3.1 Hard and soft factors
As a starting point, one aspect of change management that is useful to consider is the distinction between the so-called hard and soft factors of your organisation.
- Hard factors are generally easier to define or identify and are directly influenced by management. Examples of these include strategy statements, organisational structure and reporting relationships, formal processes and IT systems.
- Soft factors can be more difficult to describe; less tangible; and more likely to be influenced by history, tradition or culture. Soft elements can have equal or even greater impact than hard factors on the success of a change effort. Examples of these include leadership and communication styles, organisation values and norms, and individual and team competencies and skill sets.
(Workforce Management Strategies, n.d.)
Implementing a change initiative will involve an element of project management, and it useful to understand the boundaries to ensure that you are focusing on delivering change and not just managing a process. The video below explains the difference.
Download this video clip.Video player: Video 4
Transcript: Video 4 Change management vs project management
SPEAKER:
When it comes to projects, project management and change management both play an important role in achieving success. However, it can sometimes be a little confusing trying to separate the two. They both involve managing relationships, planning and overseeing activities, and identifying and mitigating risks. So what makes them different?
Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to activities to ensure project requirements are met. Project managers typically initiate, plan, and deliver the project and often use a methodology or structured approach to achieve the desired outcome. More specifically, a project manager focuses on project activities, outputs, outcomes and benefits; solution design ensuring project requirements are met; and the progress of works and management of time, scope, budget and quality.
From a project manager's point of view, a project is considered to be a success if it has been delivered to scope, time and budget and is technically accepted by the business. But what happens if a project is delivered successfully and the benefits are not adopted and realised by the business?
This is where change management comes into play. Change management focuses on the optimal adoption of new practices by those impacted by projects or programs of work. In a project environment, change managers typically use their deep understanding of the psychology of change, specialist tools and frameworks to design the human change process.
Alongside the project manager, the team, and in consultation with the business, they also plan and advise how to integrate the project outcomes into the organisation. More specifically, a change manager focuses on who the stakeholders are, such as employees and customers; the context into which the change is being delivered; communication, engagement and adoption; skills and capability development, including leadership coaching and ownership; and change readiness to ensure the change is sustained and sticks. Unlike project management, a change manager's success is measured on the realisation of benefits and the adoption of the new ways of working.
Can a project manager also manage the change elements? Yes and no. It really depends on the size and nature of the change. The integration of change management and project management creates value and together provide a unified approach for achieving the desired results and outcomes of organisational change.
To help you on your change journey, connect with the Change Management Institute today. We're all about supporting our members and our community to strengthen capability, enhance credibility and to be better connected.
Video 4 Change management vs project management
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Change managers, therefore, are an essential role for all change initiatives; they are the champions of the change, and their primary focus should be the outcomes required. The video below, What does a change manager do? (CMI, 2021), provides a useful overview of the role of the change manager.
Transcript: Video 5 What does a change manager do?
SPEAKER:
As organisations constantly evolve, it can sometimes be a little overwhelming trying to handle all the changes. You might have a single change for a defined group of employees or customers, perhaps as a result of a project.
Maybe you want to achieve transformational change, such as a significant shift in your business model which involves identifying and managing multiple strands of change together. Or maybe you want to build internal organisational capability to better manage and adapt to the constant volume of change.
This is where change managers come into play. Change managers are experts when it comes to change. They have a specialised yet diverse set of skills and tools, and often use a structured, agile or iterative approach to define plan and manage change.
Depending on the need, they can be an internal change consultant engaged to support your leaders and people with the change. An organisational development professional, a leader or a middle manager charged with the responsibility to bring about a change. Or a team leader, who gets people excited about the change.
Change managers understand that every organisation is different and the importance of the context in which change is delivered. As such, they will often adapt their approach and solution to meet your specific change needs.
They can articulate your current state and what your organisation will look like. Explore who is affected by the change, how the change will be felt and how to sustain the end result.
Establish and facilitate change networks to involve and engage those impacted, including effective communication, coaching, training, monitoring and support when the rubber hits the road.
And help you prepare for the change, increase adoption and transition to a new way of working. When it comes to implementing change big or small, change managers play an important role in ensuring the benefits you set out to achieve are realized and are key to success.
The Change Management Institute is all about supporting our members and our community to strengthen capability, enhance credibility and to be better connected.
To learn more about how competency framework and the skills and abilities you need to be able to define, plan and manage change, get in touch with us today.
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Video 5 What does a change manager do?
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