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Managing Change Study

   May 98

Change management executive summary

ProSci’s Change Management Best Practices study involved more than 100 organizations from 22 countries on six continents. The objective of the study was to uncover best practices for managing the human side of change and for creating great executive sponsorship.

Most change projects in this study impacted business processes as well as systems and organizational structure. The top business processes being changed include:

· Information (computer) services
· Manufacturing
· Health care services
· Product development
· Finance/banking
· Human resources

More than 50% of the participants implemented dramatic process change. More than 90% implemented process changes that crossed departmental boundaries. Almost 50% expect the change to impact their entire enterprise.

The size of the staff impacted by these changes averages around several hundred employees, with approximately one third of the projects impacting more than 500 employees. Cost reduction was the strongest reason for change, followed by customer service and competitive pressures.

Overwhelmingly, participants cited executive-sponsor involvement as the single greatest contributor to success of their change management program. Other contributors included:

· Participation in the change by all management levels in the organization
· Physical change –  a new tool or system, or movement to a new facility
· Extreme pressure to change coming from outside the organization

Three change obstacles were cited most frequently:

1. Employees resistant to change
2. Management behaviors not supportive of the change
3. Inadequate resources or budget

With more than 70% of projects, an executive manager initiated the change; however, in nearly half the projects, accountability for the change was passed on to a lower-level manager, and the executive manager was not the visible sponsor.

This delegation of sponsorship was cited as the number one mistake made by executive managers. Overall, the top-five biggest mistakes top-management sponsors made during a major change were:

1. Not being directly involved with the project
2. Not engaging all management levels in the change
3. Sending inconsistent signals or not communicating enough
4. Shifting focus or changing priorities too soon
5. Not providing adequate resources

Participants outlined nine distinct activities that good executive sponsors do to support a major change, including communication, involvement with the project team, and interactions with operational managers and other senior managers. This report describes these activities according to the phase of the project (planning, design, implementation).

Teams also outlined their change management methodology, and listed those change management activities that should be completed during each phase of the project. This report describes those activities cited by teams who rated their change program successful or very successful.

Change management activities that had the greatest impact on project success included:

· Open and consistent communications
· Personnel changes to support the new organization
· Support from all levels of management
· Pre-implementation training of employees

When asked what they would do differently next time, many project teams would have started their change management activities earlier in the project, attended change management training, and increased the involvement of managers at all levels in both change management planning and on-going activities.

Teams used a variety of communication media and methods to manage change. Effective methods included face-to-face communications, email updates, management-team updates by the project team, and CEO or senior-manager presentations. The most frequently used communication tools, by a wide margin, were email and intra-company mail.

In nearly all cases, teams would have  communicated with employees more frequently, with three-quarters stating a preference for communicating information about the project at least weekly.

A majority of respondents felt that the change management team was the most appropriate group to generate training requirements for employees. However, the training organization was, by far, considered the most appropriate organization to develop and deliver training.

Recognizing desirable behavior and managing individuals who were viewed as obstacles to the project were difficult tasks for most teams. The most successful methods cited were:

· Personal recognition (by direct supervisor or top-level manager)
· Bonuses (tied to project completion or the completion of phases of the project)

Over 50% of teams used one or more consultants. For nearly 75% of teams, the consultant was either a facilitator or advisor to the change process, and in most cases the consultant was a change management expert, with some consultants bringing both technical and change management experience to the team.

While most teams had unique needs, in general they expected their consultants to contribute in three areas. They were looking for project and process experience, help with communications, and meeting facilitation.

When asked what to look for in consultants, teams cited:

· relevant experience
· adequate breadth
· a successful track record
· a willingness to transfer knowledge
· training and facilitation skills
· integrity

More than 80% of teams reported that they would use consultants again on their next project.

The detailed findings from the study include:

· Factors that influence successful change
· Actions that good executive sponsors take
· How to form an effective team
· Change strategies and practices that are most effective
· Communication tools that work the best
· How to create an effective training plan
· Roles of consultants 

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