What is project management? At root, it is a management process that can be applied to any initiative large or small that must deliver within a certain timeframe and cost, in order to meet specific objectives.
There are a number of significant principles that determine success in any project, and in summary they are as follows:
- Precise Business Needs - Successful projects are business driven and address the 'why' of the project. This is known as the business case and is important in that it provides the basis for all decision making.
- Defined Benefits - Projects are about translating the business need into the business benefit which is derived from the new capability delivered by the project. N.B. Programme management will impose the disciplines to define and quantify and management the realisation of these benefits via benefit profiles and benefit management.
- Explicit Plans - Effective planning, allows people to work together in a co-ordinated way in order to achieve the project objectives, and is dependent on the appropriate level of granularity and presentation.
- Project methodology - A set of defined methods, processes and practices that are repeatedly carried out to successfully deliver projects. The project methodology will: create a project roadmap; monitor time, cost and quality; control change and scope; minimise risks and issues, and manage staff and suppliers
- Agreed Deliverables - Quite simply a 'deliverable' is an unambiguous way of defining responsibilities in terms of outputs rather than inputs. Each phase, area and task within the project plan should have a tangible deliverable associated with it - something that can be seen, and physically validated.
- Pro-Active Decision Making - Project work has little momentum of its own, unlike routine work. All parties involved are therefore required to take the initiative and actively look for ways of driving and improving the project outcome.
- Single Point Responsibility - In business tasks are only completed successfully when people have unambiguous accountabilities. 'Single point responsibility' for results is of the very essence. The Project Manager is ultimately responsible for making the project happen.
- Active Follow-Up - Plans have practical value only when they are used to help people do their daily work. They are similarly used as a means of identifying problems while there is still time to overcome them. Plans must therefore be used throughout the entire project in order to allocate tasks and monitor achievement.
- Open Communications - Time must be invested in communication as it is the key to a successful project. By effectively communicating the project and issues everyone involved has the opportunity to take the initiative and contribute fully with ideas and decisions.
- Good Teamwork - Teamwork in projects is absolutely critical but does not happen automatically. Project work involves people from different parts of the organisation, often with competing priorities and different perspectives, which can make teamwork all the more difficult to achieve. Teams must therefore be actively developed by the Project Manager.
- Strong Leadership - By an individual who is committed to the project objectives, and who has a completely clear view of where the project is going and how they intend to get there leads a successful project. The leadership qualities of the Project Manager are as important as their technical management skills.
Change management - The value added by project management
What is project management within the context of an organisational strategy? It is the dynamic management process that utilises the appropriate resources of an organisation in a controlled and structured manner, to achieve clearly defined objectives and to deliver a capability to meet an identified strategic need.
It is important to stress that it is the benefits and not the capabilities that fulfil the strategic vision. But to realise these business benefits we first need the capabilities that are delivered via successful project management and from the benefits are derived.
In a change management context, whilst project management is crucially important, good project management alone will not guarantee success. It is Programme Management that will lead to the realisation of the business benefit envisaged in the organisational strategy.
Programme management provides the more holistic perspective - that takes in the bigger picture. It provides this via a supplementary framework that takes the longer and wider view of the management of any and all other activities that are necessary to ensure the realisation of the business benefits.
My own approach to change management goes even further than programme management and includes:
(1) A thorough analysis of organisational culture- as it this that determines how your people will respond to a change initiative.
(2) A pre-programme review and planning process.
In my view these 2 additional steps are necessary to analyse and connect the strategic vision with a successful project level implementation - and to do so in the critical context of the cultural and people issues.
Showing posts with label Definitions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Definitions. Show all posts
What is Change? How to Cope With Change Management
What is change? How do we cope with it and the management of change? Is it a fact of life to be welcomed - or something that occurs from time to time and disturbs our equanimity and is to be resisted?
Let's just try and get a quick handle of the "change" aspect of this. When we regard life as fixed and static - we tend to think of it in terms of MY life, MY job, MY business, and all nicely packaged up with clear boundaries defining my own personal inner "map of reality" i.e. the process of cognition by which we record, categorise and interpret our life experience.
In this perspective things are seen as separate and in stasis, time proceeds in a linear manner from past to future, and the human experience from this perspective is one of duality and separation.
In other words, there is "me here" and the world "out there". So the question "what is change?" is answered and illustrated by events like recessions - things that I don't like and that happen to me.
Morpheus and Neo - hardwired settings
In case you're beginning to think that this is starting to sound like a conversation between Morpheus and Neo in "The Matrix" - it does matter because this is how we as human beings are hardwired to behave.
This is the "default setting" - and much of what we do is motivated by this inbuilt need to keep things as they are - to preserve the boundaries around "my life" - to preserve my survival and my safety and my comfort.
This also matters because it goes straight to the root of all resistance to or acceptance of change - WIFM - "what's in it for me?".
Change as something to be avoided is also the default setting for most businesses
In other words - establish a business model that works and perpetuate it for as long as possible - with the same organisational motivations of survival, safety and comfort.
But the trouble with this business philosophy is that in the current climate, organisational processes, behaviours and cultures evolved for a fixed and static environment have a very limited effectiveness in the fluid reality that we are currently experiencing.
So, for business leaders and managers, what is the appropriate response to change?
Historically in times of recession it has been "slash and burn" on costs and to focus on and streamline business processes to squeeze out ever greater efficiencies.
Last time round the focus was all about achieving those efficiencies by creating and putting in place processes that would deliver those efficiencies regardless of the human cost.
Do you recall the period after the last recession when Business Process Re-engineering was very popular? And the focus was always on the process and not the people - and getting "buy-in" was once described by a change agent friend of mine as "like trying to get a bunch of turkeys voting in favour of Christmas"!
But when you think about it, process is just people "doing stuff". So it really all comes down to people as well as process - and that means processes that work for people.
So the question of: "what is change" evolves into: "what is change management and how can we succeed with it?".
And to successfully cope with change management we need the leadership insights and management processes to avoid the catastrophic failure rate of ALL business change initiatives.
Let's just try and get a quick handle of the "change" aspect of this. When we regard life as fixed and static - we tend to think of it in terms of MY life, MY job, MY business, and all nicely packaged up with clear boundaries defining my own personal inner "map of reality" i.e. the process of cognition by which we record, categorise and interpret our life experience.
In this perspective things are seen as separate and in stasis, time proceeds in a linear manner from past to future, and the human experience from this perspective is one of duality and separation.
In other words, there is "me here" and the world "out there". So the question "what is change?" is answered and illustrated by events like recessions - things that I don't like and that happen to me.
Morpheus and Neo - hardwired settings
In case you're beginning to think that this is starting to sound like a conversation between Morpheus and Neo in "The Matrix" - it does matter because this is how we as human beings are hardwired to behave.
This is the "default setting" - and much of what we do is motivated by this inbuilt need to keep things as they are - to preserve the boundaries around "my life" - to preserve my survival and my safety and my comfort.
This also matters because it goes straight to the root of all resistance to or acceptance of change - WIFM - "what's in it for me?".
Change as something to be avoided is also the default setting for most businesses
In other words - establish a business model that works and perpetuate it for as long as possible - with the same organisational motivations of survival, safety and comfort.
But the trouble with this business philosophy is that in the current climate, organisational processes, behaviours and cultures evolved for a fixed and static environment have a very limited effectiveness in the fluid reality that we are currently experiencing.
So, for business leaders and managers, what is the appropriate response to change?
Historically in times of recession it has been "slash and burn" on costs and to focus on and streamline business processes to squeeze out ever greater efficiencies.
Last time round the focus was all about achieving those efficiencies by creating and putting in place processes that would deliver those efficiencies regardless of the human cost.
Do you recall the period after the last recession when Business Process Re-engineering was very popular? And the focus was always on the process and not the people - and getting "buy-in" was once described by a change agent friend of mine as "like trying to get a bunch of turkeys voting in favour of Christmas"!
But when you think about it, process is just people "doing stuff". So it really all comes down to people as well as process - and that means processes that work for people.
So the question of: "what is change" evolves into: "what is change management and how can we succeed with it?".
And to successfully cope with change management we need the leadership insights and management processes to avoid the catastrophic failure rate of ALL business change initiatives.
What is Change Management? 4 Key Lessons Learned and 3 Biggest Causes of Failure
So what is change management? The traditional project approach to change management - sees it as a set of tasks which if executed successfully get a result. In other words the typical process led approach which has failed so consistently and so spectacularly over the last 20 years!
There are 3 main reasons for the astonishingly high 70% failure rate of ALL business change initiatives:
1. The gap between the strategic vision and a successful programme implementation and the lack of a practical change management model and tools to bridge that gap.
2. The "hidden and built in resistance to change" of organisational cultures, and the lack of processes and change management methodologies to address this.
3. Failure to take full account of the impact of the changes on those people who are most affected by them i.e. the absence of good strategies for managing change.
Prosci is the recognized leader in business process design and change management research, and is the world's largest provider of change management and re-engineering toolkits and benchmarking information. [This is not a commercial - I'm just establishing their credentials!]
They are the publishers of "Prosci's Best Practices in Business Process Re-engineering and Process Design" which is based on research with 327 organisations world-wide.
The objective of this study is to provide real-life lessons from the experiences of project teams recently or currently involved in business process re-engineering projects.
Key findings in the latest report show the 4 key lessons learnt:
(1) "More effective change management" - is the main thing that project teams would do differently on the next project.
(2) Top management of teams and the their projects means they were more likely to complete their project at or above expectations.
(3) The planning stage, was universally regarded as the most important phase in the project - because this was where scope and roles were defined.
(4) The primary obstacle to a successful implementation was resistance to change. This was mentioned 6 times more that any other factor.
Clearly the single biggest reason for the astonishingly high 70% failure rate has been the over-emphasis on project process rather than the people aspects - the failure to take full account of the impact of change on those people who are most impacted by it.
Closely allied to that reason is the lack of process to directly address the human aspects of change.
Properly applied, this is exactly what the holistic and wide view perspective of a programme based approach to change management will deliver.
There are 3 main reasons for the astonishingly high 70% failure rate of ALL business change initiatives:
1. The gap between the strategic vision and a successful programme implementation and the lack of a practical change management model and tools to bridge that gap.
2. The "hidden and built in resistance to change" of organisational cultures, and the lack of processes and change management methodologies to address this.
3. Failure to take full account of the impact of the changes on those people who are most affected by them i.e. the absence of good strategies for managing change.
Prosci is the recognized leader in business process design and change management research, and is the world's largest provider of change management and re-engineering toolkits and benchmarking information. [This is not a commercial - I'm just establishing their credentials!]
They are the publishers of "Prosci's Best Practices in Business Process Re-engineering and Process Design" which is based on research with 327 organisations world-wide.
The objective of this study is to provide real-life lessons from the experiences of project teams recently or currently involved in business process re-engineering projects.
Key findings in the latest report show the 4 key lessons learnt:
(1) "More effective change management" - is the main thing that project teams would do differently on the next project.
(2) Top management of teams and the their projects means they were more likely to complete their project at or above expectations.
(3) The planning stage, was universally regarded as the most important phase in the project - because this was where scope and roles were defined.
(4) The primary obstacle to a successful implementation was resistance to change. This was mentioned 6 times more that any other factor.
Clearly the single biggest reason for the astonishingly high 70% failure rate has been the over-emphasis on project process rather than the people aspects - the failure to take full account of the impact of change on those people who are most impacted by it.
Closely allied to that reason is the lack of process to directly address the human aspects of change.
Properly applied, this is exactly what the holistic and wide view perspective of a programme based approach to change management will deliver.
What is Change and Why Does it Bother Us So Much? - Why Do We Act Like Turkeys Voting For Xmas?
What is change? Is it a fact of life to be welcomed - or something that occurs from time to time and disturbs our equanimity and is to be resisted?
When we regard life as fixed and static - we tend to think of it in terms of MY life, MY job, MY business, and all nicely packaged up with clear boundaries defining my own personal inner "map of reality" i.e. the process of cognition by which we record, categorise and interpret our life experience.
In this perspective things are seen as separate and in stasis, time proceeds in a linear manner from past to future, and the human experience from this perspective is one of duality and separation.
In other words, there is "me here" and the world "out there". So the question "what is change?" is answered and illustrated by events like recessions - things that I don't like and that happen to me.
Morpheus and Neo - hardwired settings
In case you're beginning to think that this is starting to sound like a conversation between Morpheus and Neo in "The Matrix" - it does matter because this is how we as human beings are hardwired to behave.
This is the "default setting" - and much of what we do is motivated by this inbuilt need to keep things as they are - to preserve the boundaries around "my life" - to preserve my survival and my safety and my comfort.
This also matters because it goes straight to the root of all resistance to or acceptance of change - WIFM - "what's in it for me?".
Change as something to be avoided is also the default setting for most businesses
In other words - establish a business model that works and perpetuate it for as long as possible - with the same organisational motivations of survival, safety and comfort.
But the trouble with this business philosophy is that in the current climate, organisational processes, behaviours and cultures evolved for a fixed and static environment have a very limited effectiveness in the fluid reality that we are currently experiencing.
So, for business leaders and managers, what is the appropriate response to change?
Historically in times of recession it has been "slash and burn" on costs and streamline business processes to squeeze out ever greater efficiencies.
Do you recall the period after the last recession when Business Process Re-engineering was very popular? But the focus was always on the process and not the people - and getting "buy-in" was once described by a change agent friend of mine as "like trying to get a bunch of turkeys voting in favour of Christmas"!
Last time round the focus was all about getting large businesses to function with the efficiencies of small businesses and trying to create and put in place processes that would deliver those efficiencies [at whatever human cost].
Now as we start to emerge from the current recession, it's all about getting people in large businesses to think, feel and respond like people do in small businesses where the focus is all about people.
So now it all comes down to people as well as process - and that means processes that work for people.
So the question of: "what is change" evolves into: "what is change management and how can we succeed with it?"
When we regard life as fixed and static - we tend to think of it in terms of MY life, MY job, MY business, and all nicely packaged up with clear boundaries defining my own personal inner "map of reality" i.e. the process of cognition by which we record, categorise and interpret our life experience.
In this perspective things are seen as separate and in stasis, time proceeds in a linear manner from past to future, and the human experience from this perspective is one of duality and separation.
In other words, there is "me here" and the world "out there". So the question "what is change?" is answered and illustrated by events like recessions - things that I don't like and that happen to me.
Morpheus and Neo - hardwired settings
In case you're beginning to think that this is starting to sound like a conversation between Morpheus and Neo in "The Matrix" - it does matter because this is how we as human beings are hardwired to behave.
This is the "default setting" - and much of what we do is motivated by this inbuilt need to keep things as they are - to preserve the boundaries around "my life" - to preserve my survival and my safety and my comfort.
This also matters because it goes straight to the root of all resistance to or acceptance of change - WIFM - "what's in it for me?".
Change as something to be avoided is also the default setting for most businesses
In other words - establish a business model that works and perpetuate it for as long as possible - with the same organisational motivations of survival, safety and comfort.
But the trouble with this business philosophy is that in the current climate, organisational processes, behaviours and cultures evolved for a fixed and static environment have a very limited effectiveness in the fluid reality that we are currently experiencing.
So, for business leaders and managers, what is the appropriate response to change?
Historically in times of recession it has been "slash and burn" on costs and streamline business processes to squeeze out ever greater efficiencies.
Do you recall the period after the last recession when Business Process Re-engineering was very popular? But the focus was always on the process and not the people - and getting "buy-in" was once described by a change agent friend of mine as "like trying to get a bunch of turkeys voting in favour of Christmas"!
Last time round the focus was all about getting large businesses to function with the efficiencies of small businesses and trying to create and put in place processes that would deliver those efficiencies [at whatever human cost].
Now as we start to emerge from the current recession, it's all about getting people in large businesses to think, feel and respond like people do in small businesses where the focus is all about people.
So now it all comes down to people as well as process - and that means processes that work for people.
So the question of: "what is change" evolves into: "what is change management and how can we succeed with it?"
Define Change Management As Incremental Change Or Step Change - 8 Questions to Shape Your Approach
Incremental change or step change? It is very important to establish very early on whether or not what you are proposing can be regarded as incremental change and realistically can be accomplished within the constraints of "Business As Usual", or whether it is a step change and needs to be handled as a specific initiative - and with the appropriate level of senior sponsorship and practical support.
The key questions are:
(1) Is the change you are proposing an incremental change that can and should be introduced as part of "Business As Usual" and that can be absorbed as part of the day-to-day running of your organisation?
(2) Or is the size, scope and complexity, priority, timescale, strategic importance of the proposed change such that it is a step change and needs to be regarded and handled as a specific initiative and requires some form of change management process?
This is extremely important as you define change management in the context of your organisation.
The reason this is so important is because people are stressed, tired and generally fed up with change initiatives. They need careful and detailed explanation of the proposed changes - why the proposed change is necessary, and the direct effects on them and the benefits to them. They need help and practical support.
As an illustration of this - I was involved with an NHS Trust recently, and contrary to the board's initial perception of the reason for the apparent resistance and reluctance of senior clinical staff to embrace an initiative, the simple truth was that clinical staff did support the board's intentions - but they didn't have the time or energy to handle it.
What was needed was someone to own the initiative full-time and to "formally" recognise that this was a specific step change initiative that needed to be handled outside of hospital "business as usual".
Here are 8 simple yet powerful questions that will help you clarify which approach to take and how to implement it successfully:
(1) How's it going to be different when I've made the change?
(2) Why am I doing this - how's it going to benefit me?
(3) How will I know it's benefited me?
(4) Who is it going to affect and how will they react?
(5) What can I do to get them "on side"?
(6) What are the risks and issues that I'll have to face?
(7) What steps do I take to make the changes and get the benefit?
(8) How am I going to manage all this so that it happens and I succeed?
The key questions are:
(1) Is the change you are proposing an incremental change that can and should be introduced as part of "Business As Usual" and that can be absorbed as part of the day-to-day running of your organisation?
(2) Or is the size, scope and complexity, priority, timescale, strategic importance of the proposed change such that it is a step change and needs to be regarded and handled as a specific initiative and requires some form of change management process?
This is extremely important as you define change management in the context of your organisation.
The reason this is so important is because people are stressed, tired and generally fed up with change initiatives. They need careful and detailed explanation of the proposed changes - why the proposed change is necessary, and the direct effects on them and the benefits to them. They need help and practical support.
As an illustration of this - I was involved with an NHS Trust recently, and contrary to the board's initial perception of the reason for the apparent resistance and reluctance of senior clinical staff to embrace an initiative, the simple truth was that clinical staff did support the board's intentions - but they didn't have the time or energy to handle it.
What was needed was someone to own the initiative full-time and to "formally" recognise that this was a specific step change initiative that needed to be handled outside of hospital "business as usual".
Here are 8 simple yet powerful questions that will help you clarify which approach to take and how to implement it successfully:
(1) How's it going to be different when I've made the change?
(2) Why am I doing this - how's it going to benefit me?
(3) How will I know it's benefited me?
(4) Who is it going to affect and how will they react?
(5) What can I do to get them "on side"?
(6) What are the risks and issues that I'll have to face?
(7) What steps do I take to make the changes and get the benefit?
(8) How am I going to manage all this so that it happens and I succeed?
What is change management - how do we define change management?
There are 2 quite different streams of thought that have shaped the practise of change management.
(1) The engineer's approach to business improvement with the focus on business process.
(2) The psychologist's approach to understanding human responses to change with the focus on people.
Consider what Michael Hammer, co-author of "Re-engineering the Corporation", has said about the people issues: "I don't regret saying anything [in the book]; it's more what I left out. In particular, the human side is much harder than the technology side and harder than the process side. It's the overwhelming issue."
The single biggest reason for the astonishingly high 70% failure rate of ALL business change initiatives has been the over-emphasis on process rather than people - the failure to take full account of the impact of change on those people who are most impacted by it.
Closely allied to that reason is the lack of process to directly address the human aspects of change.
A programme management based approach to change
The traditional project approach to change management - sees it as a set of tasks which if executed successfully get a result. In other words the typical process led approach which has failed so consistently and so spectacularly over the last 20 years.
In contrast, I advocate a programme based approach to change because, based on my experience, I have found that:
Universal principles
The broad principles of how you approach any business initiative or any activity that may require or instigate change are universal:
(1) Clarity in all areas - especially of the business need for the change, of the specifics of the change, the benefits of the change, and most importantly the impacts of the change.
(2) Communication - constant communication - two-way communication - communication that explains clearly what is change management and what is happening or not happening and why. Communication that listens actively and demonstrates to people that you have thought through the impacts of the change on them, and that you are prepared to work with them to achieve their buy-in and commitment to the change - by making it work for them.
(3) Consistency - in all aspects of the way in which you lead the change - manage the delivery - handle the communication - and ensure the realisation of the benefits.
(4) Capability - constant attention to the management of the tasks, activities, projects and initiatives that are delivering the capabilities into your organisation that will deliver the benefits that you are seeking. Ensuring that your people have the full resources and capabilities they need to support them through the change.
Key success factors
So, what is change management - but the careful focus on these key factors that will determine the success of your step change initiative:
(1) Determining that you are embarking on a step change that sits outside of business as usual and needs to be handled as a specific initiative
(2) The quality of leadership that you provide
(3) Using a programme management based approach to your step change initiative and very specifically to the process of how you define change management and what is change management for your organisation
(4) The thoroughness of your pre programme review and planning process
(5) The extent to which you identify and address the cultural change in your organisation that is required to deliver the step change and the desired business benefit.
So this is how I define change management: "It's all about people - and processes that work for people."
For more on this - see here: What is change management?
Stephen Warrilow: www.strategies-for-managing-change.com
(1) The engineer's approach to business improvement with the focus on business process.
(2) The psychologist's approach to understanding human responses to change with the focus on people.
Consider what Michael Hammer, co-author of "Re-engineering the Corporation", has said about the people issues: "I don't regret saying anything [in the book]; it's more what I left out. In particular, the human side is much harder than the technology side and harder than the process side. It's the overwhelming issue."
The single biggest reason for the astonishingly high 70% failure rate of ALL business change initiatives has been the over-emphasis on process rather than people - the failure to take full account of the impact of change on those people who are most impacted by it.
Closely allied to that reason is the lack of process to directly address the human aspects of change.
A programme management based approach to change
The traditional project approach to change management - sees it as a set of tasks which if executed successfully get a result. In other words the typical process led approach which has failed so consistently and so spectacularly over the last 20 years.
In contrast, I advocate a programme based approach to change because, based on my experience, I have found that:
- It is holistic and takes a wider perspective
- It focuses you on addressing issues and aspects that otherwise get overlooked
- It addresses the people impacts and issues arising as a direct and indirect result of your change initiative
- It addresses the fundamental questions that people ask: "What is changing, when and why?" and "How is going to affect me?" and "How are you going to manage this?"
Universal principles
The broad principles of how you approach any business initiative or any activity that may require or instigate change are universal:
(1) Clarity in all areas - especially of the business need for the change, of the specifics of the change, the benefits of the change, and most importantly the impacts of the change.
(2) Communication - constant communication - two-way communication - communication that explains clearly what is change management and what is happening or not happening and why. Communication that listens actively and demonstrates to people that you have thought through the impacts of the change on them, and that you are prepared to work with them to achieve their buy-in and commitment to the change - by making it work for them.
(3) Consistency - in all aspects of the way in which you lead the change - manage the delivery - handle the communication - and ensure the realisation of the benefits.
(4) Capability - constant attention to the management of the tasks, activities, projects and initiatives that are delivering the capabilities into your organisation that will deliver the benefits that you are seeking. Ensuring that your people have the full resources and capabilities they need to support them through the change.
Key success factors
So, what is change management - but the careful focus on these key factors that will determine the success of your step change initiative:
(1) Determining that you are embarking on a step change that sits outside of business as usual and needs to be handled as a specific initiative
(2) The quality of leadership that you provide
(3) Using a programme management based approach to your step change initiative and very specifically to the process of how you define change management and what is change management for your organisation
(4) The thoroughness of your pre programme review and planning process
(5) The extent to which you identify and address the cultural change in your organisation that is required to deliver the step change and the desired business benefit.
So this is how I define change management: "It's all about people - and processes that work for people."
For more on this - see here: What is change management?
Stephen Warrilow: www.strategies-for-managing-change.com
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