What are the 5 principles of change management?
The Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said: “Change is the only constant in life.” As a project manager, you need to be prepared for the inevitability that circumstances will change as your organization evolves. Traditional ways of doing things will change as the organization grows over time. The main purpose of a change management strategy is to be adaptable to those changes as they come.
Here are the five principles of effective change management and how to apply these tactics in your organization.
Planning for change. You can only adapt to changing circumstances by preparing for those possibilities. An effective change management strategy begins with identifying the goals and objectives of any proposed changes.
Communicating changes. Change is never easy to implement, but it gets a little easier with clear, transparent communication about why it’s necessary. Clear communications about certain changes increase buy-in and reduce resistance.
Engaging with stakeholders. The best way to reduce resistance to change is to seek buy-in from all stakeholders. Ask for stakeholder feedback so that it’s easier to implement the proposed changes.
Training workers for change. Effective training and development helps workers understand the proposed changes. They learn how to develop new skills and adapt to new processes with less friction and greater effectiveness.
Monitor and evaluate changes. Finally, once the new changes have been implemented, you want to evaluate the impact of those changes. Did they help your company, and what can you learn to implement future change management strategies?
Why use a change management template for project management
Even the best laid plans are prone to change. Often, you don’t have all the information when you start managing a new project. Details you hadn’t considered emerge as work gets underway, requiring a natural pivot to keep the project on track.
Your change management template helps with the planning, evaluating and implementing of proposed changes. It’s designed to make your life as a project manager a little easier as changes are pushed through across all phases of the project.Specifically, here’s why you should use your change management template to build and manage a change implementation strategy.
Minimize disruption: Your change management template visualizes how the proposed changes will impact your organization. It's your central hub that all stakeholders can review to understand why and how changes are necessary.
Improve teamwork: Changes to established workflows require a bit of a reset and realignment. Everyone can begin building a new sense of teamwork and collaboration to implement changes effectively.
Encourage adaptability: Successful project management teams are highly flexible and adaptable. By building a Kanban-style change management template, everyone understands the plans and is more adaptable to the proposed changes.
Used effectively, your change management template allows all parties to address how the proposed changes impact scheduled workflows or project progress. Your change management template shows what changes are being worked on, who is responsible for implementing them and what will be the ultimate outcome from the new workflow.
How to use your change management template
Your change management template provides a clear roadmap on how proposed changes will be implemented and evaluated. By breaking down broad changes into actionable tasks with specific checklists, you’ll build a change management strategy that delivers the desired results.
Step 1: Create your change management project board
The template comes with pre-built vertical sections that map out the change management lifecycle. Organize your change management plan by labelling each section as a stage in the change management lifecycle — Preparation, Stakeholder Engagement, Implementation, Monitoring and Support, and Evaluation and Closure. This creates a structure from which you can create and assign tasks that keep suggested changes moving the project in the right direction.
Step 2: Assign tasks for each lifecycle stage
Once you have your sections, you’re ready to create tasks. You can create a new task by clicking the + in any board section.
The purpose of your change management template is to create specific tasks for each stage of the project lifecycle. A task to develop a communication plan or define compliance requirements will always be part of the “Preparation” stage of the project. Similarly, a task to address resistance or provide staff training is always part of the “Implementation” stage.
Step 3: Create checklists for each task
Under each task, you can create checklists to describe all the requirements necessary to complete each task. Use your checklists to describe the requirements for each task and give workers a transparent understanding of what’s being asked for to complete each task. Checklists can be marked as complete until every checklist reaches its milestone—completing the task.
Step 4: Set start and end dates for each task
Make sure every task has scheduled start and end dates. Change management is only effective if each phase of the strategy is implemented in sequence. Each task must be completed before tasks in the rest of the project lifecycle can begin.
Step 5: Monitor and update
Your change management template can be repurposed for additional projects in the future. Include a task in your Evaluation stage to conduct a post-implementation review and assess how the changed workflows impacted project performance. Take the lessons you learn and apply them to your next project.