It is hard to believe that we are six months into 2018 already! As the year progresses we have noticed an emergence of new change management trends - trends that we expect will continue to gain momentum.
Change management is a constantly evolving discipline that has changed significantly over the last few decades, and whilst the core pillars and foundational concepts of change management have remained the same, due to the changes in the way people work (globalisation, AI, digital transformation etc.) the practices of implementing change management continue to evolve. Thankfully, the appreciation for and recognition of change management’s value has also grown. In this blog, we will look at four change management trends that we expect to see grow over not just the course of 2018, but beyond.
- Change management as an internal capability
Most organisations, regardless of size are more often than not managing several, complex and intertwined change initiatives at any one time and this has led to the realisation that there is a need to build internal change management capabilities. This not only increases the likelihood of change success but also your organisational change agility. According to Prosci’s latest research, 53% of businesses now have a full-time change management job position, and this is set to continue to rise.
- Digital transformation will continue to impact change management
Regardless of the maturity of your organisation, or the industry you are in, digital transformation will be impacting the way your plan, manage and analyse your change initiatives. Digital transformation is likely a key part of your agenda as we continue through 2018 and although it will have a different meaning to different people within your organisation how it will affect change management practitioners are broadly similar.
Transformation projects are really driving demand for change management services. Our discipline is about managing the people side of change and with projects that are transforming the way our employees work its vital that our most important resource, our people, feel supported, informed and involved throughout the process. We have also seen an increase in demand for online change management resources, thus we have created a series of webinars designed to help aspiring change managers..
- The transition from art to science
Although there has been a significant growth in the credibility of change management, it can be hard for some to build business cases and some organisations still struggle to justify a large change management spend. Like marketing, it can sometimes struggle to demand the resources it requires because demonstrable ROI is often not well articulated.
We see an increasing focus on benefit led or result driven change, where change managers set measurable goals at the onset of change and use these throughout the initiative to demonstrate ROI. This is especially prevalent in changes using the Agile approach. In this instance, stellar sponsorship of the change is vital. The sponsor of the change needs to identify and articulate the benefits of the initiative and explain why the change will contribute to the organisation's business objectives.
- An Agile approach to change is increasing
Taking an Agile approach to implementing change is a huge topic for many organisations in 2018. With the growing number of changes organisations are experiencing at any given time, it's clear that change leaders need to be thinking about their own role in the organisation and how they structure their teams to effectively support change.
When taking an Agile approach to your predominantly IT-led changes, research from Prosci shows that the success of your projects being deployed with the Agile methodology will, 1 - significantly depend upon the success of the first project you deploy with the Agile methodology and 2 - require precise, accurate and timely change management if new ways of working are to be successfully adopted in each sprint cycle.
It is highly likely that these trends will have a great impact on the way change management progresses and evolves within 2018, and beyond. In order to help our fellow change managers embrace these trends, we are delighted to announce that we are bringing the first Prosci Intersection of Agile and Change Management Workshop to Asia later in 2018, where you can further your understand of how Agile will affect change management and better equip your organisation to react. You can find out more information here, or register below.
