Enterprise Change Management: what you need to know

“Change is inevitable, Growth is optional.” - John Maxwell

In a world that is constantly in flux, and where each new challenge requires a unique and flexible solution, we need to be skilled in managing change and learn how to maximise the results from it. For your organisation to have the competitive advantage, your employees need to be able to constantly and consistently adapt to emerging situations and scenarios. Everyone needs to be good, and probably great, at change. That said, change management at an enterprise level, and building it as a core competency for everyone, is often easier said than done.

Having a consistent change management framework in your organisation will enable a quick and agile response to change when it is required.

It is not an easy journey, and it is worth noting that achieving the highest levels of organisational change maturity is, in itself, best realised as a structured and intentional project.

After all, only 3% of organisations achieve the highest levels of change maturity, according to Prosci's research. However, those organisations that do reach the summit enjoy almost double the project success rate than the lowest. That's tangible competitive advantage.

So, what is this journey of Enterprise Change Management and how should you implement it in your organisation?

For a start, ECM is distinct from Change Management. Change Management is defined as "the process, tools and techniques to manage the people side of change". Change Management involves understanding the change that is being implemented, analysing the people that will be impacted by the change strategy, by creating actions that will help drive the successful implementation of the change from the people-perspective.

Enterprise Change Management (ECM) is the deployment of change management competencies across an entire organisation. Enterprise Change Management ensures that succinct and effective change management is deployed on all projects and changes throughout the organisation. Developing organisational change management capability demands effort, planning, goal setting and investment.

Build change capability

The more you weave change management into the fabric of your organisation, the better you can manage the people side of change. And doing so on an ongoing basis enables your organisation to adopt more changes, more quickly.

Download this Prosci Why Building Change Capability is a Smart Investment eBook.

“Growth and comfort do not co-exist.” - Ginni Rometty

Many senior leaders optimistically hope that a single announcement from them plus sending their staff on a training course will bring immediate results. But deploying change management across an organisation is not a simple task. In order to build organisational competencies in change management and build a change management office (CMO), you must fundamentally change how an entire organisation reacts to change. The more effective and mature an organisation’s change management capabilities are, the more likely it is that critical projects will succeed.

Drawing on best practices of many of the popular approaches, you need to build organisational change capability, with clear and attainable goals.

The benefits and results of incorporating a change management office within an organisation are undeniable. With organisations 5x more likely to stay on or ahead of schedule, and 2x more likely to stay on or under budget. Establishing a change management office encourages organisations with an embedded change management capability to be twice as successful on projects.

Strengthen the foundations

Building the best Change Management Office (CMO) for your organisation requires much consideration and deliberation for how it can holistically fit within your current structure to accomplish your enterprise change management goals.

Watch the Webinar now.

“The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” ― William Arthur Ward

You could have a well thought out change management plan ready to be implemented throughout your organisation. You could have analysed, planned and believe that you have all the elements in place in order to deliver a successful change. Yet, according to research, your change could fail to be adopted and utilised if your sponsor is not effectively fulfilling the responsibilities required of the role.
According to Prosci's 2020 Best Practices in Change Management report, 72% of respondents with extremely effective sponsors met their objectives compared to 29% with extremely ineffective sponsors.

There are 3 key roles that participants of Prosci’s Best Practices Research have identified for sponsors.
Firstly, your sponsor must be seen as being active and visible thus displaying as a prominent member of the organisation that they are on board with the change and supportive of the efforts to implement it successfully. This encourages organisational cohesion and creates a “we’re all in this together” team-working environment.

Secondly, the sponsor must be seen communicating directly with all sections of the organisation. Too often sponsors delegate key communications at an organisational level to those in more junior positions. This could potentially lead to the overarching message becoming seemingly watered down when delivered by those who must confer with their bosses before affirming or denying key decisions.

Thirdly, sponsors must be seen building a coalition. A cohort of leaders who fully support and encourage the changes being made, iterating it throughout the entire organisation. Motivating the other leaders and stakeholders who may not be so welcoming of the change is key, attempting to dissuade any points of resistance and create advocates for the change and legitimise it within their different areas of the organisation

The sponsor’s key responsibilities are to ensure that the change management goals are aligned with the entire organisation’s strategy, to help garner support from senior executives and overcome resistance to the change and to provide direction throughout the change process by directly engaging with those impacted.

Manage resistance effectively

Knowing how to manage resistance in your change management practice is absolutely critical to success. Without effective resistance management, adoption and usage comes into immediate risk, and could pose project issues downstream.

Watch the webinar now.

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present, are certain to miss the future." ― John F. Kennedy

Organisations that build their change management capability are more capable of managing regular change, and by continuously challenging themselves, they will be in a stronger position when the next unforeseen change occurs. They will respond with more dexterity, quickness, and more agility.

When you treat and manage your efforts to internalise change management as a project and a change in your organisation, you have embarked on what we call Project ECM. We use the phrase "Project ECM" to reinforce that this is an effort that must be managed like a project.

Download your Building Enterprise Change Capability with Project ECM document to learn about the current, transition and future states for a successful Project ECM along with descriptions and examples.

Develop your project and change management plan

Our webinar on “Building Enterprise Change Capability with Project ECM”, will help you develop your project and change management plan to institutionalise change management as a fundamental competency across your business.

Watch the webinar now.

“When people act on your message, they begin to change. They don't just change their behaviour, they change their identity.”
― Dr Michelle Mazur

Prosci’s Best Practices Research states that executives are the preferred senders of organisational messages about organisational change. Communication plays a vital role in every stage of a change management project. From having face-to-face discussions with employees about the business reasons for the change and what's in it for them to participate, to getting other internal stakeholders on board as well as effective sponsorship endorsement, it is important to convey your messages in ways which will be understood by everyone involved, whatever their role.

It is important to understand the difference between how a project manager, a change manager and a colleague impacted by the change, may approach communications.

Prosci defines 3 critical roles for executives: active and visible sponsorship, coalition building and communicating directly:
Taking time to show an executive how to use the organisation’s chosen virtual communication platform proficiently, for those meetings when they can actively and visibly promote its use to employees.
Connecting with other executives and leaders so they are aligned with the messaging for the changes that are necessary.
Booking out time in the diary of an executive so they can join the start of a meeting to thank employees for their continued effort during the change process.

“Organisational change leadership is about effectively and proactively articulating the vision, modelling the new way and intervening to ensure sustainable change”
― Peter F Gallagher

73% of organisations report that they are at or past the point of change saturation, i.e. where the volume and pace of change are more than the organisation is collectively able to absorb and adapt to extract full business value or ROI. Change fatigue is one of the most commonly recognised symptoms of change saturation and arises when an organisation's capacity for change is outstripped by the disruptions caused by the cumulative change. The threshold for change saturation is highly variable and will differ amongst individuals, groups and projects within an organisation. These factors combine to create an organisation saturation point.

Change saturation is detrimental to any organisation and when the threshold is surpassed the implications on an organisations operations are unsustainable and costly. An appropriate change management strategy is essential to minimising the disruptive influences of change on an organisation.

Would you like to learn more about the five levels of change management assessment?

Download your free copy of Prosci's Five Levels of Change Management Maturity Model to delve deeper into the five levels and gain an insight into the steps you can utilise to progress your organisation into the higher levels of change management maturity.

Enterprise Change Management:

What You Need To Know

Build change capability

We have no clear, strategic plan or intentional goals.

Strengthen the foundations

There is a lack of executive understanding of or sponsorship for our organisation becoming better at change

Manage resistance effectively

We don’t know why or where to start in building this capability.

Develop your project and change management plan

The executive team is faced with communication challenges when it comes to organisational change… what should I do?

My organisation is faced with change saturation and we don't know how to resolve this

“Organisational change leadership is about effectively and proactively articulating the vision, modelling the new way and intervening to ensure sustainable change”
― Peter F Gallagher

Would you like to learn more about the five levels of change management assessment?

Get in touch to discuss how we can help you build your change capability

Enterprise Change Management:

What You Need To Know

Build change capability

We have no clear, strategic plan or intentional goals.

Strengthen the foundations

There is a lack of executive understanding of or sponsorship for our organisation becoming better at change

Manage resistance effectively

We don’t know why or where to start in building this capability.

Develop your project and change management plan

The executive team is faced with communication challenges when it comes to organisational change… what should I do?

My organisation is faced with change saturation and we don't know how to resolve this

“Organisational change leadership is about effectively and proactively articulating the vision, modelling the new way and intervening to ensure sustainable change”― Peter F Gallagher

Would you like to learn more about the five levels of change management assessment?

Get in touch to discuss how we can help you build your change capability

The Best Way to Stay Change-Ready

“Organisational change leadership is about effectively and proactively articulating the vision, modelling the new way and intervening to ensure sustainable change”
― Peter F Gallagher