Brent Colescott

Leading Innovation in Learning

Mikey Likes Change Management

Mikey Likes Change Management

“He likes it!  Mikey Likes it!”  Remember that great cereal commercial from our youth.  Wouldn’t you love to hear that from the employees in your organization as they adopt the latest platform or system.  You can!  If you’re experiencing adoption problems from your users on your latest ERP, LMS, Performance Platform, or any other HR Tech then you’re not leveraging the power of Change Management.  Project Management ensures your technology will be deployed and work.  Change Management ensures someone will actually WANT to use it.

Five years ago I was formerly introduced to Change Management as a discipline.  Since that time, I’ve seen how truly important Change Management can be in determining the success or failure of a project.  I’d almost say, if Project Management is the Peanut Butter, then Change Management is the Jelly. When the two are practiced together there is a greater chance of success.  

Ok, enough – so what exactly do you mean when you say “Change Management?”  Here’s a definition for today’s purpose: a structured approach to transitioningindividuals, teams and organizations from a current state to desired future state, aimed at employeeempowerment for accepting change in the work environment.  Or, if you want the more realistic definition, HOW DO YOU GET STAFF OFF OF EXCEL AND ONTO YOUR ENTERPRISE CLOUD BASED SYSTEM?

I’ve done plenty of platform upgrades and installations in my career.  More often than not it, there was always a focus on the technology with some cheesy marketing campaign at the end of the project.  Because in the good ole days, users didn’t have a choice.  The company is upgrading / installing – “ok, provide some training and then push it out – they HAVE to use it.”  Well, we see where that has brought us to – poorly adopted systems with lackluster data.  Of course, that’s if you get the system deployed.  I’ve been on my share of “Death Marches” as well where the project just simply ends. 

One of my first professional jobs was being a Project Manager, actually the first in the company I worked at the time.  In the early days it was an uphill battle to get people to follow Project Management disciplines.  Everything PM related was perceived as extra effort.  Thankfully that has changed as Project Management principles continue to demonstrate their value, and project teams have come to understand and appreciate them.  I see this same path happening for Change Management.

To put it simply, Change Management is very similar to Sales (apologies to Change Management Professionals) 😊  The challenge is to “sell” the change in a manner that will have users “buying” the change.  Change Management employs multiple processes throughout the ENTIRE project lifecycle, not just at the end to ensure user adoption.  Above I mentioned my first true encounter with Change Management; that was a textbook study in the dismissal of it’s power and the predictable result.

My responsibility at the time was to develop training for an Oracle implementation.  The intent was to get the Finance group off of their Excel spreadsheets and onto the very robust Oracle platform.  Unfortunately for the organization, it did not go well.  Early on in the project the firm I contracted for training module development recommended adding a Change Management Consultant.  I agreed and immediately saw the value.  The organization however, did not. 

Living on the Gulf Coast Hurricane Season is a way of life.  Every June we prepare with necessary staples to ensure our safety after the power goes out.  It’s the preparation that pays off in the event a Hurricane hits.  With the HR Perfect Storm, Change Management is the preparation that will allow you to thrive with the storm. 

My favorite quote of all time is: “If you don’t like change, you’ll like irrelevance even less.” Lately I find myself saying this quote more often every day.  Change is happening all around us and in our organizations.  However, the ability to thrive through change, versus becoming “irrelevant,” is the biggest challenge most will face.