How to Manage Change the Right Way

It’s becoming increasingly apparent that the need for an effective change management strategy is more urgent than ever.

There’s a long list of potential problems when you don’t have a comprehensive change management process in place. Thankfully, the list of actions needed to mitigate the potential problems is much shorter.

Below we take a look at the key components of change management and highlight practical steps you can implement to achieve immediate results.

Where the problems begin

A company’s IT infrastructure is a complex and interdependent organism. Changing any single aspect can have an impact far greater than just the intended change. Failure to involve all of the relevant people in the planning process can lead to unforeseen side effects. If there is no backup plan in place in case something goes wrong, then everyone in IT has to reach for their metaphorical hose and buckle down for a long stint of putting out digital fires.

What is a change management strategy?

When a change management strategy is formulated correctly, it quickly becomes the go to resource for any IT manager that’s faced with a relevant decision. Prosci describes IT change management as;

‘The process, tools and techniques to manage the people side of change to achieve the required business outcome.’

Therefore, a change management strategy is a comprehensive set of procedures that facilitate IT change in the most effective manner. While it needs to be comprehensive, it’s important to ensure the strategy doesn’t become too fixated on one area, as merging departments (organizational change management) require change management as much as software updates.  

The initial stage of creating change management processes may lead to delays in implementation of changes as you figure out the best way for the planning process to work for your organization.

Gaining insight

In order to create an effective strategy there must first be a process that defines the change in a more detailed way. To help you achieve this you should ask:

• Why is the change necessary?
• What is the outcome expected to be?
• Which area does the change impact? (Hardware, communications, system software, system architecture, documentation, procedures, or a combination of several).
• Can you identify any potential negative side effects of the change(s)?
• What will the change cost to implement?
• Does the benefit justify the cost?
• Is there a favorable time to implement the change?
• Who will need to be involved in the implementation?

As you answer these questions, you’ll quickly become aware of the category of change you’re dealing with. There are five main categories that apply to most organizations; standard, minor, normal, major, and emergency changes.