Jennie Fowler

Jennie Fowler

Head of Global Project Management
Andy Jordan

Andy Jordan

PMO Thought Leader
Rachel Hentges

Rachel Hentges

PMO Influencer

What type of organizations benefit from enterprise change management?
Jennie Fowler
Head of Global Project Management
Read Bio >

The types of organizations that could benefit from enterprise change management, that’s not a trick question. Of course, you’re going to think that I’m going to say all organizations can benefit from enterprise change management and that’s true. I do believe that all organizations can, but I do believe that the size of the organization matters as far as the rigor you might want to put on it or the type of process you might want to put on top of your enterprise change. So, some companies might want a very light process. Some, you know, companies that are heavily audited might need a little bit larger or more robust change management system. So, I think that it's not a trick question. I think all can benefit from some type of change management, but it depends on the size. 

 

How would you recommend getting started with organizational change management?
Andy Jordan
PMO Thought Leader
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I get asked quite a lot how I would suggest getting started with organizational change management and my answer is always the same. It starts with the people. When you talk about organizational change people tend to think about implementing a new piece of software or a new working process or a new system, but that’s just change management. That’s just the physical stuff that happens. Organizational change management is about acceptance, adoption, embracing and responding positively to change. Having a positive reaction and a positive mindset, a positive perspective on what’s happening. Never forget when it comes to change management, the most critical piece is always the people. Organizational change management is almost exclusively about those people – work with them don’t do things to them. Whether that’s internal or external people, if they feel like partners to the change it’s much easier to buy into it and see past challenges and look forward to see past them and work harder to make the most of it. It’s absolutely essential to make sure people are at the core of everything that happens with organizational change management. 

 

What are the most common challenges you’re hearing about enterprise change management?
Jennie Fowler
Head of Global Project Management
Read Bio >

The most common challenges that I’m hearing about enterprise change management, at least myself as a practitioner within the organization that I’m in and some of the other project management leaders and change management leaders that I work with, is trying to get that true gauge on how much change is active. Notice I didn’t say how many projects are active because change can be a project or not, right? How much change is truly going on in your organization. Getting that true enterprise view so you can understand the impact that it has to whomever is using the “fill in the blank tool” that you guys are using. So that is one of the most common challenges that I see in enterprise change management today. 

 

Why is enterprise change management important?
Jennie Fowler
Head of Global Project Management
Read Bio >

You might have heard me reference that, you know, organizations should have a true enterprise view of what all change is happening. So, you might ask me, well, what is the definition of change? What type of change are you referring to? So, I think it’s important to back up for a second. There’s project management and then there might be change management. So, I’m not talking about changes that happened within a project. Maybe you have a scope change and you’re going to log that change within your change management tool that you use to say, hey, this project was X and now it’s x plus two. That has a process underneath the project management umbrella. What I’m referring to is that overarching umbrella of enterprise change management and project management might be a leg of that but what about the smaller changes or the initiatives that might be happening in your organization. So, I think just having that really good view of everything that’s happening and how you are impacting the folks that are using “fill in the blank” change. I think that’s important. So that’s why I think enterprise change management is important. 

 

What does a good organizational change management framework look like?
Andy Jordan
PMO Thought Leader
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When organizations are looking to put an organizational change management framework in place, it’s critical that they look far enough ahead. We are talking about organizational change in terms of people, in terms of customers, employees, and those people that are affected by what it is that is changing. That means you have to focus on communication and helping people understand what’s happening, why it’s happening and how it’s going to make things different and why those differences are positive. That takes time. You can’t just load up a piece of software and say here you go! You’ve got to allow people the time to think it through and consider the implications and play around with prototypes or mockups and see what they think of it. Consider the implications and whether they are comfortable with them.

You must also consider things like training or maybe hiring additional people to support what happenings. At the end of the day, it’s about creating an environment that sees the change positively, so you have to look quite a long way ahead. At the same time, you have to make sure you’re scheduling changes in such a way that you don’t create hot spots. That’s another part of planning ahead. If you’ve just dropped a new piece of software into an internal department that supports customers, it’s probably not a good idea to launch two new products the next day that’s going to results in customers phoning that support group to try and handle it because that becomes a whole lot of change in one very tight timeframe. You’re creating a hot spot. You’re creating an environment for problems. It’s much better to give people a week or two, maybe a month, to understand what’s happening in the new system and then implement the new change. You have to prioritize changes that way.

But you have to look at an organizational change framework not as work in isolation, but the work across the entire ecosystem of change that’s happening. 

 

How does enterprise change management need to be addressed differently for different levels of PMO maturity?
Jennie Fowler
Head of Global Project Management
Read Bio >

So, how might change management need to be addressed differently for different levels of PPM maturity? There’s PPM maturity and then there’s change management maturity. And I think we’re going to talk about change management maturity a little bit. But, you know, depending on where your project management or program management office might be on the Gartner scale, it’s a one to five. And Gartner might say that there’s really no such thing as a five, so most companies, I think fall around a three. But you might be just getting started. So, you might be a one or a two, or you might be really good in your maturity and be a three or a four. I think one of the things that I would ask you to address differently is avoiding the silos as it comes to change management maturity. For example, some companies have multiple project management offices. They might have a marketing project management office, a human resources project management office and then a technology project management office. So, you got those in that example, those three project management offices. How are you looking at all of that change because there might be some departmental really important changes that are not rolling under any of the three of those particular three PMOs. So I think just avoiding silos. Number two, I think focusing on how does your organization accept change? I think that’s another thing that we need to look at differently because a lot of times, companies do a one size fits all – they send out a memo saying this change is coming. Get ready everyone. Be excited. And does that work for everyone? For myself, I get so many emails that I can’t read all of my emails in the same day. It’s almost physically impossible. So that mode of communication might not work for someone like me. Maybe you have to look at learning styles of the folks that you’re trying to train to use the change. Do they learn better by doing, by reading or listening? So, I think multiple modalities of releasing the communication about change is a must as we’re moving forward, and organizations are trying to become scalable. I think organizations doing that next step of trying to understand how folks really accept change because they might accept change a little bit differently. Those are two things that I might recommend that you do differently as they relate to enterprise change management.  

 

What does it look like for organizations that are seeing success with organizational change management?
Rachel Hentges
PMO Influencer
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Organizations that are seeing success with organizational change management are understanding the foundational aspects of change. First, they understand that you shouldn’t just change to change. There should be a strategic vision or reason for said change. Maybe it will improve efficiencies, increase ROI, eliminate inconsistencies, or improve overall performance, but without a reason for change – you shouldn’t do it. Second, organizations that are successful with organizational change management include key stakeholders prior to the change, during the change and after the change. By including key stakeholders organizations are solidifying a group of change agents that will be advocates for the change to other team members because they are included in the decisions along the way. Lastly, organizations that are seeing success with organizational change management are providing the team with quick wins based on the strategic vision or reason for the change in the first place. They are communicating the story and celebrating the wins along the way. This showcases change as a positive thing rather than something team members and stakeholders resist. 

 

What does it look like for organizations seeing success with enterprise change management?
Jennie Fowler
Head of Global Project Management
Read Bio >

We could talk about this for a while, but I’ll give you some nuggets that I’ve seen in my travels. Having all the visibility underneath one umbrella so you have one place to look for all of the change going on in the organization. You will have better prioritization because you can look and see what you want to prioritize and what you want to move forward, not just the special projects that you might have going through your project management function. You might have better reporting and visibility including the metrics that include what’s going on with the changes, the impact of those changes, the risks to all of those changes, not just the projects but all changes. I think those types of things impact the change. That’s what’s going to help you drive your goals and your strategy with your company. I think those are small things to a list of many, but those can help drive success. I’ll close with this. The thing to remember about doing change in an organization. You want to bring folks along with you with the change, no doing change to your organization. If you can figure out the magic sauce with that, you’ll be successful. 

 

What steps can organizations take to solve for enterprise change management?
Jennie Fowler
Head of Global Project Management
Read Bio >

The steps that you can take to solve for enterprise change management is do them in bite sized chunks. Simple answer. And you say, but Jenni, is an organization going to say, hey I need enterprise change management? Likely one, but what you will hear are some of these symptoms and the symptoms might sound something like this. We’ve got so much active right now. You might hear a symptom of our projects, our initiatives, our changes, are just taking too long to get done. You might hear some of your resources saying I’m over allocated. I can’t take on any more work. Even if you have a resource management tool, some people say resource management tool will solve that – it will give you visibility to it, but I don’t believe that it solves it. So over allocation might be another symptom you here. Another problem you might hear is we’re chasing moving targets, or our scope changes a good bit. We have a lot of scope changes within the project. There’s many more, but those are some symptoms that you might hear. People aren’t going to say I need enterprise change management. That’s just not the vocabulary that they are likely going to use. So, I think doing that type of assessment, and it doesn’t have to be a formal assessment, but that type of assessment to say they here’s some of the symptoms a potential solution could be. Usually, the goal of the project management office is to manage projects, right? It’s the P in PMO. But, what about other changes that don’t come through the desk of the project management office? How does the executive team manage all of the changes that are happening in the company. So that’s what I mean by enterprise change management, having that good visibility to be able to understand that track that, prioritize that, govern that. And a project management office might be a place that could help you solve that. But it’s a choice. It’s a choice for your executive team on what you might want to do to solve for enterprise change management. 

 

What tools/processes can organizations implement to solve for organizational change management?
Andy Jordan
PMO Thought Leader
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The tools and processes organizations leverage to solve for organizational change management are critical, but it’s not so much single platform but the integration. You need to have an effective project portfolio management system, but you also need to have accurate information on the people in the system. You need to integrate with HRS – HR information systems because that’s going to tell you the skills and experience in the different departments that you’re going to be able to leverage in the new system or new process. You have to integrate with your CRM system – you have to make sure you have the information on your customers is current, clean and accurate so you  know what’s happening there. It’s not just a the product mangers job because when you implement change it becomes something that is important to consider. Make sure you’ve got the tools for change management. Make sure you’ve got the tools for people change but also make sure you’ve got all the data that impacts all of those users through integrations in your enterprise. You really need a single integrated organizational backbone for the entire organization. This will allow you to see all of the information in one place, which is absolutely essential. 

 

What is the role of the PMO in organizational change management improvement?
Andy Jordan
PMO Thought Leader
Read Bio >

When it comes to improving organizational change management, the PMO has a critical role to play. The PMO is an overarching view, an overarching monitor of everything that’s happening. If you think about projects and programs and products, those are all vehicles for delivering change and there is not many changes that happens to the systems, the processes and the things that don’t also impact people and organizational change. It’s absolutely critical to make sure the PMO is a key stakeholder in this. They can work to build a cadence into organizational change that the organization can absorb. They can start balancing the organizational change cadence with the organization’s strategic needs cadence. How much do we have to be able to deliver? And how fast can we deliver this without causing disruption? They can work with HR and leadership, procurement to start looking to increase the ability to implement more change in less time or implement larger changes. They can work to understand how change can be broken down into different modules to prevent disruption. They can look at dependencies of different initiatives to make sure we are putting in the right changes in the right places to make sure everything is being absorbed. If you’re trying to implement organizational change management, you need a dedicated organizational change professional – that’s critical success. But, if you don’t also engage very closely with the PMO then you’re never going to be able optimize your change delivery because the PMO has the best comprehensive view of the change that’s actually needed. That’s the driver of everything else that happens in the organization.

 

What are the common pitfalls of ineffective enterprise change management?
Jennie Fowler
Head of Global Project Management
Read Bio >

Some of the common pitfalls of ECM or enterprise change management, and I’m thinking about from the very beginning, not necessarily in the middle of enterprise change management. A unique answer from my standpoint, but it’s thinking that there is a problem. Right? You heard all of the symptoms. A lot of companies have those symptoms and maybe the PMO leader suggests enterprise change management and the company pushes back a little saying, we don’t need that. You know, the departmental managers can manage their things. The marketing PMO can manage their things and give you a portfolio report. This happens for each department and you have nine to ten portfolio reports trying to figure it all out those value streams, where and how budget is working, what problems are happening, what risks, shared resources are being strained. You often just keep doing what you’ve been doing because maybe that term of enterprise change management just sounds like something that you have to go spend money on. Which is not necessarily true. It’s really retraining your brain to think differently about change. So, I think one of the biggest pitfalls about getting started is not thinking that there's a problem, but yet you’re hearing all of these symptoms.  

 

What roadblocks do teams face when trying to get better at organizational change management?
Andy Jordan
PMO Thought Leader
Read Bio >

When trying to get better at organizational change management, there is a lot of roadblocks that different teams face. A lot of it comes down to differences in perception. I’ve seen many organizations where strategic leaders are looking to push more change more quickly because that’s what’s necessary to achieve the goals and objectives. But, you can’t hit your goals and objectives by forcing change. You can only hit the goals and objectives by implementing change that is accepted. If you try to do too much too quickly to the same parts of the business or to the same customer base it will get rejected. It will cause problems. It will cause mistakes to happen to systems and processes. It will cause customers to reject what’s happening. It will have a long term impact on your ability to deliver. It’s much better to throttle the amount of change, so that it is all accepted in the least possible time. It has to be done in conjunction with the stakeholders or groups that are having to absorb the change, but the biggest problem by far is this attempt to accelerate the amount of change without the consideration of whether or not that amount of change can happen. The only reason that race car drivers can drive fast is because they have a throttle pedal and a brake pedal. If they only had a throttle pedal, it would be really quick for a really short amount of time and then bad things would happen. The same is true for organizations. You have to know when to accelerate and when to slow down to make sure that everything is accepted properly so you are ready for the next acceleration. It’s the only way. 

 

What stakeholders should be included in enterprise change management decisions?
Jennie Fowler
Head of Global Project Management
Read Bio >

So, the key term there is decisions. I think it really depends on if you’re trying to get enterprise change management started. Of course, you have to get executive buy-in. Absolutely, that’s a no brainer. But then, I would hope that the organization would give people within the organization authority and empowerment to make decisions. Executives should be setting the goals and setting the strategies and empowering other people within the organization to go and chase those goals. I would envision it looks something like this. You have a change committee that comes together, whether it’s your change control board, it might be your steering committee, that are really looking at all the things that are active in the things that are the backlog. Now that’s really more of a waterfall answer and you may say but hold on, Jennie my shop is not waterfall it’s agile. I still think that there is importance in having a big room mindset. You have the mentality to say how much change we are truly trying to introduce to the organization to make sure you’re not pushing too much and over burdening or over allocating resources. I think the stakeholders differ per organization, but I think you should give people trust and authority to make decisions. 

 

 

How does maturity level impacts the must haves of enterprise change management?
Jennie Fowler
Head of Global Project Management
Read Bio >

Oftentimes companies will think this thing that sound fancy called enterprise change management that it has to be really complex. It doesn’t have to be. We often in project and change management might make it too complex. The agreement from the company to centralize visibility of all change is a huge first step. The framework that you use for that doesn’t have to be complex. That’s number one. Keep it simple. Number two is understand the differences between project management and change management are cousins, but they are not the same thing. They can be all underneath the same department. I’m often times seeing job openings for enterprise change management but you will see that PMO is not always a requirement. Project management type things might be one bullet under the entire job description. Understand the difference between change management and project management or what they are. It’s a must. Get yourself geared and equipped with the tools and understanding and training of what good project management and what good change management looks like. So those are some must haves that I would recommend for any organization considering enterprise change management. 

 

 

Flexibility, adaptability and agility are key characteristics of successful organizations that want to outperform their competitors. Transforming your organization to harness these characteristics requires a strong change management strategy executed from the top down. In this white paper, we’ll share why creating an Agile organization that embraces change is so important in today’s fast-paced business environment. Next, we’ll show you how to utilize project managers to organize the transformation process, track progress and manage implementation. 

We will also share the ADAPT formula for creating organizational buy-in and provide insight into selecting the right software solutions to provide visibility and guidance, governance, collaboration, and centralization. By the end of this guide, you will know how to prepare your organization to not just navigate and survive change but, most importantly, thrive while doing so. 

Adapt or Fail — The Dangers of Playing It Safe

Gaining a competitive edge requires organizations to be agile — able to swiftly adapt to the dynamic changes in their unique markets and the evolving needs of their customers. However, changing one’s business methodology is not an easy feat. The intimidation factor keeps many businesses in a state of comfortable paralysis that prioritizes stability over growth. On paper, this type of risk aversion seems like a sensible business decision. Unfortunately, that is not necessarily the case and fails to keep up with the pace of change required to be competitive.

The failure to be proactive and adapt in business also puts your organization at risk. Being reactive — waiting and hoping change won’t be inflicted upon you — costs your organization strategic opportunities to craft an overarching vision, drive messaging and determine processes. Fear cedes control to chance and cuts into your ability to deliver continuous business value internally and to your customers. And if your competitors have seized the opportunities that your organization is missing, you’re inevitably going to be left behind. 

If the biggest influence preventing your organization from adapting is fear, then the best solution is to create and implement an effective change management plan. Change management is a term that’s used quite often, and it has different definitions depending on the industry. When it comes to adapting your business processes and initiatives to enhance agility, change management describes the strategic approach to facilitating that transformation across departments, projects, operations and individuals. In the next section, we’ll share how the project management office can be the driver of change to bring your vision to reality.

The PMO can be a Catalyst and Facilitator of Digital Business Transformation

One of the key challenges of organizational change management is implementing change without causing major disruption to regular business operations. Knowing this, the professionals from your Project Management Office (PMO) can swiftly become your organization’s star players, for these reasons. 

Your PMO will have access to a portfolio view of all projects, deliverables, tasks and resources. This builds trust and credibility into information you provide to the business and if your organization ascribes to Agile project management, which has them trained to maneuver on the fly, all the better for you.

Your PMO is already accustomed to upholding standards, ensuring all actions are accomplished and reporting progress to stakeholders.

Your PMO can support you in selecting the right people for the right tasks, as they work closely with many different departments and can help you match strength to purpose.

The PMO can facilitate dissemination of information, instructions, organizational standards and best practices through their already established system of engagement and communication.

Your PMO is an asset that you can and must engage to ensure success. They not only have the skillset to accomplish many of your goals, they know exactly what is going on and can make sure no projects or people get left behind.

ADAPT – Your Formula for Gaining Transformation Buy-in

In May of 2019, National Geographic published a fascinating article about a type of spider that had adapted its web to operate like a crossbow, loading a central silk line with tension and then holding it until it could release it to capture its prey. 

The web fires at an astonishing speed — 26 times the acceleration of a NASA space shuttle — making it nearly impossible for its prey to escape. The point of sharing the feats of Hyptiotes cavatus isn’t to provide you with an interesting story for your next dinner party; rather, this small-but-mighty spider illustrates a far more important concept: Adaptability is critical to success. 

Adaptability doesn’t just apply to the animal kingdom. For today’s companies, the ability to proactively change to meet the requirements of the rapidly shifting business environment is critical to avoiding business extinction. Digital Business Transformation is an intimidating process, which is why so many organizations and their staff are often resistant to it. However, this transition can be eased through a wellexecuted user-adoption strategy. 

We have refined the key concepts of this strategy into the ADAPT formula that will help your organization take the reins and flourish through transition. 

Align with the Strategic Vision

Change in any organization begins with a purpose. It is critical that everyone in the upper echelons of the organization have a shared vision of transformation and understand the purpose for the change. That doesn’t just mean desire. In order to achieve the desired results, a comprehensive plan must be developed and agreed upon by all stakeholders. Here are some points to consider:

  • Timeline – How long should this take and what milestones should be set?
  • Investment – How much time and money should be invested in this? What are the limits?
  • Implementation – How will the plan be executed? One department at a time? All at once? Who will facilitate the process?
  • Desired Results – What do you expect this transformation to accomplish? What does success look like?

If you can create enthusiasm from the top down through a shared vision, you’ll set an example for the rest of your departments. 

Deploy a Command Center

Once you have achieved a shared vision, it’s time to create a system of accountability. Assign roles and responsibilities to your teams so that information never gets lost due to a communication breakdown. Your leadership will need to shine at this point in the process. It is important that part of your accountability plan includes communication between all levels and departments, not just between leaders and subordinates. Now is not the time for silos to spring up and derail progress. 

Speaking of progress, make sure you set measurable goals. This allows for frequent check-ins to see the progress that has been made — or to discover gaps. It also creates a record of your wins that you can share with your teams (more on that in a moment). 

Last, create a centralized database that holds all of the information pertaining to your goals. This eliminates the aforementioned silos and also keeps all parties on the same page. 

Ask the Nay-Sayers

Employees are the backbone of every organization, but they can also be one of the key resistors to transformation. As such, employee buy-in is usually a chief concern for senior executives embarking upon organizational transformation. The reasons for resistance can vary. Some individuals worry they don’t have the ability to adapt their skillset to meet new demands. Others suspect that change signals potential job insecurity, i.e., layoffs or salary changes. Still others just don’t like stepping out of their comfort zone — familiarity with their jobs allows them to feel safe and confident. 

Notice in the above scenarios that there is no malice on the part of the employees. People who struggle with adaptation are not doing so intentionally and it’s important to keep that in mind as you implement change. Savvy organizations understand that change management is as much about understanding the mindset of their people as it is about achieving business goals and often times the nay-sayers have the best insight; a viewpoint on the change others don’t share. Empower your nay-sayers and incorporate their feedback to ensure you are not missing anything. If you can get them on board, your plan is that much better for it.

 Here are some tips to enlist your nay-sayers in the process: 

  • Ask your nay-sayers how they feel and work to relieve those pain points. The authentic desire to help them through the process builds trust and eases the challenges that will inevitably occur. 
  • Find your change cheerleaders and bring them into the process right from the beginning. Encourage them to boost morale and reassure their fellow employees that this doesn’t have to be a negative event.
  • Work with multiple departments to ensure the people in charge are prepared to address inevitable questions that arise. They need to be all-in and understand the value of the change, not just the impact.
  • Be transparent about the process. Acknowledge small and large issues while proactively addressing them. One of the most frustrating things for employees innolved in a sweeping transformation is an organization that won’t admit their process isn’t perfect. Also remember that transparency is a two-way street. Your willingness to share and address issues encourages employees to provide the type of input that can have a real impact on overall success. 

Provide Quick Wins

Transformation doesn’t happen overnight. While managing to outcomes — focusing on the bigger picture — is important, it’s also necessary to provide people with quick wins that motivate them to continue pursuing the strategic vision. This is where setting measurable goals comes into play. By breaking the big picture into smaller pieces, you’ll have more opportunities to tout the positive accomplishments that are occurring. Sharing those positive results will give people a reason to persist through the rougher parts of the process.

Perseverance is a key attribute of change management success. 

Tell the Story

Will change make work easier? Will it increase sales? Increase stability? Why should everyone get on board with the process? The story that you craft should consistently communicate the overarching goals of the transformation. And remember, don’t just talk in terms of how it will benefit the organization – also share how it will benefit all the individual stakeholders.

5 Answers to Your Most Important Change Management Questions

In a recent webinar, titled The Adaptive PMO: Manage and maintain Change Management for Long Term Success, I teamed up with Audra Proctor, CEO of the agile change management company Changefirst, to discuss how to support a successful transition to an adaptive PMO. During the session, we tackled some tough — and common — questions from attendees about the change management process. Read on to learn what mattered most to attendees and our answers to these thought-provoking questions.

1. How do you know it is time for a change?

Most organizations recognize a need for change when pain points become too difficult to ignore. This can be a challenge because it means that by the time a business decides to adapt, they are desperate for change and the punch list for success is incredibly lengthy. This can make resistance higher and onboarding take longer. Processes, methodologies and outcomes should be assessed regularly and realistically to identify problems while they are small and easier to conquer. Change should be expected and prepared for as an inevitable part of doing business, not as something to accept begrudgingly when all other options are exhausted.

2. When is the ideal time to begin training a team to decrease resistance to change and ensure longevity?

There is no specific timeline for training people in a new methodology. Every company is different, which means that timing of training can shift based on a variety of factors. And yes, you can begin training too soon. The best approach is to be proactive in addressing issues before training begins. Start by measuring your team’s readiness for the required changes. This will help you identify areas of resistance and confusion and address them ahead of time. For example, if a member of the PM team is concerned about shifting from physical spreadsheets to digital reporting, you can offer preemptive technical education and support before training on the platform itself.

In addition to smoothing over bumps in the transition, measuring readiness also spurs engagement. People are more willing to change when they are allowed to collaborate on the outcome. This helps people buy into change because they are part of the changes rather than having change inflicted upon them.

3. How do you overcome resistance to change and drive high adoption rates?

Even with proactive planning, you will still have people who are resistant to change. To combat this, it is critical not to underestimate the power of your local leadership. As Audra Proctor explains, “Often when we have to deal with groups of people resisting adoption, that’s where we have to start.”

People look to their immediate leadership for motivation and enthusiasm. If a leader is resistant, chances are that the team will also be resistant, since there is no one to reinforce the positive reasons for adoption. You need to investigate reasons for the resistance. Why are certain managers reluctant and what can be done to get their buy-in and then pass it along to their teams? You need to not only identify both the people who are going to be positive but also potential detractors, since they often yield more peer influence than you realize and they may have valid issues.

4. How important is stakeholder engagement to change management?

Stakeholder engagement is vital to facilitating change management. It is important that people don’t just know that change is coming, but also understand why it is necessary and feel they will be rewarded for being a part of a positive outcome. Stakeholders should be visible and accessible participants in the process. and the more personal you can make the connection, the better. The problem with relying solely on impersonal forms of communication is that people don’t have to listen. When you’re engaging with them in a room together, or at least over a video call, that is when you can break through.

5. How do you ensure a successful change with limited resources?

Of course, change management is easier to manage when resources are plentiful. However, the reality is that many organizations have a limited budget in comparison to what is needed to orchestrate the level of required change. Audra Proctor stresses the importance of technology in facilitating change because of its ability to improve collaboration whether participants are working from headquarters or a home office.

Projects, deliverables and plans can be shared with the click of a button. Meetings can be conducted via video platforms. Information can be communicated instantly, reducing the expense of implementation. If an organization doesn’t have the resources to implement change but desperately needs it to thrive, it’s important to reassess business priorities to see if there is room to shuffle resources for change management. Failure to do so could be more expensive in the long run, considering that an expense like a new project management tool or another technology platform becomes a waste of money if no one utilizes it to its full benefit.

In uncertain times, the ability to adapt is the key to business survival. For many companies, the Project Management Office (PMO) has become an essential partner in navigating the growth and obstacles that often occur when an organization makes the shift to become a more flexible and innovative company. An adaptive PMO is a powerful ally in the journey to success, but only if the company has the tools and knowledge they need to get the job done right. Visit Changefirst to learn more about how to make your change management process less painful and more effective.

Agile Maturity & Change Management: 3 Steps for Achieving Executive Buy-In

Large-scale change is difficult for any organization, and no less so when it involves growing Agile maturity in project and portfolio management. These days, businesses are taking an in-depth look at their PMO project management processes and their PMO maturity and finding that both are lagging behind. When it comes time to change the way things have always been done, however, the fear of the change management process can cause the most important decision-makers — CIOs, CFOs, —to balk. And this hesitancy can create problems in allowing a PMO to advance its Agile maturity.

Often, the most important investment in PMO adaption starts at the top with the executives who hold the power to elevate or eliminate a PMO’s goals. Change, no matter how difficult it might be, is absolutely necessary for an organization to thrive. The key to making the process easier is to start with enthusiastic buy-in from all stakeholders involved — to overcome their objections and their fears and create buy-in to the process. Here are three steps for encouraging risk-averse executives to support PMO maturity initiatives.

#1 Show the Existing Pain Points

The growing pains that come with large change management projects are often a deterrent to getting your upper management to co-sign the initiative. This is often true because everyone has grown used to the existing pain points — like the old story about the frog in boiling water, they’ve adapted to the problems so they don’t realize the danger. To risk-averse stakeholders, abrupt change is mistakenly viewed as tossing the frog into the already boiling pot — they want to avoid any potential pain and they see change as potentially impeding success. What they often fail to realize is that the water they’ve been sitting in has also been getting mighty warm… Point out where the existing challenges are far worse than the brief discomfort of shifting direction.

Here are some common pain points in a PMO that is lagging in Agile maturity:

  • Failure to live up to expectations
  • Unable to keep the pace with rapid changes
  • Lack of clarity
  • Effectiveness inhibited by time-consuming, manual functions
  • Focus on deliverables, not customer satisfaction
  • Fragmented organizational structures or unbreachable silos
  • Skill and resource shortages
  • Inaccurate forecasting

When you lay out a clear picture of how problems are hindering growth and development, you begin to build the business case for PMO maturity and provide a proven path to create buy-in.

#2 Illustrate the Benefits of Organizational Change Management

In the iconic 90s movie Jerry Maguire, there’s the memorable scene in which one of the main characters shouts, “Show me the money!” It’s a phrase that has endured in pop culture for more than two decades because it resonates with people: “Show me how what you’re selling me is going to benefit me.”

When creating buy-in for PMO maturity initiatives, you need to show decision-makers how change will benefit them and the organization. The best place to get started? It just so happens to be that handy list of pain points you created. Show how your initiative will systematically reverse the challenges you have listed and drive real benefits such as: 

  • Reduced costs
  • Increased productivity
  • Proactive project and resource management
  • Faster delivery times
  • Innovation, growth and advancement
  • Better forecasting
  • Measurable data
  • Enhanced communication
  • Fulfillment on commitments — promises made are promises kept
  • Improved customer satisfaction

#3 Provide a Plan

Too often a great idea dies on the drafting table because of poor execution. When working to achieve buy-in for growing your PMO’s Agile maturity, it is important to bring a plan to the table that overcomes objections you know your decision-maker will have. The more answers you have available, the more competent and trustworthy you will appear in taking on the tasks at hand. Questions you might encounter include:

  • Timeline – How long should this take? What milestones should be set?
  • Investment – How much time and money should be invested in this? What are the limits?
  • Implementation – How will the plan be executed? One department at a time? All at once? Who will facilitate the process?
  • Desired Results – What do you expect this transformation to accomplish? What does success look like? 

Achieving PMO maturity is an endeavor that requires buy-in from the top down and the bottom up. Like any large-scale initiative, it is imperative to start with the executives who can make or break the initiative before implementation begins. Following the three steps discussed above will help create a strong foundation for gaining enthusiastic buy-in and pave the way for great success going forward.

Leveraging Technology to Conquer Change Challenges

How can you be sure your change management plan is working as intended? By centralizing the information and tracking against key milestones set forth in the beginning. Monitoring your progress can significantly reduce the execution risk of complex change programs by providing consistent real-time data on progress, resources and challenges. Whether technology is your change or you are using it to help manage and mitigate the impact, a strong Project Portfolio Management (PPM) foundation is key because it will drive best practices and coordination throughout the organization.

If you already have a PPM tool, it is important to ask the following questions before using it as your change management software.

  • Can your existing PPM technology solution deliver the change management that your business demands? 
  • Can it handle both Agile and traditional projects?
  • Can it balance and prioritize features such as skills databases, resource management, and capacity management, along with project methodologies to meet your organizational needs?
  • Is insight and measurement functionality up to the challenge?
  • Can it forecast and manage deliverables against industry best practices and governance metrics to manage the transformation?
  • Does it use predictive analytics and intake templates to make measurement easy?

If your current tool cannot accomplish the capabilities listed above, you may need to consider seeking out one that does. Business transformations and large-scale change programs are complex. Your organization will benefit from a PPM tool that provides accurate, comprehensive visibility of benefits, costs, activities, milestones and resource deployment. This will encourage the effective management of costs and resources, as well as provide a robust and connected planning process with no unnecessary surprises.

Summary

The modern business environment requires organizations to embrace change if they want to outperform their competition. 

Transform your organization into a business that is agile, adaptable and flexible by implementing a strong change management strategy enhanced by the ADAPT formula and powered by a comprehensive PPM solution.

Back to Driving Business Transformation.