Making the most of change management tackles an identified set of problems with a clear goal in mind. Many companies embark on a mission to implement change process management in an effort to respond to shifts in the industry, operations or consumer market. Successful IT change management entails clear preparation and planning for organizational change management at each stage of progress. A well thought-out change management process leads to a competitive edge.

Proactive change management offers an organization the opportunity to capitalize on impending changes that occur as a natural part of business. Anticipate and effectively respond to ongoing systemic incidence with flexible change management software. Avoid the typical pitfalls that plague companies which fail at managing change and end up with skyrocketing project costs that outweigh any intended benefits. Consider the following information:

1. Stay up-to-date in the latest developments of in-house change management programs.

2. Weigh the benefits and costs of adding new change management tools.

3. Coordinate technology change management with all departments and front-line managers.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Plan a strategy to implement change management programs

Clear cut efforts to plan change process management goals and objectives at the onset help decrease unforeseen problems that hurt many IT change programs and systems. Review the risks and develop a counter strategy to address obstacles associated changes that impact methods and systems in the organization.

I recommend: Prosci's Change Management Learning Center offers free resources and training materials on planning change management programs. Gantthead.com is an online community of IT change management project leaders who provide insight and articles about IT change management.

Measure the effectiveness of change management tools

Assessing the effectiveness of change management tools is essential to determine the success of a project. A company doesn't want to invest in change management that costs more to implement than the benefits. Evaluating change management tools beforehand avoids the issue of creating additional problems at the outcome.

I recommend: Pepperdine University’s Graziadio Business Report offers a cost benefit analysis formula for IT change management. The site also offers articles and podcasts on a broad range of subjects about business change management. Holland and Davis provides a free organizational change management resource library including change assessment tools and change management consulting services.

Select change management software that produces results

Choose change management information and software solutions to maximize organizational work flow procedures. Minimize the effects of time consuming software changes that impede information systems project development.

I recommend: Intuit offer customized change management software for IT management tasks. SunView Software provides live web seminars about change management issues, resource materials and free change management software to download for a trial period.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Test major change management software applications in a small-scale mock file or scenario before implementing the change across the company.

Change happens. Today's business environment throws managers and their teams into a constant state of flux. The question is no longer "Should we change?" but "How will we deal with change?" How you mobilize and inspire your staff to deal with change can define your leadership style and make your career. Manage change as you:

1. Assess the change needed
2. Strategize for positive change
3. Inspire the people around you

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Take stock

A long, hard, appraising look will tell you where to go from here. Assess your team's readiness to move through the steps of organizational change.

I recommend: Learn the five phases of change: knowledge, vision, belief, initiative, training or development. Learn the five fundamentals for dealing with change: husbanded resources, abundant relationships, abundant information, distributed power, common story.

Strategize

Your response to change can be deliberate, proactive and effective when you plan, negotiate, implement and assess change.

I recommend: Follow these five five steps to improve your change planning process. Don't fight it, run with it by enlisting these strategies for managing change.

Talk about change

Face-to-face communication beats memos when dealing with change. Get your message out the tried-and-true way: talk.

I recommend: Follow these four steps to effectively communicate about change.

Implement change well

Poorly implemented change can be worse than no change at all, so make sure the change is executed properly.

I recommend: Try these six steps for change leaders. Run down this checklist of change processes. Find out how to take charge, not just "get through it."

Catalyze change

Being the conduit for change means taking an active role in facilitating improvement.

I recommend: Test your CQ here: What it takes to catalyze change.

Get everyone going in the same direction

Get your organization to move from being informed to being empowered and enthusiastic.

I recommend: Learn to overcome employee resistance and objections to change. Use resistance to improve the change process.

Get them inspired

Rational appeal will only take you so far when bringing team members on board. Achieving the kind of unity that inspires change means reaching people at the gut level.

I recommend: Use techniques to facilitate change by dealing with team members at an emotional level. Follow this template to establish a sense of urgency.

Read about it

You're not alone in the process of managing change, as evidenced by the abundance of resources in print on the topic.

I recommend: Order materials online to help you manage change: Who Moved My Cheese?; The Coward's Guide to Conflict: Empowering Solutions for Those Who Would Rather Run Than Fight; Building the Bridge as You Walk on It: A Guide For Leading Change; and Revival of the Fittest: Why Good Companies Go Bad and How Great Managers Remake Them. Also, learn from these practical quotes from famous historical figures for inspiration on dealing with change.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Looking at the whole system will help you see where change needs tweaking.
• •  Communicate to people at the local level to get their buy-in; WIIFM (What's in It for Me) is still a powerful tool.
• •  To harness the power of change, enlist it as an ally, not an enemy.
• •  To bring people on board, utilize their unique strengths and abilities.
• •  Keep your eye on the next trends to meet change midway and capitalize on it.

Change management is the process of implementing new methods and systems to meet operational goals, processing data and increasing profitability. Managing change is vital to the success of any business endeavor. The leaders in management roles have to anticipate each area of business that change influences. The change your business encounters can be technology-based, process related, operational or combination of each. The appropriate choice of change management tools offers an opportunity to build confidence and embrace the transition with an attitude to succeed.

Organizational change is a common occurrence in the business world. Many companies go through a transition period due to a merger, organizational growth or new regulatory standards imposed by governing bodies. A major organizational shift impacts every aspect of the business including staff, operations and clientele. Leaders that engage all staff in change process management are met with less resistance to organizational transformation. Consider the following:

1. Consider cross-training IT staff in the fundamentals of organizational change management.

2. Find change management software to process industry specific information.

3. Select change management programs that meet specific organizational goals.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Research resource materials that address change management

Locate training materials to learn the fundamental principles of change management. There's change management information available to assist organizations in making a new transition. Managing change at the level of process provides a great opportunity to minimize obstacles to change.

I recommend: Tech-FAQ provides resource materials for change management issues. CIO.com has step-by-step articles and checklists related to business change management.

Utilize change management software to streamline technology-based changes

Technological changes often require IT managers to upgrade operating systems and applications. Implement IT change management strategies to manage operational shifts in how data is processed. Consider how change will effect all organizational systems in use and any potential additions to the current operation system and applications.

I recommend: Borland offers a broad range of services to address IT change management software solutions in your organization. Trace3 provides change management software solutions.

Select change management programs for your specific industry

Choose change management tools that address the particular program and procedural challenges faced in your industry. Match the type of change management information and software solutions to maximize organizational work flow procedures.

I recommend: Front Range Solutions offers an on-demand web seminar for a variety of business industries such as help desk, customer service and telecommunications. SLAM Solutions has customizable change management software solutions.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  If you need additional assistance with organizational change management, seek out change management consulting firms that offers a broad-range of services.
• •  Change management consulting can lead a company in the midst of a major change, offer suggestions to create much needed change or suggest services to manage organizational change.

Change can be difficult. There's no doubt about that, especially when it comes to a business change. Perhaps you are contemplating a company culture shift, or you will be changing up your day-to-day operations. If that's the case, you'll need to come up with a change management plan to help lead your employees on the path to making that leap to permanent change with you. Learning some of the basic concepts and key terms in change management can help you start the process.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Change management

Change management refers to the structured strategy and process for managing change within a business or organization, and more importantly managing the reaction to change by employees.

I recommend: Get a further definition of change management from Stratege, along with ways to implement change.

Communication plan

A communication plan is a change management tool used to spread the message to employees about the need for change. The communication plan should include why the company is undergoing the change and how the change will affect the day-to-day work flow. The plan will also include strategies on how to convey the message, tailoring it to a specific audience.

I recommend: Check out step three in this Schuler Solutions article explaining effective change management communication techniques.

Resistance management plan

Identifying where resistance may come from and what it might entail and taking steps to take to prevent or reduce resistance make up a resistance management plan. Using a resistance management plan can help build support early and address potential concerns before change is implemented.

I recommend: This Business Performance article explains how your employees may react to change and suggests ways of managing that resistance.

Transition state

The transition state is the implementation phase of change management, the 'trying out' of the change and working out issues as they come up. Managers need to work in this state to minimize resistance and further change for quick adoption of new methods.

I recommend: This MBA Boost information explains further the difference between current, transition and future states in the change management process.

ADKAR model

The ADKAR model is a goal-oriented change management model that focuses on five key areas: Awareness of the need to change; Desire to support the change; Knowledge of what the change means; Ability to implement the proposed change; and Reinforcement to solidify the change as common practice.

I recommend: Tech-FAQ further explains change management and details the ADKAR model.

Lewin's change management model

Psychologist Kurt Lewin developed a change management model that has three stages: Unfreeze, Transition and Refreeze. The main theory behind his model is that any type of permanent change is a journey and takes an undetermined amount of time in each of the three stages.

I recommend: Check out this explanation of Lewin's change management model from Bronwyn Ritchie's Pivotal Points.