Change Management – Fluffy or Necessary?

Yes, this is what a real live FLIP-PHONE looks like

Is Change Management really necessary, or is it just “fluff?”  What exactly is “Change Management,” anyway?  And why would one need this type of support?

Change Management, according to Prosci, is “process, tools and techniques to manage the people side of change to achieve the required business outcome…(and is used) to help individuals make successful personal transitions resulting in the adoption and realization of change.”

By comparison, Project Management, according to the Project Management Institute (PMI), is “the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements.”

Here is a real-world example.

My mom still uses a flip phone.  My dad and I have “project managed” getting her a smartphone; researching, purchasing, coordinating logistics, and setting up the phone for use with her contacts, email, and applications that she might enjoy or need.  Essentially, in the project of “Get Mom a Smartphone” – we executed the project requirements.

This is the most important question for the project’s overall success, however: Does my mom actually *USE* the smartphone?  And unfortunately, the answer is: “No.”  

Why not? 

Turns out my mom is afraid that she won’t be able to use the phone, that her calls will be inadvertently missed, that she will accidentally provide personal information to the wrong people over email or in apps, and in general that she will get frustrated and waste time trying to use a tool to which she is not naturally inclined.

In order to successfully realize the Return on Investment (ROI) for my mom’s new smartphone, the most critical factor is that my mom actually *uses* the phone!  I’d love to Face Time her with the kids, or to send her pictures via text, or even just to group text her and my dad at the same time.

The discipline of Change Management faces these concerns head on.  A Change Manager would work with my mom until she was aware of the rationale for change, and determine what her particular concerns were, then support her to find solutions to these problems, as well as to help facilitate hands-on training until the new behaviors were ingrained, and would follow up to ensure that they stuck.  After all, what good is an expensive new smart phone and corresponding data coverage plan if it is not ever actually used?

By the way, did you know that AJC now offers Change Management services to complement our Project Management and Process Improvement work?

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