Change Management is an organizational discipline that is growing remarkably quickly but still requires highly vocal advocates.
Thankfully, not only are more organizations recognizing the need for change professionals, but we also see Change Managers starting to occupy more senior positions in organizations, as we outlined in a previous article.
In another previous article, we urged Change Managers to use data and metrics to prove their worth, showing how they deliver measurable results. But that’s not the end of the story.
Here are five benefits of having a marvelous Change Manager on the team that should be communicated loudly to project teams, sponsors & execs.
1. Change Managers create psychological safety
A recent Google Study cited psychological safety as the most critical factor in building high-functioning teams. Change Managers support psychological safety by encouraging stakeholders to discuss their resistance to change, asking questions like:
“Why will this be difficult for you?”
“What don’t you like about how we’ll roll this out?”
“What else do we need to consider?”
“Who else do we need to talk to?”
2. Change Managers ensure people feel heard
A great Change Manager is a good listener, always seeking further understanding, not just about the change but outside factors that impact the employee’s ability to deal with this change right now. Seeking to understand helps each employee feel understood and valued.
The Change Manager encourages this feedback and advocates for the employee, ensuring their views are aired to those who need to hear them, where they work, and with their teams to find solutions to accommodate all stakeholders best.
Being encouraged to question upcoming changes openly and knowing someone is listening and advocating for you and your team fosters psychological safety in the organization.
3. Change Managers encourage technological uplift
A savvy Change Manager fully utilizes all the technology available to them. Whether showcasing the project via a SharePoint or Confluence site, launching projects with bitesize videos, or running engaging and collaborative webinars.
A Change Manager will often be keen to do everything he or she can to broadcast the change via all available channels and drive adoption. Something as simple as hosting instructions on a SharePoint site gives added benefits. The employee learns to self-serve. They learn additional IT skills, such as bookmarking important pages and sharing files with team members.
When information is easy to find, well presented, and easily understood, employees will search for solutions before picking up the phone to call the help desk. Every project delivered well actually uplifts the organizational change maturity.
4. Change Managers renew people’s thirst for learning
A Change Manager knows that people learn differently. He or she knows some people fear change, especially new technology, and some older employees become stressed and worry they will need more time to adapt to new IT systems. A patient, skilled trainer can make a major difference to technology-phobic employees. Not just for the project at hand, but also for ongoing learning and development.
Employees are revitalized by well calibrated, fit-for-purpose learning:
“Wow, if I can do this, what else could I try?”
“This is much easier than I thought; I’ll give the intermediate module a go!”
5. Change Managers make future change easier & more likely to succeed
Every change delivered well lays the foundation for the next change. Even if the following change is trickier, more complex or larger, with Change professionals at the wheel, the journey will always be easier.
Marvelous Change Managers need marvelous tools
Project Managers wouldn’t work without a project management application, such as MS Project or JIRA. Nor should Change Managers be required to work without a fit-for-purpose software solution.
ChangePlan is the digital platform that supports and amplifies the great work done by Change Managers by providing them with a true single view of change, automating time-consuming administrative tasks and enabling them to use clear metrics to report change progress and success to leaders.
