Organisations that invest in an internal change management capability set themselves apart from their peers. They have the ability to remain agile in a constantly changing business environment and adopt solutions more quickly to realise project ROI sooner.
Ultimately, it gives your organisation a competitive advantage.
Deploying change management across an organisation is not a simple task. It does not happen with a single announcement by senior leaders or by training people about how to manage change. When you build organisational competencies in change management, you are fundamentally changing how the entire organisation handles change.
One of the most common pitfalls regarding the project of internalising Enterprise Change Management (ECM) is failing to realise that it must be treated as both a project and a change. To do that, an important mindset shift must occur. You have to move out of the mindset of simply doing more change management (whether that means more application or more training) to a mindset of deploying change management and building organisational capabilities.
There are numerous organisations that continue to do more and more change management, and their projects and initiatives are more successful because of it. Often however they seldom hit the vital moment of deciding to take the next step toward internalising change management fully.
Download: 6 Tactics for Growing Enterprise Change Capability
When you begin treating and managing the effort to internalise change management as a project and a change, you have embarked on what we call Project ECM. We use the phrase "Project ECM" to reinforce that this is an effort that must be managed like a project.
What is Project ECM?
- Treating deployment like an initiative
- Recognising how change management is currently done in your organisation
- Deciding how change management will look as an enterprise capability
- Moving from the current status to where change management is embedded in the organisation
- Mobilising the technical and people side of Project ECM
In addition to thinking about Project ECM as a change using the above framework, you also need to use the tools available for making any project successful, including change management and project management.
You will need to:
- Design a solution
- Secure effective sponsorship
- Create a schedule and budget
- Complete organisational and individual change management plans
Treating the effort to internalise change management like an initiative and project increases the likelihood that you will be successful and adds credibility to the work you are doing.
Learn more
To learn more about what it takes to build enterprise change capability and If you want to speed up your response to change, why not ask Prosci Europe to support your organisation? We can offer you change management support and a range of virtual Prosci workshops for sponsors, managers and project managers.
If this is a direction your organisation is moving in, consider attending our Prosci Enterprise Change Management Bootcamp. In this one-day workshop, you will gain additional tools based on research findings for creating your Project ECM strategies and plans.
