As I look around the business world, I feel bombarded by so many different entities beseeching me to use a variety of project, programme and portfolio management advice, and guidance in related disciplines.
Use PRINCE2, or PMIBoK, or APMBoK, or AgilePM, or SCRUM (to name just a few) to manage your project.
If you are managing a programme, then MSP Programme Management, or APM Programme Management is for you.
You will face risks during your change management journey. Use the M_o_R Management of Risk, or Project Risk Analysis and Management (PRAM) framework.
Are you a project leader? Then you need our insight into what makes an effective leader.
Are you encountering resistance to your change? Our conflict management workshop was made for you.
If you need to prove you can manage that change initiative, get a PRINCE2, SCRUM, PMI or PRAM qualification.
Many appear to be claiming that a specific tool is THE tool for you.
Many of the different methodologies, frameworks and bodies of knowledge have been compiled after drawing on the same research. They often overlap, and occasionally offer something separate but complementary to one another. Thus, knowing about them is very helpful, especially if you are starting out in the world of change management.
The market to offer qualifications in these ‘standards’ is intense. It sometimes feels that each training provider is hawking their wares as THE universally-acknowledged accreditation that will advance your change management career, even if they are not.
Yet, what I need to understand is that these different pieces of guidance and qualifications represent tools in my wider box of equipment, and evidence of proficiency in them. It is easy to forget that it is the user of the tool that matters most. We often hear the expression: “a poor craftsman blames his tools.” Sometimes, it takes a craftsman many years of repeatedly applied technique and understanding, set-backs and painful experience, resilience, success and encouragement, to gain the confidence and competence in their craft. It is often similar for anyone working to effectively implement change.
Each change situation is different. However, I believe that there are some universal truths of which I should be aware when seeking to make change in my organisation.
Every organisation wants to undertake more change to achieve its strategic intentions than it has resources to deliver. Thus, the senior managers of every entity, no matter what its objectives, need to be able to prioritise upon what to use their limited resources and check that, even when the strategic direction of the company changes, this is the most relevant list of changes and that they continue to promise an acceptable investment return. This is portfolio management, and it surprises me still how, in a world in which money can be hard to come by, few organisations have adopted it robustly so as to squeeze every drop of value from their hard-earned funds.
Every programme and project is unique. Different project and programme management methodologies emphasise different aspects of change initiative management. Look at each, and use the various components and elements that together bring the right level of control over what can be an uncertain and changing situation. Although many of its proponents advocate Agile approaches because they claim they offer flexibility and adaptability, when used well even what are considered more traditional approaches such as PRINCE2 provide opportunity to change project direction quickly, deliver change incrementally, or confirm a project has had its day (because it is no longer strategically relevant) earlier than initially planned.
Numerous commercial entities fail to understand that the availability of the created operational solution is NOT the end of the journey. The organisation’s business as usual into which this new business product arrives needs to get ready for its arrival, understand how staff need to behave differently from before to use it properly, and migrate to its sustained use so that we see an improvement over what was before. It is this improvement, or benefit, that represents the return on the change investment. Few organisations give their operational world the time or resources to oversee this transition process extra to their everyday obligations. Thus, faced with a longer list than they can complete, the business as usual staff prioritise what they do, and almost always pick the ongoing customer-facing tasks at the expense of those associated with the change. In this way, local staff can determine what organisational priorities are achieved rather than the management board overseeing them. Many methodologies do not provide much guidance on this aspect of change, focusing instead on the effective development of the solution (the job is done, isn’t it?) whilst ignoring what needs to be done to land it in the operation and ensure its sustained, beneficial, use (no, now it is).
Like learning to drive a car, obtaining a qualification in a methodology (or any associated thinking useful to managing change) shows that I have learned to manoeuvre the vehicle of which I have charge in accordance with the country’s rules for using its roads. It is not until I am in my own car, by myself without an instructor, that I truly learn to drive. It is then, when I almost collide with another road-user, that I understand why I should have looked in my rear-view mirror and checked the blind spot before pulling out from the kerb. Not until I have travelled on many long-distance journeys do I understand the need to plan them before starting and to review them mid-journey to ensure that my chosen route remains the best option. I only then learn how many hours I can drive before needing a short break to refresh myself. Sometimes I push myself to the limits, and see that resilience is an important part of pushing through to successful arrival at my destination. Actually, the driving analogy does not do change management justice, because managing change is often so much more difficult.
Methodologies, frameworks, qualifications: they all help, they each offer something different (a distinct perspective on our challenge), they especially provide a useful starting point for any novice. But they are the tools available for me to use as I see best. Ultimately, like the craftsman learning their craft, it is my experience, and repeated practice, sometimes over many years, that make me the successful change manager (or change sponsor, change agent, project manager, etc.) that I have become.