Change Drives Projects to Conceive and Projects Deliver Positive Change Outcomes or Results. Change is Essential to many aspects of business for remaining relevant in your business area and is imperative for companies for ever growing and adapting to different circumstances; important to keep Creative Ideas fresh & implemented and moving forward; Adopt New Technology and more Efficient and Economical Methods to perform work; Bridge Performance Gaps & increase its Business Competitiveness. Changes are also taken up because of government regulations, Improve shareholders value, changes in markets, and other factors in the organization’s business environment.
Generally, Projects are Conceived to bring in Change that encourages Innovation, Transformation, Develop Competitive Edge and leads to many positive aspects like Improvement, Progress, Growth, move to Grab Opportunity or Overcome Obstacles or Problems. Project-based works are like Propelling Engines that turns Ideas into Reality and generates major Changes & Accomplishments.
While change may be Difficult & make us Uncomfortable many a times and despite facing Daunting Challenges, it can also be tremendously beneficial to business and Positively affect Profits, Productivity, Growth and Quality of Work. In business, no change happens without there being some business factor or benefit that would be gained by the organization. Projects are Drivers of Change on the other hand Project Success in fact largely depends on how Change is Implemented.
In a perpetually changing world, businesses must constantly reinvent themselves if they want to stay competitive. Change management is a very broad field, and approaches to managing change vary widely, from organization to organization and from project to project. Change management has become one of the most critical success factors for any Project and therefore “Change Management is key to the Project Success.“ In order to ensure a smooth transition from the current state to the desired state of business, you need the correct change management tools and resources at hand. Change Management is a systematic approach towards dealing with change. It’s a structured way of applying tools, knowledge, and resources to effectively drive and ensuring that changes are thoroughly and smoothly implemented, and that the lasting benefits of change are achieved.There are different change management methodologies that have been developed and deployed, such as the Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model, the Lewin Change Theory Model, ADKAR Analysis, Force Field Analysis, McKinsey 7S Framework, Beckhard and Harris’s Change Model. All have worthwhile attributes that should be evaluated and executed in a structured fashion in order to deliver project success.
Let’s now briefly discuss these Methods.
Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model :
John Kotter (1996), a Harvard Business School Professor and a renowned change expert, in his book “Leading Change”, introduced 8 Step Model of Change which he developed on the basis of research of 100 organizations which were going through a process of change. The 8 Step Change Model is designed to bring lasting change to an organisation. The Model Described as below:
Lewin’s Change Management Model
Kurt Lewin developed a change model involving three steps: unfreezing, changing and refreezing. The model represents a very simple and practical model for understanding the change process. For Lewin, the process of change entails creating the perception that a change is needed, then moving toward the new, desired level of behaviour and finally, solidifying that new behaviour as the norm. The model is still widely used and serves as the basis for many modern change models.
ADKAR® Model
The ADKAR® Model of change is a well-known and widely used tool that helps you analyse your change and better understand it. The ADKAR model is a 5-step framework that helps deal with the people-aspect of change management. The methodology was developed by Jeffery Hiatt, a best-selling author and the founder of Prosci. The five ADKAR elements—Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement—are the building blocks for creating change from the human perspective.
Force–field Analysis
Force Field Analysis was created by Kurt Lewin in the 1940s. Lewin originally used it in his work as a social psychologist. Today, however, it is also used in business, for making and communicating go / no-go decisions’
It provides a framework for looking at the factors (forces) that influence a situation, originally social situations. It looks at forces that are either driving movement toward a goal (helping forces) or blocking movement toward a goal (hindering forces).
Force field analysis is a basic tool for root cause analysis that can help you take action once the root cause has been identified. The technique is based on the assumption that any situation is the result of forces for and against the current state being in equilibrium.
McKinsey 7S Framework
The McKinsey 7S Framework is a management model developed by business consultants Robert H. Waterman, Jr. and Tom Peters in the 1980s. McKinsey 7s model is a tool that analyses firm’s organizational design by looking at 7 Ss that are structure, strategy, systems, skills, style, staff and shared values in order to identify if they are effectively aligned and allow organization to achieve its objectives and understand the Relationship between Seven “Hard” and “Soft” aspects of Organizations.
Beckhard and Harris’s Change Model
Giving another perspective on change, this describes how change initiatives require the pre-requisites of real dissatisfaction with the current state, a vision of why the new state will be better, and clear first steps towards getting there, to be successful.
Devised in the 1960s by David Gleicher then refined in the 1980s by Kathie Dannemiller, the formula for change was truly popularised by Richard Beckhard and Reuben T. Harris in 1987 in their book entitled “Organizational Transitions: Managing Complex Change”.
The formula offers a simplified analysis of the conditions governing the potential success or failure of a given change initiative as follows:
The aim of the formula is to help those running transformation projects to take stock of the exact situation, in order to then make the right decisions in keeping with the final objective. In fact, the assessment made of the first three variables should be sufficiently accurate to ensure resistance to change is overcome, otherwise the success of any transformation project will be in jeopardy.
Change management mostly focuses on people, and ensures change thoroughly, smoothly and lastingly implemented. Following are some of Tips for brining Changes Successfully.
Typically, these will cover:
1. Drive from Top:ensuring there is active sponsorship for the change at a senior management level within the organization, and engaging this sponsorship to achieve the desired results.
2. Consensus:gaining buy-in for the changes from those involved and affected, directly or indirectly.
3. Involvement:involving the right people in the design and implementation of changes, to make sure the right changes are made.
4. Impact:assessing and addressing how the changes will affect people.
5. Communication:telling everyone who’s affected about the changes.
6. Readiness:getting people ready to adapt to the changes, by ensuring they have the right information, training and help.
When your organization undertakes projects or initiatives to improve performance, seize opportunities or address key issues, they often require changes; 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. Successful implementation of Change Management lead to Fruitful Closure of Projects. When change management is integrated into the project management steps, the efforts to manage the people side of change can identify and mitigate risks in a more proactive manner, address anticipated obstacles and resistance and build commitment and buy-in for the change.
Author : SN Panigrahi, GST & Foreign Trade & Project Consultant, Practitioner, International Corporate Trainer & Author.
Author can be Reached @ [email protected]
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