Implementing change is difficult. Implementing change without a methodology is very difficult. This article will discuss the basics and provide a structure to guide your projects. It will have sufficient detail to be a stand-alone article, but when used in conjunction with the other content from my blog, it will definitely come alive and you will have all the models and structure you need to deliver a successful business improvement  project.

The methodology comprises seven steps. It is important to note that while they are broadly sequential in nature, it is common for two or more steps to be tackled concurrently. This is particularly true for steps 4a and 4b.

Depending on  the  author  and  company, additional headers may be included  such  as  budget,  success measures, related projects, and  a methodology for  handling  change requests. Traditionally the  project manager is  asked to  prepare the  SOW  and  the  document  is  then presented to the project sponsor and other stakeholders who review and approve it.

The biggest issue with this approach is that the focus is always on the document rather than what it represents; and it is typically always written in a hurry, often within a week. The sponsor reads the document and validates that all the information you would expect to see is there and that the timeline and budget are within bounds of acceptability and then accepts the document.

What is seldom done is for the stakeholders to formally put aside time to workshop the completed SOW to subject it to a rigorous level of due diligence. This workshop would ask questions such as:

1.   Is there a common understanding of the project purpose? Even if there is a purpose statement, does everybody interpret it the same way?

2.   Is there agreement on what success looks like?

3.   Does each stakeholder understand and accept what is expected from  them  throughout  the  course of  the  project and  more importantly, after the project?

The due diligence workshop is the first activity in establishing active project governance. Governance is the active mitigation of risk through the proactive management of compliance and performance. Merely to be in business requires the acceptance of a degree of risk. This is no different when embarking on a business improvement project.

Good governance requires the establishment of a hierarchy of committees to manage the project. I have covered these committees in detail in other articles so I will be brief here.

The  phrase “change management” is freely used on  all projects. The reverse, “the management of change,” is not. There is an important distinction between the two concepts and it is oft-times overlooked.

Frequently committee members will attend project meetings, participate in discussions, and then mentally park the project in the back of their mind until the next meeting rolls around. They forget that their role is the active management of change and this requires a substantially higher level of involvement than merely attending a weekly project review meeting.

The steering committee is a group of senior managers responsible  for ensuring the overall change program stays on strategy. A key point is that there should only be one steering committee. They are specifically responsible for steps 1 and 7.

The purpose of step 3 is to collect and analyse primary data. Typically this step involves mapping business processes. In the methodology, this step is termed “determine process metrics.” This is an important label in the sense it does not say “business process mapping” as is frequently the case with business improvement methodologies. The  essence of this distinction is that it is equally or more important to understand the metrics behind the process than it is to understand the process itself. A methodology to calculate these metrics is covered in the article on process reengineering.

These metrics should be seen in the context of the unit of measure for the process. This step could produce a table as shown.

The problem with “businesses”  and “processes” is that they don’t  exist, or at least, they only exist in the abstract, as concepts. Fundamentally, businesses  are groups of people working together towards a common objective and processes are the habitual routines they follow to “process” the demand customers place on the company. To change a process requires changing the familiar routines people follow in their daily behaviour.

The guiding principle is “show me how you are measured and I will tell you how you behave.”

This is an important principle as it links steps 4a to 4b. In step 4a the focus is to reengineer the flow of activity through the business. In step

4b the focus is to review and reengineer the measures (KPI’s) used to manage the processes. Frequently there is no need to change the activity sequence (business process) as it is efficient. Rather change is required in the behaviours associated with the activity sequence in order to remove productivity issues such as pacing and “territory disputes.” This change can be achieved, in part or in full, through changing the way the process is measured.

Should the project objective be to specifically  review and improve the business processes, then this activity needs to be completed in conjunction with a  review of the  process measures. This  will prevent substantial investment being spent on defining new processes without concurrently establishing the means to drive the necessary behavioural changes.

Steps 5 and 6: Install and drive behavioural change.

The purpose of these steps is to operationalise the agreed changes. To install change is to change behaviour. Occasionally, changing behaviour is straightforward and happens without difficulty. Frequently this is not the case. To mitigate failure, a project requires effective change management.

The primary purpose of change management is to assist the company to  migrate from  a  project environment to  “business as usual.” My observation is that change managers often worry more about completing the standard activities of change management such as communication and training plans, than focusing on the primary purpose.

Strict management of the relationship between steps 5 and 6 is crucial for a successful project and moving to step 7. Measurement is mandatory to reach the highest levels of success at this time. There are two areas of measurement. The first is traditional operational KPI’s. These need to be aligned to the future state. This may require changing existing scorecards or even introducing new scorecards.

Examples are: number of people trained; number and  organisational profile of  staff communicated to;  number  and  nature  of  questions received; survey results; and awareness sessions held.

Step 7: Realise benefits.

This step is the consequence of the prior steps. Success is measured against the business objectives described in the project statement of work and the extended objectives that will have surfaced through the life of the project. 

An oft-missed aspect of change is the need to be uncompromising. As the project “gets real” and staff members are asked to change their behaviour, the sponsor will come under significant pressure to relax their position on what success looks like. A culture of “close enough is good enough” is typical at this time. The point here is to emphasize that resistance to change is frequently invisible. It manifests itself in perfectly logical and plausible arguments that are all aimed at reducing the scale of change and the benefits realised. The staff making the arguments may not even realise that they are being resistant to change.

Mitigating resistance to change requires the manager to be aware of the three stages of change:

Stage 1: Mechanical compliance

Stage 2: Conceptual compliance

Stage 3: Utilisation 

                                                                             Source: Proudfoot