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Change Management - Detail
Although seen by some as a threat, change provides an opportunity for an organisation to improve the status quo and deliver business benefits as a result. Change Management is the provision of a planned and systematic approach to preparing, communicating, and implementing the change to the organisation. Change leads to new structures and policies which in turn create new systems and environments, it is therefore vital to explain this to people at an early stage allowing the ability for people to adapt to the changes. In some cases work on Benefits Identification and Realisation can help to put the building blocks in place for the Change Management process. The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) Change Management Toolkit refers to an organisation’s readiness for change and advocates the following model as a way of preparing for a change:
When can Organisation Readiness be a help?
The model may be useful were one or more of the following conditions apply:
- Where there are inconsistent views among the leadership team about what it will take to change;
- Where there is acknowledgement of the need to change but no clear view as to what should happen next;
- Where proposed change activities do not appear congruent with the case for change - typically change effort is underestimated;
- Where the organisation is change weary yet needs to rise to further challenges;
- Where the organisation has not undergone any significant change for five years or more; or
- Where the organisation has undergone a sudden, dramatic change of circumstances where significant change is needed.
| Case Study |
|---|
A computer hardware and services supplier needed to restructure the workforce to achieve dramatic cost savings. They decided upon a fully collaborative approach where all employees were invited to a series of workshops to examine the case for change, analyse the problems and define solutions. By the end of the process, not only were the employees fully backing the restructuring, but individuals were even recognising that they themselves would be redundant and volunteering to leave. |
A Guide on how to manage change is available from the Cabinet Office National School of Government
Change - National School of Government Guidance
In addition OGC has a range of guidance on Change Management under its Programme and Project Management Resources such as OGC Resource Toolkit - change. Note that the OGC website was archived at 01 October 2011 and that any guidance from OGC included on this site is subject to review.
| Role | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Stakeholders | The stakeholders are the named individuals and groups who have an interest in, or are involved in, or who are affected by the change. Their understanding, commitment and leadership will be critical success factors in taking the change forward. |
| Business Change Manager | Responsible for benefits realisation from start to finish and ensuring the implementation & embedding of the new capabilities delivered by the projects. Typically may be more than one individual and may also be known as the ‘change agent’ |
| Programme (or Change Implementation) Board | Plan and manage the change overall, agree direction, provide funding and support to the Change Manager. |
| Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) | Responsible for ensuring that the programme/project meets its objectives, delivers the projected benefits, and manages and monitors changes. |
| Programme/Project Manager | Applying standard programme/project management approaches to the specific requirements of the programme/project. Reporting progress and changes through Highlight Reports and End Stage Assessments. |
| Change Development Co-ordinators | Local level support within the organisation for communicating and promoting the change. |
