Bridging the Gap Between Agile and Change Management: Key Principles for Success

Bridging the Gap Between Agile and Change Management: Key Principles for Success

In the ever-evolving landscape of project management and software development, Agile has transcended its origins and become a versatile approach applied not only in software development but also in project and operations management. As Agile gains popularity, change practitioners are increasingly aligning their strategies to support Agile environments. This article explores the fundamental principles of Agile and how they dovetail with change management, highlighting the valuable lessons we can draw from Agile’s evolution.

The Convergence of Agile and Change Management

Agile’s Expansion Beyond Software Development

Agile, initially conceived for software development, has expanded its horizons to encompass project management and operations. The principles that underpin Agile, outlined in the Agile Manifesto, have become a guiding light for many across various industries. With methodologies like Scrum, Kanban, and Refactoring, Agile can be applied at different levels, from project teams to program and portfolio management.

Change Management and Agile: A Harmonious Union

Having personally gone through the Scaled Agile certification process, I was struck by how many fundamental change management principles are deeply embedded within Agile. In my multi-day training course, case studies, and examination, I realized that many concepts that are considered common sense in change management are sometimes perceived as ‘new’ for technical leads or project managers in an Agile context. Agile inherently incorporates principles that change managers have advocated for a long time.

Foundational Change Management Principles in Agile

1. Individual Interactions Over Processes and Tools

In technology-driven environments, technical professionals are highly regarded for their problem-solving skills. The typical response to issues or improvement opportunities is to seek technical solutions. However, the Agile Manifesto focuses on people and interactions. It stresses that teams perform at their best when they maintain constant interaction to ensure effective communication, clarity, and understanding of the work at hand. For instance, a study by McKinsey found that projects with strong team interactions deliver on their objectives 95% of the time, while those lacking strong collaboration only succeed 50% of the time. This principle resonates strongly with change managers, who have consistently advocated for a focus on people and behaviors as central to change management success.

2. Early Involvement of Stakeholders

Agile projects move swiftly, making it crucial to involve stakeholders early in the project development lifecycle. Early engagement ensures clear alignment, fosters relationships among team members, and helps draw out assumptions and set expectations. For example, a survey conducted by Prosci revealed that projects involving early stakeholder engagement had a 74% success rate, compared to only 31% for projects that did not engage stakeholders early. This aligns with change management practices, which emphasize engaging stakeholders early to secure buy-in and alignment. Beyond formal communication, it encourages open dialogue and the testing of assumptions for early clarity across the project team.

3. Empowering Team Members

Traditionally, project managers held the reins in decision-making across all aspects of a project, including solution features and task allocation. Agile challenges this command-and-control model by empowering teams to make these decisions. Effective Agile teams are often self-organized, with project managers transitioning to coaching and enabling roles. For example, a study by Gallup found that empowered teams have 21% higher productivity and 28% less absenteeism. This empowerment aligns with the core principles of change management, which emphasize team dynamics and employee empowerment as essential for team development and engagement.

4. Cross Collaboration

Agile projects thrive on the diverse collaboration of team members from different disciplines and departments. This diversity of thought leads to more innovative ideas, as it brings different perspectives to problem-solving. For example, a report by Deloitte found that organizations with cross-functional teams are 1.7 times more likely to be leaders in innovation. Agile practices, such as cross-team daily stand-ups, release planning, and retrospectives, require different disciplines to come together and contribute to the project. Change management has long focused on breaking down silos and promoting collaborative behaviors, using workshops, communication, campaigns, and leadership influence to foster the right culture and behaviors for successful outcomes.

5. Designing Bite-Sized Changes

One of Agile’s fundamental principles is the idea that, instead of launching large, all-encompassing changes, it’s better to break them down into smaller, iterative pieces. This approach allows for continuous learning and improvement and mitigates the risk of major failures. Change management aligns with this principle by assessing the change capability and capacity of impacted audience groups. For instance, a case study by Prosci showed that an organization that implemented small, incremental changes had a 20% higher user adoption rate compared to organizations that introduced major changes all at once. Smaller, bite-sized changes are easier for users to accept, preventing change fatigue and disruptions to business as usual.

6. Leadership

Agile explicitly acknowledges that organizational managers and leaders bear the ultimate responsibility for the adoption, success, and continuous improvement of lean practices. Leaders must steer the organization towards agile and lean behaviors, role-model the right behaviors, create an environment conducive to team success, and ensure continuous team learning. Leadership plays a central role in change management, driving transformation, and cannot be delegated.

Agile and Change Management in Action: Best Practices

As we’ve explored the evolving landscape of project management and software development, it’s clear that Agile is no longer confined to its origins. It has become a versatile approach, expanding beyond software development to encompass project and operations management. With Agile’s growing popularity, change practitioners are increasingly aligning their strategies to support Agile environments. In this article, we’ve delved into the fundamental principles of Agile and how they seamlessly integrate with change management. Now, let’s take a closer look at real-world best practices with actionable advice and examples that illustrate the power of combining Agile and change management in practical scenarios.

What’s more, we provide actionable advice that you can apply directly to your projects. Whether you’re leading a software development team or managing a complex change initiative, the best practices we showcase can be tailored to suit your specific needs. From effective stakeholder engagement techniques to strategies for empowering your teams, you’ll find practical steps to ensure your projects thrive. For example, implementing daily stand-up meetings for cross-functional teams can significantly enhance collaboration and idea exchange within your projects.

By incorporating these best practices, organizations can harness the full potential of Agile and change management to adapt, innovate, and achieve exceptional results. With expert guidance and empirical evidence of successful benchmarks, you can confidently implement these principles in your projects, ensuring success in even the most complex and dynamic environments.

The synergy between Agile and change management is undeniable. Agile principles, which emphasize people, collaboration, empowerment, and adaptability, align remarkably well with the foundational principles of change management. Whether transitioning from a technical background to Agile or integrating Agile into change management practices, it’s essential to recognize that Agile is more about mindset and principles than specific technicalities. By embracing these shared principles, change management and Agile become a harmonious partnership, working together to drive successful transformations and project outcomes.

To learn more about how The Change Compass can help you bridge the gap between Agile and change management, book a weekly demo with us.

Ultimate guide to change portfolio management

Ultimate guide to change portfolio management

The change management profession has grown by leaps and bounds. This is proportional to the speed and magnitude of change that organizations are currently going through. To manage this complexity, a lot of large organizations have created ‘enterprise change management’ or ‘portfolio change management roles’ to tackle this.

In the same way that there are portfolio managers to manage a suite of projects, organizations are realizing that portfolio change managers may be needed to effectively drive change success. Like the portfolio manager, the portfolio change manager also manages a particular group of initiatives. This grouping is usually done based on the size of change initiatives and or business groups. There are also examples of groupings by ‘value stream’ or program clusters. For example, a portfolio change manager may be in charge of all technology projects and supporting the technology group, whilst another portfolio change manager support sales and marketing initiatives or back office groups.

To download our infographic on how to manage a change portfolio click here.

As a new field, there is not a lot of ‘how-do’ guides for the new portfolio change manager. A quick scan of the internet found very little substance in term of all facets of the work of the portfolio change manager. This guide is written to fill this gap and to help those starting out in this role or decisions makers considering creating such roles to build change effectiveness.

To effectively manage the change initiatives within the portfolio, the change portfolio manager needs to proactively work on the below 7 key areas:

 

Marketing group working on presentation. Scrum meeting, teamwork, task list. Business concept. Vector illustration can be used for presentation slides, landing pages, and posters

1) Service offering

Defining the service you are offering to the organization is one of the most critical activities. To do this, you need to conduct an assessment of where the organization is at and its various needs for change management services. Key questions to ask include:

  • How mature is the organization in managing change? You may want to refer to the Change Management Institute’s model of Change Maturity here to understand the different stages of organizational change maturity
  • How much change is the organization going through? This will help determine the capacity of services required
  • How much investment is the organization willing to make to support change management? There may be a budget already set or you may need to make a recommendation based on any available internal or external benchmarks
  • What are the most critical needs? Conduct stakeholder interviews or workshops with senior managers, middle managers and frontline groups to understand current change challenges holistically.

After understanding the needs of the organizations and where the organization would like to head to in its change management objectives, one can then define services required.

Common services offered by a portfolio change manager or portfolio change management function includes:

  1. Change project delivery services (e.g. change impact assessment, change planning, stakeholder management, etc.)
  2. Change diagnostics (e.g. initiative change health assessment)
  3. Change capability improvement offerings (e.g. training, workshop facilitation, leadership assessments)
  4. Coaching and advisory (e.g. for managers and leaders in driving change)

2) Service Delivery

After defining the service provision, the next activity to focus on is how these services will be delivered. This depends on organizational needs, resources available and the skills of available practitioners in the group.   Examples of service delivery options include:

  • Low involvement – Consultation

    1. Change activities are managed and driven by the business or project teams with targeted support from the Change group
    2. The change group is engaged as required over the life cycle of the project to provide guidance and consultation
    3. In terms of change capability, this involves advising and consulting with the business as required
  • Moderate involvement – Partnering

    1. Change activities are mostly delivered by the Change group with ongoing involvement from the business and the project team
    2. A resource is assigned to support the initiative over the whole life cycle. However, this may not require 100% full-time support and involvement may ramp up or down depending on project needs
    3. In terms of change capability, this involves working on significant pieces of deliverables such as change capability intervention design and delivery
  • High involvement – Full Delivery

    1. Under the full delivery model the Change group is directly accountable for managing all change deliverables, working alongside the project and business teams
    2. One or more full-time Change resource may be assigned to the whole project lifecycle, including specialists such as communications, learning or even organization design leads
    3. In terms of change capability, this involves significant work on a range of change capability interventions such as a range of learning programs, building air traffic control systems and individual leadership effectiveness assessment and coaching

3) Manage resourcing & Forecasting demand

Depending on the services offered and business requirements, the Change team composition may look different. For example, for some organizations where the need is more on coaching and advisory services, fewer but more senior Change practitioners may be needed. On the other hand, for another organization where the focus is more on project delivery, the focus may be placed on a number of Change Managers and Change Analysts to support initiative delivery.

Key decision should be placed on achieving a balance of permanent headcounts versus contractors. Permanent in-house practitioners will have a deeper understanding of organizational needs and how the organization works. Contractor staffing is beneficial so as to allow the flexing or resources up or down across initiatives. Organizations that only rely on Change contractors usually fail to significantly build business change capability and maturity over time. This is because over time Change Management is seen by the business to be an activity done by contractor practitioners, thus not diluting their accountability. The group may also leverage external providers as needed for specialist skills or to offset any requirement peaks.

Forecasting demand is an important activity to get right so as not to set stakeholder expectations that cannot be fulfilled. Demand forecasting for Change services involves the following:

  1. Extrapolating any change capability organizational requirements into anticipated FTE resource levels. This may be done in consultation with the project management office (PMO), Human Resources and Senior Managers
  2. In resourcing for project delivery, the team needs to work closely with the PMO and project portfolio managers to anticipate demand. The Change group should also align with the PMO on any prioritization processes so as to be ‘joint-at-the-hip’ in focusing on critical initiatives that have been agreed to be the most strategic and valuable first and foremost.
  3. In scoping for each initiative the Change group needs to ensure that it is included and involved in the inception of the initiative. Often Change professionals are engaged when the project is well into implementation and when it may be too late to ‘fix’ any change issues. To adequately scope an initiative key questions to be asked include:
    1. How many parts of the business is impacted? How many employees?
    2. What is the magnitude of the impact?
  • What is the complexity of the change? Is it innovative or disruptive? Do we anticipate significant transitional efforts involved?
  1. What are the behavioural impacts?
  2. Are customers impacted?
  3. How are key stakeholder groups impacted? Could there be potential for stakeholder sensitivities?

To support purely agile projects, the Change group needs to define change deliverables throughout each phase of the initiative delivery cycle. From then, determine the resource requirement. Foundational change management work will still be applicable within an agile environment, including conducting change impact assessment, planning for change, measuring readiness for change and building business transition capability.

 

 

 

4) Portfolio management

At the lower end of the maturity curve, the Portfolio Change Manager may spend most of the time scoping for change resources, managing delivery, managing change professionals and liaising with key stakeholders. These are absolutely necessary activities. However, to really move up the strategic ladder the Portfolio Change Manager also needs to be able to influence the planning of the initiative portfolio versus only focusing on the delivery end of the curve.

In most organizations the PMO is tasked with managing the initiative investment and planning process. Most would refer to strategic objectives and goals and through this define the overall slate of initiatives for the coming year. Key data used include financial targets, initiative benefits, initiative resourcing and investment cost, and timing. The Portfolio Change Manager is often not involved in this process at all, or best, invited for comments around ‘change saturation’ or ‘change collision’ that are not substantiated by hard data.

To be at the decision table in planning effectively for change, the Portfolio Change Manager needs to be equipped with data to aid insight and decision making. How? By building an integrated view of change impacts. Currently, a lot of organizations still use a series of disjointed spreadsheets to try and articulate the change impacts across initiatives. The problem with this is is that:

  1. The data is based on a person’s judgment in terms of whether an initiative has high, medium or low impacts, and not linked to structured impact assessments
  2. The three categories of high, medium and low are mostly inadequate when the organization is going through a significant number of initiatives. Each category could include such a big range of impacts that it may not be precise enough for the business to use this data. Can the business use this data to forecast frontline impact and resourcing levels? Definitely no.
  3. The spreadsheet is also extremely manual, consuming significant time. And it also becomes out of date very quickly and so may not be trusted by senior leaders or the PMO. Large companies often have more than 100 initiatives. At this scale, a manual spreadsheet is inadequate to meet business needs.

To address this problem, The Change Compass is a digital tool designed to make it easier for the Change Portfolio Manager or the PMO to piece together all the change impacts across change initiatives. Each initiative owner inputs change impact data and the system prompts the user to update the data. The interface is intuitive and draws out the impacts step by step. The Portfolio Change Manager and other managers are able to instantly generate various reports. In a nutshell it helps the organization to manage the ‘air traffic control’ of landing initiatives. Moreover, it enables:

  • Single view of change impacts on the business, and allows diagnostic view at different organizational levels, e.g. team, sub-division, divisional and enterprise levels
  • Forecast business operations readiness and resourcing impacts from changes, e.g. frontline resourcing required, engagement channels required, stakeholder groups impacted, etc.
  • Measure/Model impact of changes on business performance indicators.  Understand correlation between change impact and customer satisfaction, service availability or other measures
  • View integrated heat map of all change impacts on customer experience, customer segment by customer segment
  • Build business change capability through change data and effective routines
  • Upgrade change work to become more strategic, leveraging data to have strategic conversations and support data-based business decision making
  • Support agile ways of working through managing iterative and continuous change across the board

To check out our article on how to better manage a change portfolio click here.

5) Change Governance

The Portfolio Change Manager should work with the PMO and senior managers to ensure the appropriate governance and routines are designed and set up. To do this, analyse the business requirements in connecting different stakeholder groups to ensure alignment, buy-in, visibility and ownership of the initiative slate. Portfolio change governance bodies should include attendance by PMO, senior business leaders and the Portfolio Change Manager should focus on reporting and tracking on business impacts, business readiness, delivery milestones and delivery risk identification and mitigation.

Typical routines that the Portfolio Change Manager should assist in establishing include:

  1. Business unit level change planning and cadence (focused on initiative delivery)
  2. Business unit level change capability and program intervention planning and tracking (focused on change maturity)
  3. Initiative portfolio level planning, risk management and tracking
  4. Change team meeting
  5. As needed, enterprise level change planning and cadence

6) Change metrics and reporting

Whilst change impact data is critical to support the work of change governance bodies, there are other initiative-level metrics that the Portfolio Change Manager needs to be focused on in tracking and reporting. These include:

  1. Change readiness surveys
  2. Learning and development tracking and results
  3. Communication metrics such as hit rate or readership rate
  4. Stakeholder confidence ratings

7) Methodology & tools

Currently, there is a significant trend of moving towards agile project methodology in most large organizations. This means that there are less focus and reliance on documentation, long planning cycles but more on effective conversations, stakeholder alignment, and constant iteration and learning. On top of this, a lot of organization are also moving toward scaled agile methodology (agile at organizational level vs. within an initiative). The Portfolio Change Manager needs to define key change deliverables and work approaches that suit his/her organization (acknowledging that agile may not suit every organization or every initiative).

Having effective change tools means that the business can self-help and the change practitioner can better coach and develop the business. For the Portfolio Change Manager useful tools may include:

  • Change scoping assessment tool for initiatives
  • Change resource estimation tool
  • Change Impact Assessment template/tool
  • Change plan template. For agile environments this would be the Change Canvas
  • Capability and skills assessment
  • Change readiness assessment
  • Change framework for the business to help uplift change capability. This should focus on key change outcomes and competencies for any change leader, written in a language they can understand

The Portfolio Change Manager is tasked with a complex set of tasks in driving a set of change initiatives for the organization. He/she needs to have the people skills to influence a range of stakeholders to transition to the new state. In addition, the person needs to possess business acumen and analytical skills to support the PMO and senior managers to make the right decisions to drive change across initiatives. Whilst not exhaustive, this guide calls out key critical areas undertaken by the Portfolio Change Manager. To be successful going forward, the Portfolio Change Manager needs to constantly deliver value and provide insight through leveraging digital tools and hard data to be at the decision-making table.

Check out our Ultimate guide to agile for change managers.

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A Comprehensive Guide to Elevating Change Management Maturity

A Comprehensive Guide to Elevating Change Management Maturity

In the rapidly evolving landscape of today’s organizations, adaptability and agility have become more than just buzzwords; they are essential for survival and growth. The traditional approach of executing projects on an ad hoc basis is giving way to a strategic imperative—building change management maturity. This shift is not merely a choice but a compelling competitive advantage.

Recent statistics underscore the urgency of this change. According to a survey by Gitnux, more than 80% of businesses face increasing pressure to adapt to market forces, including technological advancements and evolving customer expectations. In this environment, mature organizations can respond swiftly to market dynamics and implement strategic initiatives with unparalleled precision and speed.

Two prominent models have emerged as guiding beacons in this transformative journey: the Change Management Institute (CMI) Change Maturity Model and Prosci’s Change Management Maturity Model. Both models are deeply entrenched in the concept of organizational competency levels, offering a structured framework comprising five progressive maturity levels. 

In this article, we will embark on an enlightening journey, exploring the foundations of these two prominent change management maturity models, uncovering their intricacies, and paving the way for a more holistic approach to change management. Additionally, we will delve into the critical role of various organizational functions, shedding light on how they can actively contribute to the organization’s change maturity.

CMI Change Maturity Model

The Change Management Institute (CMI) Change Maturity Model is a comprehensive framework that takes a holistic approach to enhancing an organization’s change management maturity. It’s divided into three core functional domains, each playing a vital role in the overall journey toward maturity: Project Change Management, Business Change Readiness, and Strategic Change Leadership. These domains serve as the foundation for achieving higher levels of maturity within the organization.

Within each of these domains, the CMI model outlines a structured path, consisting of five distinct maturity levels. These levels represent a continuum, starting at Level 1, which serves as the foundational stage, and progressing all the way to Level 5, the zenith of maturity and effectiveness. This multi-tiered approach offers organizations a clear roadmap for growth and development, ensuring that they have the tools and insights necessary to navigate the complexities of change management.

The distinguishing feature of the CMI model is its emphasis on the idea that true change maturity extends beyond the realm of project execution. While executing individual projects is undoubtedly important, the CMI model advocates for a broader perspective. It recognizes that sustainable change maturity relies on the cultivation of readiness for change across the entire organization. This involves preparing teams, leaders, and employees to adapt to and embrace change seamlessly, making it an integral part of the organizational culture.

Furthermore, the CMI model underscores the indispensable role of change leadership and governance in nurturing change maturity. Effective leadership is the driving force behind successful change initiatives, and it’s the cornerstone of achieving higher levels of maturity. Governance structures ensure that change management practices are not just theoretical concepts but are woven into the fabric of how the organization operates on a day-to-day basis. Governance provides the necessary framework for sustaining change maturity in the long run.

 

Prosci Change Maturity Model

In contrast to the more specific functional domains emphasized by the CMI model, the Prosci Change Maturity Model takes a broader perspective, focusing on the development of overall organizational change management competency. Rather than zeroing in on individual functions, it provides a generic framework that covers key areas integral to building change maturity. These areas include:

Project Execution: The model places a strong emphasis on effective project execution as a cornerstone of change management maturity. It recognizes that the successful implementation of change initiatives hinges on well-executed projects, including detailed planning and efficient execution.

Business Capability and Readiness: Understanding the readiness and capability of the organization is another critical component. The Prosci model highlights the significance of assessing an organization’s readiness to undergo change, including the ability to adapt to new strategies, technologies, and processes.

Senior Change Leadership: Leadership is vital in steering the organization toward maturity. The model underlines the importance of senior change leadership, emphasizing that leaders play a pivotal role in setting the tone for change, championing initiatives, and fostering a culture of adaptability.

Formalized Practices and Organizational Awareness

One of the key drivers for elevating maturity, according to the Prosci model, is the establishment of formalized change management practices. This includes developing and implementing standardized methodologies to ensure consistent change management approaches across the organization. Furthermore, the model advocates for creating widespread organizational awareness about the significance of change management and its role in achieving successful outcomes.

The Role of Change Management Training

A cornerstone of the Prosci model’s approach to maturity is the incorporation of comprehensive change management training. This training equips individuals within the organization with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively manage change initiatives. It emphasizes the importance of investing in the development of internal change management expertise.

While both the CMI and Prosci models address the critical areas of project, business, and change leadership in driving change maturity, they diverge in their approaches. The CMI model offers a broader perspective, highlighting the importance of agility and continuous improvement as essential components of maturity. It places a strong emphasis on crafting the right cadence, establishing efficient business processes, and implementing robust governance practices. In contrast, the Prosci model, while equally comprehensive, provides less specific guidance on embedding change practices within the organization’s fabric and processes. Instead, it places a strong focus on the effective implementation of change initiatives.

What’s Missing in Current Change Maturity Models?

The lacuna in existing change maturity models becomes evident when we consider the need to genuinely embed change management principles and practices within an organization’s DNA. True integration transcends the mere execution of initiatives and building change capabilities among leaders and employees. It calls for collaboration across multifarious functions, including Risk Management, Marketing, Strategy, and Human Resources, to engrain change principles and practices. The focus is on holistic change capability, encompassing different functional areas. This approach fosters a culture where practices, capabilities, and supporting structures converge to enable continuous change.

In the following sections, we’ll explore examples of how change management principles and practices can be applied across seven key functions: Risk Management, Strategy and Planning, Operations, Project Management, Human Resources, Technology, and Marketing.

1. Risk Management

Change management principles and practices can enhance risk management by offering valuable insights into change-related risks. Risk professionals can leverage change management analytics to assess data-based risk factors, such as business readiness indicators and the potential impact of changes on the organization and its customers. Armed with this data, risk professionals can make informed assessments, helping the organization better understand risk profiles and make well-informed decisions.

2. Strategy and Planning

Strategic planning should not only focus on industry trends and financial data but also incorporate change capability assessments. Considerations should include the availability of change leadership talent, the organization’s capacity for executing change, and the historical performance related to change volume and velocity. The strategic roadmap should integrate historical data on change impact volumes and execution, enabling effective planning. Supporting structures and processes, including governance, reporting, and communities of practice, should be designed to ensure successful change execution.

3. Operations

Operations is a core domain for change management. This function offers numerous opportunities for applying change best practices. It involves building change management capabilities in employees and managers, enhancing employee engagement channels, and facilitating effective learning and development. With the right change data and analytics, Operations can strategically plan business delivery by making predictive assessments of performance based on projected change impacts. The key lies in systematically integrating analysis and decision-making processes within the operating cadence.

4. Project Management

This is the most familiar territory for change management. Many organizations have dedicated change managers responsible for project delivery. The conventional practices of change management, including capability building, change methodologies, portfolio management, and project delivery, are all part of the project management function.

5. Human Resources

Human Resources often plays a central role in supporting the people side of change. The function includes building change management capabilities as part of learning and development efforts. However, there’s substantial value in managing restructuring initiatives as change projects, and adhering to structured change management practices. This structured approach ensures that affected stakeholders are appropriately engaged, and processes, systems, and supporting structures impacted by change are meticulously mapped.

6. Technology

Change management is not limited to large projects; it extends to technology changes that impact stakeholders and users. Even smaller technology initiatives can benefit from the application of change management principles. Change management analytics can facilitate better technology releases and deployments. By considering change impact data, organizations can plan technical releases more effectively, taking into account organizational impacts.

7. Marketing and Customer Experience

Change management practices can play a pivotal role in marketing and customer experience functions. Customer change impacts, such as external positioning and alignment with customer needs, should be integral to marketing campaigns, product launches, and communications. These practices, including impact assessment, change analytics, and change planning, enable organizations to deliver what they promise to customers.

In closing, the true value of change maturity emerges when it becomes a part of various organizational functions. It’s not just about developing isolated methodologies or supporting initiative delivery; it’s about becoming an organization where change is seamlessly integrated into every facet.

Ready to Elevate Your Change Maturity?

The journey to achieving a higher level of change maturity begins with holistic integration within your organization. If you’re interested in exploring how The Change Compass can help you in this transformative process, we invite you to book a weekly demo with us.

Book Your Weekly Demo with The Change Compass and embark on your path toward comprehensive change management maturity.

How to create strategic and quantitative change reporting

How to create strategic and quantitative change reporting

A typical scenario for a lot of program meetings goes something like this. The program spends the bulk of the time discussing program cost, delivery progress, technical risks and resourcing challenges. And when it comes to Change Management reporting, we are often left with a few anecdotes from stakeholder interviews, and often the only real quantitative reporting comes in the forms of training completion, readiness surveys, and email communications hit rates.

One wonders why Change Management is often glossed over as fluffy and soft vs. strategic and quantitative. Even for those who intuitively believe that managing change ought to be important, most lack quantitative data that demonstrate clearly how change progress directly impacts business outcomes.

How does a business manager, program or a change practitioner demonstrate the true strategic value of tracking change initiatives in order to highlight any risks and achievements? In particular with a group of initiatives.

Here are a few ways in which change impacts may be captured and reported in a quantitative way to support strategic decision making, starting with a birds-eye-view and sequentially drill down deeper to understand the scenario to aid strategic decisions:

1. Customer Experience Impact

One of the most profound ways in which change progress may be reported at a strategic level is by the extent to which initiative change impacts are shaping customer experiences. How are customer experiences shaped as a result of the suite of changes taking place?

Do initiatives result in a positive or negative impact on customer experience? E.g. does it improve or worsen a service delivery speed, functionality, quality, etc. Legislative initiatives for example may result in negative experiences depending on the nature of the change.
Is there too much change going on at the same time?
Does the customer give a damn about the change?

2. Change Impact dashboard

A good high-level view of various change impact data for an executive dashboard may include:

Initiative quantity and type (technology, product, policy, etc.) throughout the calendar year
Impact level and type (go-live, training, customer, etc.)
At-a-glance pie charts and bar graphs are ideal for summarizing multiple axes of data within a 1-pager

3. Change impact heat map

A good heatmap can be one of the most visually memorable reports on change impact with options to drill down into colour-coded divisional and sub-divisional impacts across the timeline indicating both the number of initiatives as well as the levels of impact.

4. Detailed initiative schedule

A detailed initiative schedule is helpful as we start to drill down to analyze which initiatives are contributing to business and delivery risks. Data may include initiative names, impact level, impact type, and impact dates across the calendar year. One starts to get a detailed understanding of which initiatives are high impact, contributing to change fatigue or could be better communicated and in synchronisation with other initiatives to reduce complexity for the audience.

5. Initiative report

After we have a clear understanding of the initiatives that we need to work on aligning to improve the overall execution and delivery effectiveness we then move to clarify the details of each initiative. At this level, the reporting contains a description of the initiative, contact persons, delivery timeline and business impact data. The report, therefore, should contain sufficient details to allow very actionable steps to connect, discuss, and plan for change alignment between initiative, portfolio and business owners.

To read more about change analytics follow these links:

Top 7 challenges faced by change managers in generating insight from change data

How to build change analytics capability

The ultimate guide to measuring change