Change management, or management of change, basically refers to the implementation of measures to adapt processes, strategies or structures to changed business conditions. It involves the active management of change and originates from organizational development.
On the one hand, the term is understood in business administration regarding restructuring processes within a company as: the active management of change processes concerning workflows and organizational structures.
On the other hand, the term is defined in IT service management in the de facto guideline ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) as: A process that aims to ensure that all adjustments to the IT infrastructure are carried out in a controlled and efficient manner while minimizing risks to the operation of existing business services.
In project management, the term is particularly relevant because changes in companies, regardless of whether they affect the IT infrastructure or other areas, are now planned and monitored as projects. The establishment of project management in itself can often be the change project and go hand in hand with the introduction of project management software. Such a comprehensive change - the way work is done coupled with digitalization - is the ultimate challenge in change management.
The purpose of change management is to adapt processes, strategies and structures in companies in order to move with the times and achieve competitive advantages. Change management is therefore the organization and management of change in a company in order to contribute to its further development. This includes all decisions, tasks or measures that contribute to a comprehensive and cross-divisional change of structures, behaviours and systems within the organization.
Change processes are often triggered by strategic realignments within the company itself or by external impulses. Typical reasons for change management include
Once a company has decided on a new strategy, it is not enough to simply communicate it internally. All employees, including the management team, must participate in the change and internalize the new values, tasks and rules. Initially, rejection can often be the result, as employees prefer to stick to existing processes. For this reason, change management not only involves an enormous organizational effort, but those responsible must also show a high degree of empathy during the change process.
A number of methods are available to not only successfully plan change processes but also to implement them. These are often borrowed and adapted from the areas of personnel management, process optimization or corporate management. At their core, all methods are about good stakeholder management
Kurt Lewin's force field analysis model, created in 1947, assumes that a balance between driving and opposing forces is necessary for a company to be successful. Based on this, he organizes change processes into three phases:
The German economist Wilfried Krüger developed a 5-phase model. It is based on the two previously mentioned models by Kurt Lewin and John Kotter.
The 5-phase model is more differentiated than Lewin's and less rigid than Kotter's model. It assumes that phases must be flexibly adaptable. It is also possible to regress to earlier phases during a change management process.
ADKAR is a change management approach that focuses on the change experienced by each individual involved in the change management process. The model was developed in 1999 by Jeff Hiatt, founder of the American company Prosci:
The PDCA cycle is a 4-step model developed by W. Edwards Deming, which is used as a framework for a continuous improvement process.
Psychologists know that change can be accompanied by strong emotions and that people go through a 7-stage process before they are at peace with change and can accept and implement it. The change curve according to Elisabeth Kübler-Ross illustrates this process very well:
Shock: After management has played along with the change plan, employees usually react with shock, followed by inner resistance. People are creatures of habit and at first there is little understanding of the need for change.
Denial: Inner resistance can turn into fierce defensiveness. Affected employees do not want to let go of their familiar routines and fear that their situation will deteriorate.
Grief: Employees realize that their resistance will fail and mourn the coming loss of the tried and tested.
Farewell: The willingness to let go of the old slowly sets in.
Acceptance: The willingness to deal constructively with the change grows, activating employees.
Experimentation: Employees become active. They begin to get involved in the change process, experiment with new possibilities and help shape the changes.
Integration: Employees are familiar with the new processes, structures or tasks and have made friends with the new situation. The organization is stabilized again and the desired change is a reality.
Experienced change managers believe that the workforce quickly splits into three groups with every change initiative: the enthusiastic and involved (around 20 percent), the wait-and-see and reluctant (around 60 percent) and the keepers, rejecters and naysayers (around 20 percent). The same applies to managers, of course. These categories also exist here.
Change request management is project-specific and clearly defined as the "organization, administration and processing of change requests during the course of a project". In other words, change request management is not about change in an organization but about changes in a project, e.g. the scope, responsible persons or budgets. It is sometimes also referred to as Change Control.
Conclusion
Digitalization, sustainability and conflicts are probably the most influential challenges facing the economy. For companies, this inevitably means change. Be it due to social changes, political events or simply to remain relevant on the market. Our world is constantly changing and those who are not adaptable will be overtaken. Especially in large, rigid organizations, but even in SMEs, every change process can be a tour de force. A strategic approach and a structured approach are therefore essential for the success of change projects.