Project vs. Change Management
What's the Difference?
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What's Inside This Edition:
A Balancing Act: Change Management And Project Management
9 “NOs” I wish I had learned sooner as a Project Manager
Project management vs. Change management
During my career, I got confused a few times. What is the borderline between project and change management?
Understanding the difference/overlap will give you clarity and direction.
Before we deep dive.
The discipline/knowledge of change management and project management are both mandatory to deliver a project or initiative.
Can they both work together and achieve the objective?
Let’s go one by one.
Definitions
Change Management – the application of a structured process and tools for leading the people side of change to achieve a desired outcome (such as ROI) on a project.
Project Management – the use of specific knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to deliver something of value to people
Goal
Change Management – to ensure that impacted employees embrace, adopt, and use the solution associated with the change
Project Management – to ensure that the solution is designed, developed, and delivered effectively
Focus
Change Management – employees and stakeholders impacted by a project solution or initiative (those who must adopt and use the change)
Project Management – tasks and activities required to create and implement the technical solution associated with a change
Scaling factors
Change Management – characteristics of the change, attributes of impacted organizations, and degree of "people change" required
Project Management – complexity and degree of technical change associated with the project or initiative
Success measurement
Change Management – measurement focuses on the elements of the people side of change, including:
Speed of adoption by impacted employees
Ultimate utilization by impacted employees
Proficiency of impacted employees
Project Management – measurement focuses on the technical side of change elements, primarily:
On time
On budget
Meets technical requirements
So, how do we strike the right balance?
A common mistake in any project is to ‘bolt’ the change management onto the end of the project. Then it is not always the responsibility of a programme or portfolio to act as a ‘big brother’ to make it happen.
Project leaders should identify people with the right skills and capabilities to recognise the importance of the disciplines.
There are a number of things you can do to integrate a team with project and change management skills successfully in an organisation. For example, you can:
Co-deliver: to bring tangible benefits through a blended team to resolve conflicts, build delivery confidence, and address resistance around key milestones. The team(PM/CM) should work together to build the vision and a compelling case for change for the short term, medium and long term.
Co-create: a network for sharing information and providing feedback loops to engage key stakeholders and the wider project team to proactively identify continuous improvements, whilst implementing the intended results and outcomes. This approach will provide opportunities for team members to share past experiences and incorporate personal lessons learned into the integrated implementation plan.
Conclusion
Project management and change management each contribute a critical ingredient to successful change. Although they vary in terms of focus and approach, each discipline is essential to moving your project and people from the transition state to the desired future state. Understanding how each discipline works alongside the other is the first step in achieving a unified value proposition and the strongest foundation possible for your change initiatives.
source: https://www.prosci.com/blog/change-management-and-project-management-comparison
https://www.apm.org.uk/blog/striking-the-right-balance-between-project-and-change-management-in-an-organisation/
PMs, let’s be honest, we’ve all said “yes” when we should’ve said “NO
Yes to “quick” change requests that doubled the workload
Yes to skipping risk management “just this once”
Yes to working weekends…again
I’ve been there.
And I’ve learned (the hard way): saying “NO” doesn’t make you difficult , it makes you a leader.
Here are 9 “NOs” I wish I learned sooner(and I bet you’ll relate to at least 3 of these):
1. No to vague scopes(If it’s not clear, it’s not happening)
2. No to fantasy deadlines(You’re not a magician)
3. No to sneaky scope creep(If it’s not in writing, it’s not real)
4. No to pointless meetings
5. No to being the hero(Delegate or drown)
6. No to poor communication(Silence kills)
7. No to ignoring risks(Hope is not a strategy)
8. No to skipping stakeholder engagement
9. No to burning out your team for the sake of a deadline
If you’re a PM trying to do it all, STOP✋️ Set the boundaries.
Say the hard NOs.
Protect your project, your team, and your sanity.
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Thank you for reading. Appreciate you!
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