Relationship between Project and Change Management - Coursework Example

Relationship between project and change management Introduction Changing the requirements of any business always necessitates changes in an organization in the IT as well as the services and products being provided by IT to the organizational business. Several of these requirements come with the changes. Some of these requirements are requests of services while other larger efforts require plans of projects to ensure they are delivered. Likewise, decisions that can spawn changes can also be triggered with the advancement with technology. Depending on the type of organization and the scope of the new changes needed, several employ the use of the methodology in project management implementation. Several organizations have been using project management techniques for several years with different success and degree of discipline (Dvir, Sadeh, and Malach-Pines, 36). Project and change management Change management is an approach that is structured to transition of individuals and organizations from the present state to the future state that is desired. The organization change management entails tools and processes that are used for managing side involving the people of the change in an organization. The tools in organization change management include a structured approach that the organization can use effectively to transition groups, individuals and organizations through the change process. Coupled with the knowledge of the process of individual change management, these tools are used to provide a framework for managing the change on the side of the people. The process of organizational change management involves techniques used in creating change management strategies. In addition, when senior managers are engaged as the leaders of change, creating awareness of the need for change, helping employees move through the transition as well as coming up with methods that will help in sustaining the change are also parts of the processes of organizational change management (Dvir, Raz, and Shenhar, 89). On the other hand, project management if the discipline involving planning, resource management and organization in order to bring successful completion of the goals and objectives of an organizational project. The main challenge facing project management is achieving all the objectives and goals of the project while putting the constraints of the project into honor. The constraints of the projects of organizations include time, budget, and scope. Change management is considered a proactive and a comprehensive approach that is built into the project as early as possible. A change management plans are used to define an employee’s needs regarding the intended change in the organization. The change management assesses the barriers to acceptance and addressing them through effective communication and education. The management change enhances the training of employees on technologies and processes through validating the ability of employees in applying the newly acquired information, skills and knowledge consistently. It helps to reinforce training through the key performance indicators tracking to assess outcomes and adjust as needed. Change management systematizes employee is coaching and fosters periodic success celebrations (Jaafari, 47). Several organizations mainly rely on project management techniques that were proven such as prince 2. However, organizations rarely include the resources and techniques of change management that are essential for any project to be complete and deliver the results the business was after and not just the project plan tasks. There is a fundamental difference between change management and project management. The entire process of project management is all about achieving installation. Timeliness and events help in building project plan and ensure an organization ends with deliverable of new IT system, new offices and outsourced call centers among others. The major aim is trying to get out from the present form to a new state in the future. Change management, on the other hand, is all about implementation. It mainly puts its focus on the aspects of the people on the implied changes through the transition intended from the current to a new state in the future. When implementation is done correctly, then the organization will achieve all the benefits that were being expected to come from the project, and this goes beyond just the installation. Change management needs a critical mass of people to the intended change, people who are committed to learning new behaviors and willingly sustain them (Partington, 13). Differences between Project and change management There are many differences existing between both the project management and change management. Change management is structured in its approach to the management of change within organizations; individuals and societies change management helps an organization undergo a smooth transition from one stage to the other. Project management mainly happens to the management of organizational resources. It is designed in meeting and completing projects in the stipulated time, defining a budget, standards, and scope of what was expected. It involves the processes that get the project done with no or little guidance on the way to the achievement of the project (Zou and Lee, 387). With change management, an organization or individual is developing ideas behind the changes that they would like to be implemented. In project management these ideas are being made real, in that, the ideas are being implemented. During the entire process of project management, individual do have given timelines that they have to stick to. On the other hand, during change management individuals and organizations spend more time in developing idea and putting them into one huge idea (Partington, 13). There are many structures needed by the change management before it can be put into the stage of project management. Without the organization, starting with good structure of ideas, then the ideas will have no way of reaching the stage of project management. In project management, the ideas are already it contains implementation ideas, timeline that is exact and budget of the things needed. Project management is just the implementation stage; there are no many things to be done or the thought of where the organization or individual is heading. This is because there are already developed milestones and timeline thus no space is left where the project structure can be adjusted in its entirety until completion. Limitation of project management The project management addresses the task or the technical side of a change. Project managers use their experience and training in creating project plans that are detailed and measure progress by timely completion of the tasks that are within the budget. These managers do declare victory when processes and new technology are in place before they move on doing the next thing. The staffs are trained, and the organizational charts are redrawn. But the big question is whether the project is done and more importantly whether it is successful (Zou and Lee, 387). The Importance of Change Management Change management rallies support for an organizational while building the knowledge, incentives, and skills at the same time so that it can sustain. If the research does not convince an individual or an organization to implement management change, then the organization or an individual takes a critical at the projects done recently. Change management, therefore, addresses certain organizational issues and creates true accountability for the success of projects. Change management is not a substitute to be used for project management. In addressing project needs, an individual as well as organizations need both change management and project management (Kenny, 43). In most cases, change management becomes the multiplier and thus enhances the success of project management through engaging people ion making project changes and project management a reality. When both the project management and change management are combined, it turns out that the sum becomes greater than the individuals components. The need for integration change and project management Several organizations do invest considerably in time and money in training individuals and societies on tools and methodologies of project management. The organizations rarely invest in change management to the same extent as project management. This inequity and preference many time leads to delays of projects. When the people risks of the organizational projects are given little or no prominence at all, there is a creation of resistance, apathy, and poor commitment. This do have a significant effect on the events taking place in the project as well as its timelines (Winklhofer, 33). This is the main reason several organization do fail in delivering the results that are expected even when they are seen producing the deliverable that were expected. Effective integration of management of change and project is needed for an organization to be in the right track of achieving the implementation, not just installation during its projects. Integration of project management and change management plan puts events, timeliness and human change process into consideration. Integrating change management and project management When an organization decides to introduce a change with an initiative or a project, the change needs to be management effectively on both the people’s side and the technical side. The technical side focus ensures that an organizational change is developed, delivered and designed and delivered effectively. The discipline that involves project management provides the structure, processes and tools that are used in making changes happen. A people side focuses in ensuring that the intended change is embraced and adopted by the organizational employees who have to do their jobs differently as a result of the project. The discipline of change management provides the processes, the structure and tools used in making projects being realized (Hobbs, Aubry, and Thuillier, 547). Both project and change management aim at increasing the likelihood that projects o initiatives deliver the results and outcomes that are intended. While each disciple is capable of functioning independently, the most effective approach is the integration of change and project management. Integration creates a unified approach to implementing the change of the people side and technical front. Integration of change management and project management helps in the creation of value on a given project or initiative for several reasons: Enables a shared objective- when change and project management are combined, then the efforts of both can be channeled towards one main objective. Integration helps improving the organization performance by implementing the change successfully delivering the results and outcomes that were intended. Enables proactive steps- when change management is integrated into the steps of project management, efforts to manage the people’s side of change can proactively identify and help in mitigating all the risks, address obstacles and resistance that have been anticipated, and build commitment and buy-in for the changes needed. Enables sequencing and alignment- when integrating both technical activities and people side activities , best steps can be at the right time in the lifecycle of the project to help the employees’ embrace the changes needed and produce the right outcomes for the entire project. Enables and exchange of information- integrating project management activities with the change management help in improving the flow of information in an organization or societies. On the front end, the approach of integration helps to ensure that the employees who are impacted do receive the messages regarded as appropriate. On the back end, the integration helps to ensure the project team can receive effective feedback on the adoption, reaction, and usage to the change. Even when project management and change management are both being applied in individuals and organizational changes, they may not be integrated necessarily (Khan, 12). There are several key prerequisites that must be in place for project and change management integration to take place successfully. They include: Focus on results and outcomes- the team responsible for the project must be focused on, held accountable and responsible for delivering the outcomes and the results intended for a meaningful integration to be realized. Recognition of the role and the values of change management- before any integration can take place, the role and values of the change management must be acknowledged. Change management must be viewed in a different way, as a valuable and essential component of any project delivery. Structure and rigorous approach to change management- project management brings a process that is structured and set of deliverables to the side of technical change. Change management should also be ready in bringing structured process and deliverables to the side of the peoples change. Without a well-defined rigor and structure, it is hard to bring an integrated change management activities in the organizational projects delivery approaches (Tynan et al., 187). Conclusion Success for any organizational, individual, societies or team projects or initiatives results from an effectively designed and delivered solution utilized by employees who are impacted. Change management and project management are two complementary disciplines that have a similar objective. When integrated with project or initiative delivery, they both provide an approach that is unified for achieving results and outcomes that are desired for any change in an organization, individual or societies. Work cited Dvir, Dov, Tzvi Raz, and Aaron J. Shenhar. “An Empirical Analysis of the Relationship between Project Planning and Project Success.” International Journal of Project Management 21 (2003): 89–95. Dvir, D O V, Arik Sadeh, and Ayala Malach-Pines. “Projects And Project Managers: The Relationship Between Project Managers’ Personality, Project Types, And Project Success.” Project Management Journal 37 (2006): 36–49. Print. Hobbs, Brian, Monique Aubry, and Denis Thuillier. “The Project Management Office as an Organisational Innovation.” International Journal of Project Management 26 (2008): 547–555. Jaafari, Ali. “Project Management in the Age of Complexity and Change.” Project Management Journal 34 (2003): 47–57. Kenny, John. “Effective Project Management for Strategic Innovation and Change in an Organizational Context.” Project Management Journal 34 (2003): 43. Khan, Asadullah. “Project Scope Management.” Cost engineering 48 (2006): 12–16. Partington, David. “The Project Management of Organizational Change.” International Journal of Project Management 14 (1996): 13–21. Tynan, Belinda et al. “Managing Projects for Change : Contextualised Project Management.” Journal of Distance Education 24 (2010): 187–206. Print. Winklhofer, Heidemarie. “Information Systems Project Management during Organizational Change.” Engineering Management Journal 14 (2002): 33–37. Print. Zou, Yi, and Sang-Hoon Lee. “The Impacts of Change Management Practices on Project Change Cost Performance.” Construction Management and Economics 2008 : 387–393.  Read More