Every project requires three key elements to be equally strong in order to be successful: leadership/sponsorship, project management and change management. Evaluating each of these areas and their interplay, periodically throughout the lifecycle of the project, is an invaluable tool in determining the overall health of a change project.
Prosci best demonstrate these elements and their interactions in the Prosci “Project Change Triangle (PCT) model’, as it illustrates the connections between each and the overall collaboration needed to achieve the required project results and outcomes. In short, if a project is missing any of the three elements of successful change it is likely that it will struggle and fail.
Elements of Successful Change
Leadership/Sponsorship
The top corner of the model represents the leadership and sponsorship needed by a project to deliver its intended results. Without leadership a project lacks direction and governance, increasing the likelihood of it becoming lost in the confusion of the many other projects taking place within the organisation. What’s more, those tasked with delivering the project look to those leading to legitimise the change by highlighting its importance and relevance to the success of the organisation as a whole. In order for change to happen employees are required to make a commitment of time and effort, without equal commitment from those in leadership positions many employees are reluctant to change.
Project Management
Project management as an element of successful change illustrates the delivery of the technical aspects of a project or initiative. This aspect looks beyond a vision or goal and outlines the real and actionable steps, timeline and deliverables required. Also included is the management of the resources, tasks and activities that are required to deliver these steps. In addition to defining the technical change process, the project management corner also includes the more familiar responsibilities of balancing the trade-offs between the time, scope and cost of the project or initiative.
Change Management
Change management sits opposite project management as an equally important element of successful change. The application of the tools, processes, techniques, principles and activities required by the employees participating in the project in order to successfully perform the changes required of them. As success depends on individual employees collectively transforming the way that they perform their roles it is important that consideration is made to aid in the transition from current to future state ways of working. It is this corner that is most often underdeveloped or even completely missed, resulting in the underperformance of an initiative and the failure to deliver the complete value to an organisation. Delivering a project is different from delivering a change.
As an Evaluation Tool to Measure Project Success
Using the Prosci PCT, the role each element is playing in successful project delivery can be established and assessed, ultimately evaluating the overall health of the project and its progression towards the ideal outcome.
It has already been made clear that without one or more of the elements, the likelihood of project failure is increased substantially. However, when considering the model as an evaluation tool the sum contribution towards success of each element cannot be simply determined by its presence. Further assessment is required to evaluate each corner of the triangle to determine areas of strength or risk, giving you in-depth insight into the overall health of your projects and areas for correction.
The Prosci PCT model is a useful in demonstrating the elements required for successful change: leadership/sponsorship, project management and change management. The structure of the model demonstrating the importance of each and the overall contribution provided by each. However, the real value of the model is only realised when it is used to evaluate the interplay between each of the elements and used in an ongoing process of re-evaluation, identifying next steps and areas of concern.
It is surprising also that the simple representation of these three dimensions of a healthy project in a colour coded triangle, using Prosci’s PCT, can make a powerful visual communication about the health of an individual project, or a series of projects in a program, or a series of programs in a portfolio that senior leaders can use to make conscious decisions about which projects to “green-light” with the required level of resources and funding for success, which projects to fade/delay and which projects to kill given the strategic priorities and available organisational resources.
Ready to evaluate the success of your change projects?
CMC Partnership Asia are hosting 3-day Prosci Practitioner Certification courses in Singapore during the months of May and June. These vital courses cover:
- Prosci® ADKAR® Model
- Sponsorship
- Communications
- Resistance Management
- Concepts of Change
- Return on Investment (ROI)
Don't miss out. Register your interest today and begin your journey to better change management.
