1.10 Change Management Plans

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Change management has been defined as an integrated communications, training, workforce planning, and evaluation approach to assisting managers, supervisors, and employees with transitioning effectively into a new way of accomplishing work. These key elements are further detailed in the following paragraphs.

Communications. In order to be effective, the team must be able to assess the effectiveness of current and proposed business practices, to convey the capabilities of the chosen software solution, to engage groups affected by automation or business practice change (stakeholders) in a meaningful exchange of information, to provide accurate information regarding design and implementation timing and progress, and to foster acceptance of new methods of work. These abilities are enhanced by stakeholder involvement through good two-way communications. Because the importance of the communications effort is high, in addition to this change management plan, a communications plan detailing the specific efforts that will be made to engage stakeholders should be developed.

Training. The success of any implementation depends on having welltrained end users who are comfortable with their knowledge and skill in using both the SEP approach and the deliverable being managed. Good training fosters acceptance of new work processes, efficiency of processing, and accuracy in data collection. Training includes, but is not limited to, classroom training, on-the-job training, the production and use of user guides, and the update of specific company guidance.

Workforce Planning. Changes in business practices and the introduction of new computer systems and software, which may require new job skills, may affect the nature of work in the new project effort. The Change Management Team (CMT) usually consists of a group of three or four people whose responsibility it is to identify changes to workload and workforce planning issues. Working with management, the CMT will facilitate a review of the impact that implementation may have on employee skills and assigned duties in order to develop a plan to address any proposed workforce changes.

Evaluation. In order to assess success, the CMT should use several evaluation methods. On a continuing basis, the efforts of the CMT will be evaluated and measured for success based on established performance measures and critical success factors. These performance measures and critical success factors will correlate with those established for the other parts of the project. A critical success factor might include workforce acceptance of best practices and use of the system. Conventional methods for evaluation and measurement to be used will generally include strategically planned surveys, questionnaires, interviews with appropriate personnel, and other activities for feedback from those affected by the new or changed system.

For any change management process to work, one must recognize that the greatest risk to the successful implementation of an enterprisewide system is the failure to take into consideration major aspects of change management. Poor communications, training, and workforce planning lead to a lack of acceptance of business changes and poor performance at the enduser level. In some cases, failure to provide for adequate change management planning results in the loss of millions of dollars in failed or delayed implementation. Ensure the project management team understands the need for a substantial chage management effort and has devoted the necessary fiscal and human resources to it.

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