How to position change management at the core of your transformation

Today’s organisations must deal with constant, rapid change. The ability to respond to this, delivering change through disciplined Programme and Project Management, is essential – but in itself, is not enough. 

Successful change hinges on the people in an organisation who make change happen – or not. Effective leadership and support for employees throughout the change journey are pre-requisites for achieving outcomes and realising your benefits. 

Given the increasing pace, variety and complexity of change, it is imperative to position Change Management at the core of any transformation initiative, ensuring changes are embedded and sustained. 

At Project One, we approach Change Management by: 

1. – Establishing an aligned, visible and accountable leadership team ready to lead your people 
2. – Helping you navigate your change journey with a practical hands-on approach 
3. – Creating the culture to sustain new ways of working and deliver your business outcomes 
4. – Partnering with you to leave a legacy of capability in your organisation 

Preparing your business for successful change 

Change doesn’t happen unless people make it stick. To ensure effective change management your people need to adopt the change. Ask yourself these questions to ensure you increase business benefits and minimise operational disruption through your change programme: 

1. Vision – Can you articulate a clear and compelling case for change? 
2. People – Are your leaders aligned and ready to drive the change? Are your people ready to shape / accept the change? 
3. Impact – What does the change look like, in real terms? Is it clear what is expected from your people, and do they understand it? 
4. Enablers – What skills and support will people need to adopt the change? Have concerns or resistance been effectively managed? 
5. Readiness – Have you done enough for the change to land? Will the impact on your business be manageable? 
6. Value – How you will measure outcomes and nurture benefits? What if there are challenges with uptake? 

Four steps to effective change management 

You know you are facing a complex transformation programme, but how do you ensure that you are unlocking true value? Our four-step approach helps you to shape your programme and help your people navigate their journey through the change.   

• Lay the foundations: Build a compelling case for change, co-create the vision, equip change leadership and diagnose Change Management requirements 
• Plan and prepare: Understand stakeholder needs, assess change impact, build the change network and design change interventions  
• Bring the change to life: Understand change readiness, activate impacted communities, build capability and deliver change interventions  
• Realise the value: Transition to business as usual, ensure user adoption, enable benefits realisation, set up for future success.

At Project One, we have a selection of tools to help accelerate and mitigate transformation risks. If you are facing a complex transformation and would like to learn more, or just need a sounding board, please get in touch via theteam@projectone.com