Greeting PCM Colleagues!
As a follow-on to our discussions of Change Management, including displines like Prosci and CCMP, I got to thinking about the interactions and relationships between project and change management disciplines.
At UNC-Chapel Hill, we are fortunate to have a dedicated Change Management Group to address the people side of project changes. It is my understanding that some organizations are not so fortunately. In my prior project management positions, I also led Change Management activities, as many PMs out there do. That said, I feel like it is important to understand the differences and similarities across these two disciplines, especially given there is a lot of new focus in the industry in a complete Change Management discipline.
Definitions from CIO.com
Project Management - Project management involves the use of people, processes and methodologies to plan, initiate, execute, monitor and close activities. It is designed to meet an organization's project goals, and hopefully overall strategic objectives.
Change Management - Change management, similar to project management, involves people, processes, and tools to effectively help organizations manage all the changes that occur, whether as a result of project initiatives, or other factors that might impact the business.
My Thoughts
1) Change Management may be related to a project, but also may be a separate effort unto itself. In other words, change happens both as a result of a project implementation and as a result of an organizational change that does not require system changes.
2) Change Management, when not associated with project deliverables, becomes itself, an initiative or project to manage only people change.
3) Change Management, when related to a project should be highly coordinated with the project, including knowledge of project objectives, intent, and timelines.
4) Some activities for Change Management are the same as for Project Management, but with different intent and focus. For instance, both require a planning phase that may include a charter, but the charter for a project focuses on system deliverables and the charter for change management focus on people changes.
NOTE: I have seen 2 approaches to this: one whereby a combined charter represents both the project (system deliverables) and change management (people) are represented and one where separate charters are written. I don't have a particular preference for this, I have seen both work very well.
5) Change Management done well creates buy-in, facilitates required knowledge and skills, and tracks adoption over time. Adoption is critical for project implementations .
Food for Thought
1) Can projects be successful without change management? Personally, I don't think so. I have yet to see a project considered successful when a product or system is launched if there is not buy-in from stakeholders, appropriate knowledge and training has been provided for users, and users are comfortable with the change/project deliverables.
2) Should a project manager have change management knowledge? My perspective is that it is essential for a project management to understand change management. For smaller and less complex projects, I believe it makes sense for a project manager to act also as a change management lead. However, for larger or more complex projects, I feel like it would be a dis-service to the project, and it's stakeholders, for the project manager to wear both hats. I have done this and though it turns out fine, I feel like it could have been far better to have 2 people managing these 2 spaces. This provides an opportunity for each person to focus their efforts rather than be over-stretched managing both.
3) Should a project have a dedicated change manager? This is a particularly tough question given the limited resources often available in higher education institutions. Ideally, for the most complex of projects, it would certainly make sense for a change manager not be to impeded by competing priorities. However, in reality, a change manager, not unlike a project manager, is often involved in multiple projects and/or individual organizational change management activities beyond projects.
In Closing
The change management discipline is quickly becoming a staple stand-alone disciple. I personally think it is important to recognize that for projects, managed people change (change management) is critical to a project's success, just as teams like infrastructure, security, and other teams are. I bet, without knowing it, before change management was recognized as a stand-alone discipline, project managers and even other project team members, like business analysts, have worn the hat of a change manager at times.