Response to the forces of change may require strategic change or operational change. Strategic change is organizational wide and has to do with organizational transformation. While strategic change has a long term focus, operational change has immediate effect on working arrangement within a part of the organization. Operational change focuses on elements like new systems, procedures, structures or technology. Organizational change can be static (Lewin’s model) or dynamic (Continuous  Change Process Model). Change management requires strategic thinking and planning, good implementation and stakeholders consultation. The change desired must be realistic, attainable and realistic.

Team Building to Support Change Management

For organizational change to occur, team building workshops facilitated by BPM consultants, can be formed to achieve understanding, detailed plans, measurable objectives and delegation of responsibilities. The responsibility to manage change does not rest entirely in the hands of the employees. Ideally, they are to do the best to their abilities and what they are chosen for as members of a team. Responsibility, however, does lie in the hands of management and executives. Their role is to empower and enable the team to carry out change under their leadership.

Managers and executives interpret, communicate and enable others, specifically the team, to enact change. They do not instruct or impose. Involving team members in the decision making process is a best practice to create change. Likewise, executives and managers need to be open to ideas from the team.

Change Management Requires Total System Support

The behaviors of employees, departments, clients, and vendors make a big difference in the system of an organization and how successful Six Sigma implementation and change management can function. Behaviors should be considered because if the current behavior of a client is that they do not like change or surprises, you may have to work them slowly to get them to agree to the changes. Some employees are set in their ways. Getting them to agree a change is for the better can be difficult too.

Change Management Models, Best Practices, Systems and Techniques.

Change is a common theme that runs through all organizations regardless of size, industry and age. Just think about some of these business changes you may have experienced  in your company and how you manage those challenges with change management issues you have encountered.

1. Acquisition of new companies in same or different business
2. Requesting  suppliers to use a new IT system and process
3. Shifting office spaces within an existing building
4. Implementing  or migrating to a new ERP solution
5. Reorienting around processes instead of functions

The concept of “change management” is a familiar one in most businesses today. But, how businesses manage change (and how successful they are at it) varies enormously depending on the nature of the business, the change and the people involved.

And a key part of this depends on how far people within it understand the change process.A “one-size-fits-all” approach is not effective for change management. Organizations that handle change well thrive, whilst those that do not may struggle to survive. These are all distinctly different changes, but each requires change management to be successful. Each impacts people and how they do their job. Each can suffer from slower adoption and lower utilization. Each has risks associated with people not becoming engaged or resisting the change.  The right amount and approach for change management will be different. The change management strategy defines the approach needed to manage change given the unique situation  of the project or initiative.

A “one-size-fits-all” approach is not effective for change management. Awareness of Change Management Strategy elements:is crucial for business change management success.

1.     Situational awareness – understand the change and who is impacted
2.     Supporting structures – team and sponsor structures
3.     Strategy analysis – risks, resistance and special tactics

Change Management Models

Change Management Software

Using change management software can easily lead to automatic task assignment, routing, scheduling, notification, and escalation of incomplete tasks. As brand new tasks appear, or even as something else is changed, the computer software will immediately notify the appropriate individuals of the modification and guide them through the steps to guarantee it’s managed accurately.

Change management software makes it possible for companies to establish procedures over the many departments and facilities that will confirm quality and safety. If the company can make the most of such software solutions, it will be able to meet those industry rules and avoid a lot of issues connected with human error.

Change Management best practices for an Information Management  solution implementation

When it is apparent users are not participating in Information Management practices an objective assessment can identify a way forward that is usually cost effective and will meet organizational needs within a much shorter time frame. This assessment must take an independent and holistic view of the situation from multiple perspectives.

This assessment must identify the root causes of any associated issues and develop a clear strategy to build the information management capability required. There are a number of common elements that have emerged as issues with information management implementations that have nothing to do with the incumbent technological tool and the strategy developed must consider how these are to be addressed.

The capability assessment framework enables organizations to holistically assess information management practices and to identify improvement opportunities that will build capability. This is achieved by benchmarking current organizational practice against best practice in each of the dimensions of the framework. The best practice benchmark criteria in the framework have been identified through experience with multiple organizations across industry sectors and geographies, and are augmented through industry collaboration and global academic research outcomes
McKinsey’s 7-S Model

The McKinsey 7-S Model was created by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, two guys working at the McKinsey & Company consulting firm, and by Richard Pascale and Anthony Athos at a meeting in 1978.

The basic premise of the model is that there are seven internal aspects of an organization that need to be aligned to collectively determine how the company can holistically and effectively organize itself successfully. The seven different factors that are a part of the model: Shared values, Strategy, Structure, Systems, Style, Staff, Skills. The 7S model components all work collectively to form the model. It can be used in a wide variety of situations where an alignment perspective is useful, for example to help you:

1. Improve the performance of a company.
2. Examine the likely effects of future changes within a company.
3. Align departments and processes during a merger or acquisition.
4. Determine how best to implement a proposed strategy

It is an effective way to diagnose and understand the organization; it is a guide for organizational change; it is a combination of both rational and emotional constituents; and all parts are interrelated, so all portions must be addressed and focused on.

One major disadvantage is that when one of the parts is changed, all parts change because they are all interrelated. Another major disadvantage is that this model ignores differences. After five years many of the companies that used this model fell from the top.
Lewin’s Change Management Model

Lewin’s Change Management Model was created in the 1950s by a psychologist named Kurt Lewin and still widely used today. Lewin’s change model is a simple and easy-to-understand framework for managing change. His model is known as Unfreeze – Change – Refreeze, refers to the three-stage process of change he describes.

The majority of people tends to stay within certain safe zones and is hesitant of change. These people tend to become comfortable in this unchanging environment and become uncomfortable when any change occurs, even if it is a minor one.

Unfreeze

In order to overcome this frozen state, we must initiate an unfreeze period, which is done through motivation . Motivation is important in any organization, even when it is not changing. There is a need to Determine what needs to change, Ensure there is strong support from upper management, Create the need for change and Emphasize the “why”.

Change

The transition period is when the change is occurring, which is a voyage and not a step. The transition period takes time because people do not like change. This is when leadership is critical for the change process to work. At this stage, open communication is important, rumors must be dispel, people have be involved in the change process and empowerment of action is important. Another important part of this stage is the reassurance that this is good for the company as well as the employees.

Refreeze

At the end of the transitional voyage, comes the next stage: refreeze. This is the stage where the company once again becomes stable. The changes need to be anchor in the culture, ways must be developed to sustain the change, support and training must be provided for everyone in the organization and  successes need celebration to keep the change alive.

By recognizing these three distinct stages of change, you can plan to implement the change required. You start by creating the motivation to change (unfreeze). You move through the change process by promoting effective communications and empowering people to embrace new ways of working (change). And the process ends when you return the organization to a sense of stability (refreeze), which is so necessary for creating the confidence from which to embark on the next, inevitable change.

The main disadvantage of this model is that it is timely, but you must consider that it is timely for any change to take place. Another disadvantage is that at the refreezing period, many people are worried that another change is coming, so they are in change shock. This change shock causes employees to not be as efficient or effective in their jobs.
Kotter’s Eight Step Change Model

Many ideas about change originate with leadership and change management guru, John Kotter. A professor at Harvard Business School, Kotter introduced his eight-step change process in his 1995 book, “Leading Change.” We look at his eight steps for leading change below.

Step One: Increase urgency for change
We have to convince the employees that this change is necessary for the company to survive. This also means that we must communicate that the change is achievable without any detrimental effects on their jobs.For change to happen, it helps if the whole company really wants it. Develop a sense of urgency around the need for change. This may help you spark the initial motivation to get things moving.

Step Two: Build a team for the change
The next step is to build a team for the change, which has to be of some respected employees within the company
Convince people that change is necessary. This often takes strong leadership and visible support from key people within your organization. Managing change isn’t enough – you have to lead it. You can find effective change leaders throughout your organization – they don’t necessarily follow the traditional company hierarchy.To lead change, you need to bring together a coalition, or team,of influential people whose power comes from a variety of sources,including job title, status, expertise, and political importance.

Step Three: Construct the vision for Change
The third step is to create the vision, which will show clear direction to how the change will better the future of the company and their jobs.When you first start thinking about change, there will probably be
many great ideas and solutions floating around. Link these concepts to an overall vision that people can grasp easily and remember. A clear vision can help everyone understand why you’re asking them to do something. When people see for themselves what you’re trying to achieve, then the directives they’re given tend to make more
sense.

Step Four: Communicate the Vision
In order for the vision to work it must be fully understand by the employees, which means that it is necessary for the leaders of the change group to follow this vision  What you do with your vision after you create it will determine your success. Your message will probably have strong competition from other day-to-day communications within the company, so you need to communicate it frequently and powerfully, and embed it within everything that you do. When you keep it fresh on everyone’s minds, they’ll remember it and respond to it.

Step Five: Remove Obstacles and Empower People
The fifth step it to empower the employees to execute the change. It is still important that the management follow the same guidelines as the employees are too change. If you follow these steps and reach this point in the change
process, you’ve been talking about your vision and building buy-in from all levels of the organization. Put in place the structure for change, and continually check for barriers to it. Removing obstacles can empower the people you need to execute your vision, and it can help the change move forward.

Step Six: Create short term goals and wins
By creating short term goals, we assist the employees to accept the change by showing them progress. Rewards are very important at this step also. Nothing motivates more than success. Give your company a taste of victory early in the change process. Within a short time frame (this could be a month or a year, depending on the type of
change), you’ll want to have results that your staff can see. Without this, critics and negative thinkers might hurt your progress. Create short-term targets – not just one long-term goal.

Step Seven: Be persistent – Build on the Change
The seventh step is about persistence because we should influence more change even after the short term goals are met or the original plan for change will cease and die. Kotter argues that many change projects fail because victory is declared too early. Real change runs deep. Quick wins are only the
beginning of what needs to be done to achieve long-term change. Launching one new product using a new system is great. But if you can launch 10 products, that means the new system is working. To reach that 10th success, you need to keep looking for improvements.

Step Eight: Make the change permanent in Corporate Culture
The final step is to make the change permanent by moving fitting it into the company’s culture and practices, such as promotion.To make any change stick, it should become part of the core of your organization. Your corporate culture often determines what gets done, so the values behind your vision must show in day-to-day work

As with the two aforementioned change models,  Kotter’s Eight Step Change Model has many disadvantages and benefits. One advantage is that this is a step by step model, which is easy to follow. Another is that it does not focus on the change itself, but rather the acceptance and preparedness for this change, which makes it an easier transition. One disadvantage is that you cannot skip any steps or the change process will completely fail. As with the other two models, change still takes time with this one too.

Business transformation involves organizational changes which are needless to say, complex and difficult, within the organization and across companies alongside the value chain. For business transformation to take place effectively and successfully, organizations first must put in  place a business change  management framework to ensure a structured approach is taken to manage the changes, negative outcomes and side effects of any change failures. Examples of business transformation types where a business change management structured approach framework  is needed are in areas of business process outsourcing, business model changes, mergers, acquisitions or cross functional and inter- and intra-organizational restructuring.

Change management is a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations  from a current state to a desired future state.  This is due to  organizational change needs  in  strategic planning changes , technological changes,  structural changes,  changing the behaviors and  attitudes of employees

Business change management employs structured methodology to  facilitate enhanced  process management, business transformation, new enterprise architecture, project management  and ultimately enables  quick inter-changeability, increased ROI, reduced lead times, reduce waste, lower costs through using process, visibility, optimization, integration, alignment, communication.

Change Management Software

Change is unavoidable, yet how your business manages and handles change can mean the difference between success and failure. The Change Management process made sure that standardized methods and rules are used for efficient and prompt handling of all changes. This reduces the impact of change related incidents on service quality. Ultimately, change management aims to improve the daily operation of the organization.

Change management software provides access to all relevant current and historical information associated with change requests. Change Management Software is perfect  for organizations looking at automating or establishing change management procedures and processes. While some systems may be very manual intensive (for example Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, manual emailing, manual data updates, manual report preparation, etc.), a  reputable  Change Management Software is a solution designed to make this process cleaner (reduce defects) and reduce the labor hours involved (cost and cycle times) with managing a request for change (RFC).

How your enterprise manages change is critical to streamlining your entire environment. For example in an IT environment, change management software solutions—including inventory and discovery, asset management, process management, and service-oriented configuration management, enable you to automate the discovery of PCs, servers and other assets, manage the value and life cycle of an asset, map relationships of configuration items and services, and ultimately manage any changes to those configuration items. As a result, you reduce the risks of making changes, you reduce the impact on services or people when changes are made, and you improve the overall level of service that is synchronized to business needs.

Change Management software is also a comprehensive change management solution that enables users to track, manage, and control change in a fully web based environment. The essential features of a Change Management Software allow for :

1.     Flexible and Configurable Workflow
2.     Secure Data and Operations
3.     Complete and Accurate Audit Trail
4.     Ease of Use and Implementation
5.     Customizable – Workflow Too! (Multiple Workflows to accommodate different scenarios)
6.     Includes complete Help Desk, Asset and Task Tracking Capabilities

The benefits of change management software are :

1.     All change activity is orchestrated and controlled, thus resulting in fewer instances of loss of quality, normally associated with uncoordinated changes.
2.     Provides the ability to monitor and approve change requests from any single location.
3.     Provides the ability to calculate the risk associated with a change request through risk assessment module.
4.     Provides access to valuable key process information (KPI) about planned and implemented changes and their ramifications.
5.     Provides the ability to customize your change request form to suit existing change management processes and terminology.
6.     Proper workflow to document and control your project step by step in the event restoration of the original state is needed when an implemented change fails.
7.     Provides the ability to create Parent/Child relationships between multiple change requests.
8.     Save time and money by making changes in days or weeks, not months.
9.     Reduce the burden on your IT staff; eliminate the need for development resources.
10.     Streamline maintenance tasks with built-in change and configuration workflow processes.
11.     Enhance ITIL discipline and best practices, and easily integrate compliance measures to maximize efficiency.
12.     Save time and money by creating consistent, predictable, automated IT workflows.
13.     Automate repetitive change management maintenance.
14.     Be proactive; automate changes to reduce costs while increasing productivity.

Examples of Change Management

Project Management

In project management, change management refers to a project management process where changes to a project are formally introduced and approved.

Systems Engineering Change Management

The change management process in systems engineering is the process of requesting, determining attainability, planning, implementing, and evaluating of changes to a system. It has two major objectives: supporting the processing of changes and enabling traceability of changes, which should be possible through proper execution of the process.
Change Management in  IT Service Management

The purpose  of change management in IT is to make sure that standardized procedures & methods are used for efficient and prompt handling of all changes to controlled IT infrastructure, in order to minimize the number and impact of any related incidents upon service. Changes in the IT infrastructure may arise reactively in response to problems or externally imposed requirements, e.g. legislative changes, or proactively from seeking improved efficiency and effectiveness or to enable or reflect business initiatives, or from programs, projects or service improvement initiatives. Change Management can put in place standardized methods,  procedures and processes are used for all changes, facilitate efficient and prompt handling of all changes, and maintain the proper balance between the need for change and the potential detrimental impact of changes.

Change  Management in People

As an example, organizational change management requires creative marketing to enable communication between change audiences, but also deep social understanding about leadership’s styles and group dynamics. Organizational change management aligns groups’ expectations, communicates, integrates teams and manages people training. It makes use of metrics, such as leader’s commitment, communication effectiveness, and the perceived need for change to design accurate strategies, so as to  avoid change failures or solve troubled change projects. An effective change management plan needs to address all above mentioned dimensions of change. This can be done in following ways:

Putting in place an effective Communication strategy which would bridge any gap in the understanding of change benefits and its implementation strategy.

Devise an effective skill upgrading scheme for the organization. Overall these measures can counter resistance from the employees of companies and align them to overall strategic direction of the organization.

Personal counseling of staff members (if required) to alleviate any change related fears.  As the pace of market change increases and  the world of business make ever greater demands on  organizations physical resources and its employees cognitive, emotional  ability, the following recommendations are provided to  facilitate business change management in organizations.

Change Management Models

Among the most popular change management models practiced widely today are the McKinsey’s 7-S Model,  Lewin’s Change Management Model and Kotter’s Eight Step Change Model.

Successful and Failed Business Change Management

There are not many companies with the internal expertise and experience to implement and execute successful business change management in projects which are complex and multi-facet,  hence the failure rate of business transformation projects and processes are high. Organizations often have to handle several business transformation projects at the same time without a proven business change management framework