- Proposing a change
- Summary of impact
- Decision
- Implementing a change
What is Change Management?
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Wednesday, 6 October 2010
The change management process is key to the successful outcome of a project. The process ensures that each change introduced is properly defined, considered and approved before implementation. Change management contains four stages:
Persuasion and Perception
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Every year, between forty and seventy percent of all corporations and public sector bodies attempt to make strategic change. Overwhelmingly, formal projects are the preferred structure used to organise such effort, regardless of whether the underlying goals are defined in terms of business process re-engineering (BPR), technology upgrades, mergers and acquisitions, due diligence or similar concepts.
Each organisation starts with a desire to make itself better. But "better" is a slippery concept. Certainly projects bring about change, but do they necessarily make things better? Better in the board room might mean lower costs through reduced head count, but would the rest of the team agree? Perspective matters.
In the absence of personal control of events, everybody hates change. A failure to remember this fundamental insight is the root cause of a great many failed projects. Sophisticated communication strategies and planning models may impress project owners, but these tools will not persuade a hostile group of users or stakeholders that a new project will improve their lot in life; certainly not when their instincts and reflexes are telling them to resist.
Each organisation starts with a desire to make itself better. But "better" is a slippery concept. Certainly projects bring about change, but do they necessarily make things better? Better in the board room might mean lower costs through reduced head count, but would the rest of the team agree? Perspective matters.
In the absence of personal control of events, everybody hates change. A failure to remember this fundamental insight is the root cause of a great many failed projects. Sophisticated communication strategies and planning models may impress project owners, but these tools will not persuade a hostile group of users or stakeholders that a new project will improve their lot in life; certainly not when their instincts and reflexes are telling them to resist.
Forecasting Support Costs
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Did you know that maintenance accounts for 50% to 80% of the overall product cost? Well, it does! And while most project managers are fairly good at sizing new product features, many are terrible at estimating the effort required to support a product once it becomes generally available. As a result, maintenance projects are inadequately staffed, companies can't respond to customer requests in a timely manner, and products never reach payback.
This article presents a methodology to help you guesstimate and therefore plan for the maintenance phase of generally available products. But first, let's define a few terms that are important to the comprehension of this article.
Maintenance
Maintenance is defined as the effort associated with fixing defects in a software system after general availability (GA). In other words, how many person-months will it take your organisation to fix bugs discovered by your customers in the field?
This article presents a methodology to help you guesstimate and therefore plan for the maintenance phase of generally available products. But first, let's define a few terms that are important to the comprehension of this article.
Maintenance
Maintenance is defined as the effort associated with fixing defects in a software system after general availability (GA). In other words, how many person-months will it take your organisation to fix bugs discovered by your customers in the field?
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