need lots of support to help them get the change right.
• Freeze: The hectic implementation phase is over. You have made any necessary adjustments to your plans, and you are ready to finalize the new “shape” of your business. The “new” way of doing things is now the way they will always be done.

• The Kubler-Ross Five-Stage Model or Change Curve

This model differs from the others and deals primarily with the feelings of your employees as they go through a change process. Understanding this model will help you to be ready for their reactions as you embark on and finally complete your change process.

• Denial: “No! We don’t need to change!”
• Anger: “After all these years, I hear I have to change! It makes me angry!”
• Depression: “I see that change is inevitable. I am sad that everything will be different now and I feel insecure and a little frightened.”
• Bargaining: “Can’t we keep just this or that thing the same as it was before?”
• Acceptance: “I will try this change, and I will do my best to make it work.”

Successful Change Management

Factors of successful change management
Successful change management is more likely to occur if the following are included:

• Define measurable stakeholder aims and create a business case for their achievement (which should be continuously updated)
• Monitor assumptions, risks, dependencies, costs, return on investment, dis-benefits and cultural issues
• Effective communication that informs various stakeholders of the reasons for the change (why?), the benefits of successful implementation (what is in it for us, and you) as well as the details of the change (when? where? who is involved? how much will it cost? etc.)
• Devise an effective education, training and/or skills upgrading scheme for the organization
• Counter resistance from the employees of companies and align them to overall strategic direction of the organization
• Provide personal counseling (if required) to alleviate any change-related fears
• Monitoring implementation and fine-tuning as and when required