Planning for change

Disciplines > Change Management > Planning for change

Understand the people | Understand the task | Build the plans | See also

It is surprising how many change efforts are done with inadequate planning, and with consequent problems during implementation.

Understand the people

As covered other areas, but worth repeating here, you need to understand the people, both in terms of the legitimate needs they have regarding the change and also the personal concerns and potential responses.

Stakeholders in change: Who are they? How might they behave?
The impact of announced change: How will they react when they are told?
Resistance to change: How might they push back against the change?

Understand the task

The basic part of change is the simple 'task' making the changes as if people would be fully committed without any problem. Getting this right has to be balanced with understanding the people. One of the key problems in change is managing this balance. Often, the people side is under-done, although it also possible to fret too much about the people and forget the nitty-gritty detail of getting things done.

Diagnosing change: Investigation to understand the need for change.
Scope of change: both 'what' and 'who' affect the size of the project.

Build the plans

When planning for change, you need to consider both the actions to make the change and the (often far more problematic) problems you might meet in gaining the required commitment to carry the actions through.

Styles of change: the style used should match the scope.
The Change Delivery Plan: Creating an unstoppable train of events.
The Commitment Plan: Bringing the people with you.
Sponsorship of change: You will need senior management support.
Cultural change planning: Understanding links between thoughts and actions.