Change Why What How

Change Management PlaybookChange Management PlaybookPlaying the change management game in the Playing the change management game in the project……….and delivering winning results!project……….and delivering winning results!

WHYWHYWHATWHATHOWHOW

Change management Playbook – analyse these contents!

• There are a lot of topic headings in this Playbook

• Please use the Bookmarks to keep track of the pages which are of most to you

The change management Playbook - 1

• The idea of a Playbook is taken from the world of sport and the aim is to provide the reader – you – with some easily accessible resources with which to approach the task of change management.

• There is a resources document which is more focussed on the detail of running an effective change management program – whereas here the approach is on the key points to take into account – and on some of the pitfalls that all of us in the change management field have tripped over at some point.

• Hopefully the reader can dip into the Playbook at any point and quickly find some insights on the topic or problem that he or she is addressing at the time. This should lead to clarity on the issue – and a bias for action.

Change management

“Everybody has a game plan until they get hit in the mouth.”

-Mike Tyson• There is clearly a strategy aspect

to change management – however, do not get too involved with the strategy.

• The real basis for success is tactical. For example fast, relevant communications to stakeholders are much more effective than one beautifully crafted video released months after the project has been launched.

• So to be agile, pre-emptive and 100% relevant in the change work is key.

The project defines how the Change Game will be playedModel provided by Oracle University

Preliminary planning – representation from Oracle University

Vision AlignmentCore Key Message Plan

Stakeholder Analysis

Change Readiness Assessment

Org Impact Analysis

Sponsors

Key Stakeholders

End Users change management and Comms Plan

Preliminary Planning ProgramPreliminary Planning Program

The project defines how the Change Game will be played

• Change management is there to serve the objectives of the project – and not to “grandstand” about its own importance.

• The stages of work for change will be aligned with the project stages/phases – and with the progress made at each stage.

• An effective model of this interaction is presented on the previous page – it defines how the change and training work need to be aligned with the 4 major project lifecycle phases.

• There are a number of issues which emerge from this model:• The change work starts at the project kick-off and continues until

the post-go live stage• You cannot simply try to do change work right at the end of the

project – and hope that there will be some success. This is symptomatic of a project will no grasp of the goals of the change management work


• Change work often needs to be proactive and pre-emptive to the project itself – i.e. the change work is in place to “clear the way” or “smooth out the bumps” for the coming project phase. So the change management team really need to be across the project and the level of progress being made

• change management work differs a lot from the project itself. The project is built up from a series of discrete deliverables which accumulate – e.g. fit-gaps completed, design completed, “to-be” processes completed etc

• However the change work may start at kick-off and continue on until go –live – for example stakeholders engagement. So the change work will seem to be continuous for the life of the project – and the danger here is that people will then think that it is “ongoing” (that dreadful word) and not capable of being measured. WRONG! In this case there will need to be clear discrete milestones within the overall stakeholders engagement work


• Thus communications will continue throughout the project - but the actual content and the milestones for design and delivery will relate to project phases

• With these milestones in place, the change team will be able to manage and report progress in the proper way

The equipment and resources of change - 1

• The change team should review and understand what resources they have or will require throughout the project.

• Often the team of people is not well briefed – and thus can use up valuable time in the early phases, sorting out what to do. Here are some of the points to consider:

The composition of the team •Does the team comprise staff from the vendor and the client•What does the vendor staff bring to the team•What are the skills brought by the client team

The capabilities of team members •Strong knowledge and experience in ERP change management •Reputation and acceptance of the client Change Manager within the client environment


The capabilities of team members (cont.)

•Ability to navigate the client organization to obtain information – e.g. stakeholders names, end user details for training etc•Ability to design, build and deliver effective communications – usually e-based•Ability to manage large events – CRP, training, roadshows etc•Capability to design, develop and action change-related projects

Use of Change Agents •These agents are key to leveraging the impact of the change team over the larger audiences and with more granular information

Management of interactions with the project owners

•Ability to develop progress reporting•Capability to report and present to senior project committees•Overall leadership to ensure that all milestones are met


Communications •All the communications channels•All the media choices available•Use of websites and such things as SharePoint•Viral communications channels using face to face and electronic communications

Attitudes and perceptions •Attitudes of stakeholders and end - users •Clearly defined project objectives and benefits•Managing models of engagement – to move towards project ownership

Solution demonstrations and training

•CRP prototypes to show the solution to the stakeholders and end - users•Training to not only skill up the end - users – but also create positive perceptions

What is the game about, it’s about PEOPLE!.......

• Change management is not always seen as an important part of major projects.

• It is often viewed as nice to have but not essential.• In truth, the change and training work are really critical:

• A lot of ERP projects do not fully deliver what is promised• The journey to the new solution is usually not easy – and staff in an

organization can effectively resist the change• There is a financial risk in projects – so there is always some pressure

to cancel projects where the actual/perceived progress is not good• Perception can be reality – and many good projects have been

dropped because they lost the confidence of stakeholders • change management is therefore really key to ensuring positive

outcomes on many of the above issues• The graphic on the following page shows the impact of various

drivers on project success.

…..and the need for persuasion – based communications

• It is fine to deliver information up to a point – however, it is key to to begin to communicate a solution.

• Change management folk talk solution but deliver a lot of pieces in the jigsaw…….. the picture has not yet come together and there is no single, tangible “picture” of the solution

• Stress the importance of bringing the jigsaw together so that the world according to becomes tangible and graspable by our stakeholders

• One of the things this means is that the original objectives and benefit statements have probably had their run as powerful messages…. Now the challenge is to paint pictures that really grab our stakeholders………

• Xin De Kai Duan™Xin De Kai Duan™ is an example

The need to shift from information only to persuasion – based communications - 1

• Persuasion is different from data – it normally is seen to have 4 steps through which we need to guide our stakeholders:

• Attention – this is worth watching• Interest – what is in this for me• Desire/endorsement – this is really the way to go [both

organisationally and in terms of my career]• Action/user adoption – we are going to do this/we are going to be

the thought leaders on this/we are the leading edge in this area• If you agree with this model – then it will be necessary to start to

design and deliver communications aligned to the model and to the stage at which our stakeholders are located


• Persuasive communications will also mean getting away from ppt’s

• Advertisers all know about the challenge to show the “benefit in action” - and to use the right media to do so. For us this may mean:

• Role plays of scenarios• Images of the benefit statements – as opposed to

words• Other media on intranet – blogs etc• SLP and KYT talking on intranet on webcasts• Etc,etc

• And perhaps be careful to not get too focused on the possible downsides e.g. “dip in productivity” – but focus on the improvements in services better information


• Also in regards to the report issue – I thought that t was fantastic that the Provost talked on “40 reports” – perhaps we build a persuasive campaign to bring everyone to the idea of less reports.

Technology only delivers 21% of project success

Based on detailed analysis of 4,500 deployments with input from interviews with over 17,000 end users and with project teams and business sponsors

Strategy

People

Process

Technology

19%

21%22%

17%

21%

Ownership

What is the game about, it’s about SUCCESS!

• change management is not an end in itself. Nor does the client really care about how cutting edge the solution happens to be.

• They just want to see the resultant benefits actually being delivered:

• As fast as possible• Completely• Across all the end - users • With an enthusiastic adoption by stakeholders and end - users• Delivering the targeted benefits back to the client who invested all

the time and money• In this regard, you can see that change management has a real

contribution to make.

Defining and driving successThe client needs high benefit realisation coupled with rapid adoption

What the game is not about - 1

• It is not about producing some “Hollywood or Bollywood” epic in change communications – late, overblown and irrelevant.

• It is more like producing a newspaper – fast, relevant and newsworthy.

• It is not about delivering “happiness” to staff and treating adults like children.

• It is not about doing communications when the project is going along well – and then disappearing when some hurdles appear and even more effective change work is required.

• It is not about staying remote from the overall project team – and then being regarded by them as marginal.

What the game is not about - 2

• project owners have sometimes been wary of doing change management because they have experienced some poor examples:

• Focus on internal TV items which take months to put together and are then irrelevant

• Getting internal marketing people involved and then having “turf wars” over who does what – and doing very little

• Doing nothing for fear of saying something “wrong” – and thereby losing all control over the stakeholders and end - users perceptions

• Focusing on beautiful communications - with no useful content• Having such a complex sign-off for communications that nothing ever

got delivered on time• Only engaging remotely – via websites and emails:

• Nothing face-to-face• No feedback• No “conversations with stakeholders and end users

Key success factors for change management

CommunicateCommunicate

Act vs. ReactAct vs. React

Plan & ReplanPlan & Replan

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Owne

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Plan & ReplanPlan & Replan•Develop an overall change management plan and integrate it with the project Plan•Create a stakeholders engagement plan•Build a communications plan•Focus on what to deliver, when and the need for sign-off•Be aware that the deadlines are real and that the pressure will rise sharply as the project moves towards SIT, UAT, Training, Go-live and Post go-live•Link planning and the necessary resourcing


Act vs. ReactAct vs. React•Be proactive in seeing what the project will need and when•Think well ahead – time moves fast and you need months to get ready for CRP for example•When you are well planned and proactive, it adds to the project’s overall position as a well – managed operation•Know when there are key milestones in the project – e.g. end of Planning, completion of UAT – and be prepared with some draft communications to let the project review•Use every opportunity to engage stakeholders and end - users to hear what they want


CommunicateCommunicate

•Try to not talk at staff – but develop meaningful 2-way conversations•Use the Change Readiness Assessment to get to understand what is wanted by stakeholders and later, end – users – then deliver against this•Enable all communications from the project to have a 2-way capability – i.e. let staff ask questions all the time•Use all the channels – web, email, face-to-face, newsletters and align to the expectations of stakeholders•Segment stakeholders and try to target communications as closely as possible•Have a detailed communications plan – even down to daily as the go-live approaches


OwnershipOwnership

•Plan to take the stakeholders and end - users on a journey towards ownership of the solution •Progressively align all the communications and other engagement towards this goal – i.e. people start to talk of the solution as “mine/ours” rather than the “project’s”•Build engagement around success stories from other stakeholders•Capitalise on the believability of the User Leads (change agents)

Change team: key players & positions - 1

• It is wise to kick-off the change work and the training work by ensuring that team roles are clear.

• In the early phases of the work, the team will still be forming up – and the internal client team members will be learning about what is expected from them in terms of change and training. However, as early as possible, the roles should be agreed upon.

• Also there should be an explicit agreement on the management style to be adopted by the team – especially where there are vendor members on the team. No really right or wrong model exists, there are a few points to make – and these are listed below.

• Also it is likely that the same team will manage both the change management and the Training, so this dual perspective does need to be considered.


• Key points to consider:• Have real roles with defined tasks and accountabilities – as the

pressure rises everyone will need to be able to deliver defined outputs• Define what will need to be done as regards approvals for such things

as communications - and establish what are the likely timeframes. That is if sign-off of communications is going to take 3 weeks, then plan this into the overall schedule for communications preparations

• Define what will be the process for approval of deliverables – i.e. there are usually a number of defined deliverables to be achieved by the vendor – so important to define the overall timing and process for the sign-offs

• Come to some clear views on how the team will integrate with the overall project team. It is easy for the change team to operate somewhat separately – but this is not a productive position to take


• Come to some clear views on how the team will integrate with the overall project team. It is easy for the change team to operate somewhat separately – but this is not a productive position to take

• Take time to develop plans for all the change as early as possible – the training can be done at a later stage – as these will guide the teams actions

• Be self-starting in this process, as no-one else on the project will understand what you are doing

• Take the time to discuss and agree what performance to expect from each team member and the team overall. The graphic on the next page is a useful tool for this discussion

Measure change management actions

Expected

Results

Activity:

Effectiveness:• Operation

al measures of system use

• Execution of Best Practice process

• Attitudinal and Competence Measures

Change team: leveraging the efforts of the team

• As

Who are your audiences - 1

• Effective change planning needs to ensure that all the relevant audiences have been identified and engage. It is now relevant to address the question of “engagement” of the audiences. Stakeholders are a key group in terms of the overall success of the project. They have some unique characteristics:

• they do not have to support the project;• they may not understand much about the project;• it will be the responsibility of the project team to get their share of

mind and support for the project;• their starting points for the engagement are all over the spectrum:

some may be enthusiastic, openly negative or unprepared to disclose their position (unless the change management team works hard to get their support); and

• they are senior enough that they demand respect in the dealings with them.


• In addressing the end-users, the engagement process is very different.

• Clearly the end-users have different characteristics in terms of their relationship to the project. Accordingly, it is not relevant to apply the same engagement approaches as are used for stakeholders.

• It is appropriate to:• effectively communicate with end-users;• assess their readiness; and • intensively train them.

• Thus, the actual process of engagement with the end-users is focused on the training.


• The students can be best positioned as customers rather than end-users. The distinction is important because customers usually have a very specific and narrowly defined set of service expectations. If these are met, they will be satisfied. Otherwise they will probably be vocal about it. With regards to the student body, no stakeholder-like engagement would be envisaged. There is neither the need nor the pay-off for that level of time and effort invested. Nevertheless, the team must seek and gain their support by:

• firstly understanding what are their service expectations;• effectively communicating the solution and how it will meet the

defined expectations;• providing the relevant help and support functions;• providing access for online training, if required; and• delivering accessibility for all of the above via the student portal

Resistance to change - 1

• The process of change is not all that easy – especially where the project owners are intending to achieve full benefit realisation.

• And if the project is “oversold” – then there are sure to be disappointments down the road.

• The change curve is an interesting graphic aimed to show that the change work is a journey with some possible difficult stages along the way.

• In fact the curve can be a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy – in that people assume it is going to happen, then do little/no change management – and voila! the result is not good.

• However, if effective change management is delivered, then the trough can be minor and the speed towards stakeholders ownership and end - users adoption can be much greater.

Resistance to change - 2

• There will of course be resistance to most change – and the resistance will be greater when the disruption caused by a project is greater.

• And so, if people are losing jobs for example, then the resistance will be great. If the change is about preparing the entreprise for a new future, then there should be less resistance.

• It is as well to really understand what drives resistance to change – and where change management and training can add value. These can be explored on the following pages.

Change curve does happen in most projects – however the “trough” does not have to be dramatic and the shift to a positive position needs to happen rapidly

The world famous change curve

26+ reasons why employees resist changes

• The following is the culmination of a thorough literature review on resistance to change in organizations. The results are presented in a brief format according to "a reason", or the "causing factor".

• First, reasons that are related to the "human situation", called "situational variables", are described.

• Following these approximately 23 variables, are eight factors related to personality and other psychological variables inherent in some social situations.

• In the first grouping, the reasons are listed in order of the frequency in which they appeared in the literature.

• The more they appeared in the literature review, the higher they appear on this list.

Resistance due to situational variables

• Resistance due to threat of loss of position power.

• Resistance due to fear of the unknown. ("What will happen to me? I think it's safer the way it is., that's what other people say. ")

• Resistance due to habit & inertia- ("What we've always done is the way it should be".)

• Resistance due to altered social relationships- (Workers are often friendly, forming teams, and may react with a feeling of loss, to a disruption of their work relationships.)


• Resistance due to disruption of organizational cultural reality. Current organizational culture may undermine any new learning intended in the change effort.

• Resistance due to previous exposure to failed change efforts - ("Oh, it's just another program that won't do anything, why bother with it?)

• Resistance due to perceived personal loss and gains from the change. Simply put, the employee believes s/he stands to lose more than they will gain

Resistance due to situational variables:

• Resistance due to peer group pressure . A common phenomenon in Unions also, sometimes employees or managers are informally punished or sanctioned by their peers for going along with a change that the others are not in favour of.

• Resistance due to organizational climate- Closely related to culture, a paradox can emerge wherein a climate unfavourable to change but truly in need, will nevertheless resist the change anyway, given an overall "climate" in the work place.

• Resistance due to forced change and lack of participation in the change- When one is active in the process of change, their sense of loss of control is minimized and they can credit themselves positively for helping create the change, and be invested in the success of the change.

Resistance due to situational variables:

• When the purpose of the change is not made clear, resistance due to poor communication may develop. Those affected by change must know why a change is being made and how they will be affected. Rumours develop around inadequately explained changes. It is also easier for those already resisting the change to concoct or spread disinformation, especially when there are no concrete facts circulated to counter rumours and disinformation.

• Resistance due to limited resources- When resources are limited and organizational members fear that their resources are threatened and will become more limited, resistance to change is likely.Following this, unproductive rivalry and dysfunctional politics can develop between divisions, departments or work groups that have a new set of unequal resources.


• Resistance due to vested interests- Change can alter "strategic contingencies" within an organization, making a new group more important to future success to the organization and thus threatening the old dominant coalition.

• Resistance due to threat to self-image- when change threatens the current self image of individuals or groups.

• Resistance due to personal appeals- may occur when the reason given for change appears to be motivated by a personal need of the change agent or the manager/executive who is initiating the change, rather than motivation based on the best interests of the organization and its employees.

Resistance due to situational variables • Resistance due to implied fault- Rather than face the implication of

being at fault for present organizational difficulties, those in charge may deny the need for change rather than be held accountable for its need.

• Resistance due to sunken costs- When a large investment has been made in ongoing operating programs and /or technologies, those who were initially responsible for bringing about those programs or are more reluctant to abandon them .

• Briefly, other noted causes of resistance to change are- loss of rewards and privileges, change which occurs too rapidly for the organization to adapt, prejudice towards the change agent, lack of skills required to change, and when employees are pleased with the way things are and there is an honest difference in opinion with the change agent or source wanting to impose the change.

Resistance due to personality variables

• Cognitive dissonance: when one is confronted with information that goes against their beliefs of what is true, a state of cognitive dissonance ("mental discomfort") is evoked.

• To reduce the state of "dissonance", or discomfort, three alternatives are available:

• change one's opinion so that it corresponds more closely to the other's own opinion,

• change the other's opinion so that it corresponds more closely to one's own opinion, or

• attribute the difference in opinions/beliefs to the characteristics, motives and experiences of the other person- or in other words, "discount" the information such that it is irrelevant

Resistance due to personality variables • Fear of the unknown- can also be more prevalent to some

than others, hence making it more of a personality trait than a situational variable. In addition, groups of people with such fears often find comfort in sharing their fears with each other, thus making the change process more difficult as now it has become a "group" fear: "It's not just me! Everybody thinks it's a bad idea...“

• Venturesome/risk-taking/need for change- some individuals are at the forefront of constructive changes. They tend to have experienced more change in their personal lives than others, who drift behind and tend to be the last to change. The tendency to have positive experiences contribute to one's effectiveness in any area is termed "self-efficacy" and can apply to the uncertainty of organizational change in human systems as well as learning technical knowledge.


• Faith in people/concern for others- confidence, faith, and concern towards the virtuousness and well being of one's fellow man can be a strong determinant in acceptance of change. The opposite is also true, when an employee is cynical or sceptical of people's nature and motives in general, their openness to change often diminishes.

• Conservatism- conservative individuals tend to resist change. This factor has been measured and demonstrated in numerous studies and stands to reason on its own. Conservative individuals who group together, as was referred to above regarding the trait of "fear of the unknown", can also create great impasse for change.


• Dogmatism- is a style of thinking that is closed-minded and in part, an attitude towards authority. Highly dogmatic individuals are accepting or rejecting of individuals based on whether the other person is in agreement or disagreement with the dogmatic thinker.

• Admiration for status- those who value status highly are less open to change when the change threatens to impinge negatively on their self-perceived status.

• Machiavellianism- is the tendency to believe that others are manipulatable in interpersonal situations. This personality characteristic prevents honest communication of one's intentions from being given. In a change situation, honest communication of intent, and trust, are paramount over-riding factors of success in a change process.

Measuring progress - the rationale for metrics

• The point will be made many times in the following pages – however, it is really important to measure and manage the change management work.

• When this happens, the project sponsors are impressed and the performance of the change work usually progresses well.

• When it does not happen – change management often gets the reputation as remote from the project and of marginal value.

• So does the metrics is good for the perception of change management and good for the actual delivered performance.

• The big question, therefore, is “why is it that change management is still often not measured effectively?”. There are several answers which should act as warning signs, if/when you see them in the project

Measuring progress - warning signs

• The warning signs include:• People do not measure because they say that the change

work is qualitative. This is not true – all of the change actions can be planned and measured

• The change is viewed as “on-going”. This is a very dangerous word – if something is on-going it means there are no milestones, no checkpoints and no likelihood of getting anything from the work. No change management project can tolerate “on-going” in its language

• People cannot measure because they have not undertaken any planning and scheduling upfront. All the change work involves plans, schedules, defined deliverables +links into the overall project plan. When these are in place – then the task of measuring is self-evident and easy to do.

Playbook: change management strategy and plan - 1

• The core elements of the change management plan are not new, nor are they newly discovered. Nevertheless, success in change management does not always occur, nor often come easily, to an organisation.

• Success in a change management plan means that the enterprise:

• needs to do all of the core elements as defined in this plan;• needs to do all of them in an intensive, parallel process;• must focus on the details because that is where individual

stakeholders, end-users and project team members actually experience the change; and

• should start early and keep driving progress up to the programme launch and then well beyond into post Construct/Transition period.


• It will be of little or no value to attempt to copy change solutions from another client and apply. The client has unique levels of change required and has a unique organisation structure and operations. Therefore the focus of all the change management work is to design, build and deliver change solutions which are specific to the project. The test of the change management work’s success will be:

• all stakeholders are committed supporters;• all end-users are fully trained and motivated to make the project

solution successful;• both stakeholders and end-users fully “own” the project;• the project team is fully engaged and motivated towards the

success of the defined project mission; and• all potentially difficult issues have been identified and mitigated.


• The building blocks for best practice change management• The overall change management plan is not a complex thing. The

actions required, when viewed at a high level, are not all that different from one project to another. However, the key is in the details of the plan and even more importantly, in the intensive execution of that plan.

• Finally the plan needs to recognise that the level of interaction between the project and its audiences will grow more intense as the project moves on:

• stakeholders will need more detailed and frequent information to answer the “what’s in this for me?” question;

• end-users will need to know the details of the upcoming training;• project team members will continue looking at the “whole picture”

in what they are developing; and


No Change Management Element

Rationale

1 Stakeholder, End-User and Student Engagement

Stakeholders are key because they have personal, reputational risk in the Project – they are key supporters and cannot become opposed to the Project.

End-users are usually not stakeholders but they are the key to the solution’s success and thus to NUS achieving its desired benefits.

Students are not end-users as much as they are customers of ISIS. The success of ISIS in delivering benefits to the student body is a key deliverable of the overall ISIS Project.

2 Communications The communications process is the life-blood of change and the quest to go from talking at people to having a “meaningful conversation” with them.

From day one of the Project, the communications are crucial. A clear and transforming mission must be in place, as must be the compelling introductory pack on the Project. Note that these items (Mission and introductory pack) are also key messages because they are part of the CRA.

There are 3 parts to the communications programme: o The overall communications calendar o The approach to designing, developing the actual collateral o Decisions as to which delivery channels will provide the best mix

of reach and true readership



Rationale

3 User Leads Programme

The drive for User Leads will emerge as there is greater and more specific interest from the audience.

The User Leads programme is therefore a recommended part of all change programmes.

It has the benefit of being able to greatly leverage the work of the Change Management Team.

4 Training Clearly training represents a key element of change. Training is however complex because of the major decisions which

have to be made: o Overall approach to training o Design and development of content o Selection of learning methods – instructor-led, eLearning, etc. o Resourcing trainers o End-user audience management o Performance tracking

The decisions are not overly complex, but success lies in doing all of them effectively.

Playbook: change management strategy and plan - 6No Change

Management Element

Rationale

5 Change Readiness Assessment (CRA)

It is critical to engage both stakeholders and end-users at an early stage to understand the extent to which they are ready, willing and able to engage in the ISIS Project.

Custom-built surveys (either one-off or a tracking style) are run and the results then gathered.

Normally the response rates are high and the responses provide potent content for subsequent change management activities.

Differing CRAs for the different project phases have to be developed but this is important to deliver relevance and get high response rates.

6 Organisational Impact Analysis (OIA)

OIA deals with assessing and undertaking remedial actions with regards to impacts created by the Project.

Often confused with the CRA but they are in fact very different tools.

Until functional design is firmed up the OIA cannot happen except as a high-level draft review.

OIA is a crucial element of change because all the major impacts need to be resolved to enable the progress towards a trouble-free and well-supported “go-live”.



Rationale

7 Performance and Measurement

Change Management has an accountability to focus all the change and training efforts towards realising benefits. This will involve three related tasks: o Defining the relevant performance metrics (measures) within a

role to be improved o Linking the metrics to improved processes, workflows,

roles/clarity, competencies and leadership practices o Measuring the resultant performance improvements and

delivered value-add 8 Risk Management As with all the other aspects of the Project, change management

needs to take an active role in risk management. The process is straightforward, however the potential for effective

remedial action is high because change management contains a number of effective levers in the form of communications, readiness and stakeholder engagement.

Playbook: vision/core messages - 1

• The core messages for the change management aspects of an ERP implementation are very important for the following reasons:

• There is a hierarchy of communications to be given to stakeholders. The hierarchy is essential to:

• building a solid understanding of the project, • progressively creating support and “buy-in”• developing a basis on which all subsequent and more detailed

communications are delivered• It is essential to be able to express the executive sponsors’

actions so that all stakeholders are able to receive the communications and provide support

• There needs to firstly be a clear and compelling view of the project – and then the continued inter-weaving of that message into subsequent conversations with the stakeholders


• There needs to firstly be a clear and compelling view of the project – and then the continued inter-weaving of that message into subsequent conversations with the stakeholders

• Early major communications - such as “What is ___” are all built around the initial core messages (and become core themselves)

• All later communications - and these will be the major proportions – need to be able to refer back to the core messages

• Foundation change management actions – e.g. the Change Readiness Assessment – are focused in large part on reinforcing the core messages and assessing how well that have been accepted by stakeholders.


• It is important to say that the core messages cannot and must not try to be all communications to all stakeholders for the whole life of the project. It is common mistake to try to address every conceivable question into the core efforts. The danger of doing so is considerable:

• A loss of focus on what are the real core points• A delivered impression to stakeholders that the project is

unfocussed• The inclusion of detail far too early to be of interest to

stakeholders and detail that is so full of assumptions that it lacks much credibility = less likelihood of achieving buy-in from stakeholders.

Playbook: communications

• In any major change management programme of work, the communications effort is centrally important. After all, much of the change management challenge is to get the stakeholders’ share of mind and then create strong support up to go-live and beyond.

• Unfortunately, it is all too easy for the communications to work poorly, to appear to be making progress, but really achieving very little in terms of stakeholders’ buy-in. Without the buy-in, the communications cannot be regarded as successful. So this plan is intended to focus on both the fundamentals of an effective plan and on the factors, which lead to successful communications.

Playbook: communications – stakeholders

• All the communications need to be specifically aligned to the communications encoding and decoding model (see next page) in order to deliver effective results. The communications need to deliberately:

• understand who are the receivers – referring to the segments of the stakeholders’ database;

• assess how the message will be decoded;• be aware of the “noise” that may be going on at the time (in the

receiver’s environment); and• wherever possible design for the communications to “loop” back

to the senders (i.e. the change management team) to ensure that what was intended to be communicated was picked up that way by the stakeholders. If it was not, then at least some remedial action can be taken.



• The persuasive communications questions now need to be addressed. The change management team needs to have a clear model against which it can plan the output and ensure that all the persuasive potential can be derived from the content. This model (see below) also sends the clear message that over the course of the project, there is a need to consciously aim towards delivering communications that will achieve higher commitments from stakeholders.



• As the project progresses, senior stakeholders have a reasonably constant need for information and it is assumed that their commitment to the project is very high. Other stakeholder segments will have a rising expectation and need for information. They will also be looking for reasons to confirm their support.

• The change management team can be very effective in regards to this challenge of message frequency and its impact on persuasiveness, by making use of a model similar to that depicted below:

• start with a clear definition of the stakeholder segments;• define their impact on the success of the Implementation Phase;• plan what the team considers is the targeted level of information; and• establish the planned schedule of communications for the whole

period to go-live


Playbook: stakeholder engagement

• It will be repeated many times – stakeholders are key.• They need to be engaged actively throughout the life of the

project – and much of the engagement work is done via communications.

• The real challenges are:• Identify all the stakeholders - those that are overlooked are not

likely to be supporters• Set well thought-through schedules for engaging with these folk.

In the early stages all can be treated as a few segments – however as the project progresses, then there may be a need to more closely segment the stakeholders according to their influence and their needs

• Monitor and measure how effectively the stakeholders engagement is performing

Importance of stakeholders

• Stakeholders are clearly the basis of all the change management work we do

• Thus we need to be very clear as to who are our audience• It is not easy to build the database the first time – however it is a non-

negotiable task. Without it there can be no communications• There is a risk in casting the net too widely – and having every staff

member treated as a stakeholder • However, the usual bigger danger is to overlook individuals or groups

of people completely……. until some point where these folk make their objections to the project (and often do so in a very damaging way to the project and its viability)

• A final word – silence from potential stakeholders can never be assumed as support for the project

Stakeholders database design

• The initial work to set up the database should be well thought – through, so that later time consuming changes are required

• As the project proceeds, the normal drive is towards greater segmentation – so it seems wise to start by knowing what levels of information will be required throughout the project which means segmentation by:

• Senior staff – i.e. dealt with on a VIP basis• Roles• Department and Faculty• Containing email address• Containing a unique ID (staff number seems best)

Stakeholders versus end - users

• Stakeholder – defined as someone with clear interest and involvement in the solution – operational impact, financial risk, reputational risk, strategic impact

• End-user – definition is self explanatory• Need to avoid the wish to make all end users, stakeholders – this is

never the case. For example, everyone who raises a requisition is not likely to a stakeholder in eProcurement – however, they will be end-users

• Stakeholders are the people whose support we need to make the project a winner – and whose opposition could damage the project if not mitigated and turned positive

• This definition makes a big difference in developing the numbers of stakeholders.

Playbook: change readiness assessment

• The Change Readiness Assessment (CRA) is a key early Change Management device aimed at assessing the overall readiness and identifying where change resistance is likely to emerge.

• The objectives of the CRA are as follows:• To engage the audience in a meaningful conversation with the

project• To assess how ready they are to approach the project• To assess the organisational and personal willingness• To understand the capability to engage with the project• To assess and prepare all the users for full and rapid adoption of

the solution• To assess and prepare the relevant leadership positions such that

they are motivated supporters for full and rapid adoption

7 critical drivers of change

= SuccessfulChange

= Confusion

= Inertia

= Diffusion

= Frustration

= Fatigue

= Crawl

= Doubt

CompellingCompellingCase?Case?

Clear Clear Vision?Vision?

Well Well Defined Defined Plan?Plan?

Adequate Adequate Resources?Resources? Capabilities?Capabilities? Sufficient Sufficient

Motivation?Motivation?Effective Effective Comm?Comm?

= SuccessfulChange

= Confusion

= Inertia

= Diffusion

= Frustration

= Fatigue

= Crawl

= Doubt

CompellingCompellingCase?Case?

Clear Clear Vision?Vision?

Well Well Defined Defined Plan?Plan?

Adequate Adequate Resources?Resources? Capabilities?Capabilities? Sufficient Sufficient

Motivation?Motivation?Effective Effective Comm?Comm?

7 critical drivers of change

• This model says the following:• If there is no compelling case – then the cost is inertia• If there is no clarity of vision – then the cost is confusion• If there is no well defined plan – then the cost is diffusion• If there are inadequate resources – then the cost is frustration• If there are no effective capabilities – then the cost is fatigue• If there is insufficient motivation – then the cost is slow forward

movement• If there is poor communication – then the cost is doubt and lack

of buy-in• But if all seven critical change readiness drivers are in place the

outcome is a high probability of success

Types of change readiness assessment

• There is likely to be a stakeholders CRA and one for the end - users. They will be different as they deal with differing audience needs and happen at different stages in the project.

• The use of electronic media is strongly recommended:• It enables access to all stakeholders and end users – versus a

sampling• The Change Readiness Assessment completion is less of a hassle• The data collection and analysis is much easier

• Finally, the Change Readiness Assessment is a potent tool for starting the 2 way conversation with the stakeholders and end - users:

• Take notice of the feedback• Take action in relation to this feedback• Be as responsive as possible - speed is important in building positive

change momentum

Playbook: high-level training plan - 1

• Training is very important in the overall change management process.

• Usually it is treated as separate from the change activities, because of the difference in the activities – however, it is well to be clear about the overall plan that you want to develop for training.

• Where the core content development and delivery mechanisms are provided by the vendor – as with the excellent Oracle UPK – then this is a great help.

• So you are left with the need to;• Develop the overall high-level training plan• And drive all the key detail work which supports the UPK core content

• And one word of warning – the responsibility for the success of the training sits with you – not with the content developers.


• The overall training plan should be developed early and then updated – you need to keep thinking well ahead of the game on some issues. For example, finding training rooms seems to always be a problem.

• The plan might need to cover the following:• Objectives of the training in terms of user adoption etc• Management of the content development & developer resources• Resourcing the trainers• Undertaking and managing the TNA • Delivering the training program logistics• Assessing success• Progress reporting back to the project• Designing the long-term training support


• There will also be the detail level of work for the training plan. This detail can be tough work – but the success is in this detail:

• Defining the training content in specific terms• Managing the schedule from TNA to delivered successful results• Managing end users – from their Change Readiness Assessment

through the actual sessions• Getting the trainers• Getting the rooms• Achieving your quality standards in the delivered content• Integrating training with the tight schedules flowing from SIT,

UAT and then go-live

Playbook: organisational impact analysis

• The objectives:• To identify in a single and consolidated view, the functional and

technical changes arising from the implementation of the project• To understand and analyse these impacts in terms of their types,

as per the Organisational Impact Analysis methodology:• Process• Procedures• Roles• Competencies• Performance expectations• Workflows• Work management

• To define the organisational impacts which thus arise• To define remedial actions where required

Methodology of the OIA

• The methodology is built around the 7 stage hierarchy for change impacts. This hierarchy is founded at the process level – and then assesses change impacts in a linked hierarchy upwards from the basic change in a process through to an overall change in work management.

• The stages for the Organisational Impact Analysis work are as follows:

• Information discovery – building the fact base• Analysis of the fact base – development of hypotheses• Key person interviews for (1)clarification and conformation of

the fact base; (2) testing of hypotheses • Hypotheses confirmed into findings, conclusions and

recommendations for impact mitigation

Use of hypotheses in the OIA

• The results of the Organisational Impact Analysis are really important for the project – we cannot afford to make any blunders or overlook any significant impacts

• So the process used for arriving at findings needs to be rigorous and transparent

• I can only think of using the fact – hypothesis – testing – findings, as a proven process. Hence it is the recommendation here.

OIA schedule

Phase Tasks Information discovery •Review fit-gap documents

•Review all other source and analysis papers•Review key meeting minutes – Project Team, SC

Fact base analysis •Review all fact base by:•impact hierarchy•80:20 rule – e.g. size of impact•positive and negative impact•Impact by NUS organisation units

•Build hypotheses Confirmation of hypotheses •Key ISIS project team interviews

•Clarify fact base•Review and test hypotheses•Aim to accept/reject/modify the positions

Findings, conclusions, recommended actions

•Build findings•Build conclusions•Build recommendations – including mitigations

Presentation of results for the OIA

• The proposed approach for structuring the report back would be as follows:

• Findings:• Impacts by the 7 phase hierarchy• Impacts by functional/technical split• Impacts by 80:20 rule• Impacts by beneficial/neutral/potentially harmful• Impacts by NUS organisation structure

• Conclusions:• By overall importance of the impacts (i.e.)

• Recommendations

Playbook: reporting, metrics and risk management - 1

• It is probably stating the obvious – however, measurement is very important in change management.

• At the most basic level, the change management work does not so easily lend itself to measures in comparison to the rest of the project work. But therein lies the danger – if the change management team does not measure, then they cannot assess progress and they cannot communicate progress to the rest of the project.

• This last point is important in ensuring that that the change management work is taken seriously.

• The starting point is related to each of the change management elements – if schedules, milestones and deliverables are planned in these, then the reporting can proceed effectively. Without the schedules etc, the change management work will look disorganised and success unable to be defined.


• It is worth referring back to the model below. Try to set up the change management metrics using this model – do not only report activity, but also assess the impact of that activity.

• Even keep this model in mind when developing the change management plans.

Expected

Results

Activity:

Effectiveness:• Operation

al measures of system use

• Execution of Best Practice process

• Attitudinal and Competence Measures


• Risk management is a key aspect of all projects – and it needs to apply equally for the change management work.

• Normally, the overall project management will require risk assessments for the change team – and the model below is useful in defining, managing and mitigating project risks.

Playbook: Going-live and Handover Planning

• As the project progresses, you will need to think about the handover tasks

• It is really important to address this issue because the project team may disband – or become smaller – or move under another department. Anyway there will certainly be a change from the full project mode

• From both the training and change perspective, there will be a need for knowledge transfer

• Then there will need to be consideration of how the change and training work will be handled in:

• subsequent bundles/releases for the initial project• BAU – business as usual – i.e. when the project becomes the normal

system to use• Subsequent new developments – i.e. a shift to web services, addition of a

data warehouse/datamarts etc

Change Management & Training Handover PlanKey Actions -

level 1Key Actions -

level 2Training Change Management

1.0 Knowledge Transfer

1.1 Content of the knowledge competencies, processes and procedures to be transferred

1.1.1 Skills in the development of UPK content

- Deciding which "to-be" processes will become training content - and which will be dropped - Combining processes into topics

1.1.5 Procedures and plans for undertaking and maintaining the Change Management program

- Develop a draft Change Management "playbook" which would be used to train other staff in the NUS approach to Change Management - Review this playbook at the lessons learned and then confirm it from draft to final

- Building UPK content - Generating scenario-based training content

- Develop an integration plan for aligning the Change Management and training activities - e.g. development of User Leads to also become facilitators - developing more sophisticated methods for TNA.

1.1.2 Skills in the set up and formatting of consistent, effective learning content

- Rules and templates to ensure a single look and feel to the UPK content regardless of developer

1.1.6 Confirmation of understanding and ability to use the Oracle University defined deliverables - as per the RFP and delivered/signed-off documents

- Ensure that the Oracle deliverables from both Training and Change Management are able to be put into a single resource file

- Documentation for the overall development of topics and modules - learning model - use of show me, let me try, assess me

- Review where (if any) there are sections of the deliverables which are still unclear or were not able to be applied to the ISIS project - Clarify these areas - or drop them from the final resource pack

- Continued access to UPK skilled resources if required

- Discuss and define what on-going access to Change Management knowledge will be required (if any)

1.1.3 Procedures for creating overall programs of training from the component UPK modules

- Ensure that an overall training plan is in place - this is going to be post go-live and largely drawn from the lessons learned by the NUS staff

1.1.7 Lessons learned from the ISIS implementation to date

- Lessons learned workshop undertaken after go-live - Ideally a full day to discuss and document much of the topics in this Handover Plan

1.1.4 Lessons learned from the ISIS implementation to date

- Lessons learned workshop undertaken after go-live - Ideally a full day to discuss and document much of the topics in this Handover Plan

1.2 The timelines for knowledge transfer to occur

1.2.1 Schedule for the conclusion of training

- Training schedule will align to the go-live. Assume that there will be a soft launch in the week of October 19 and the full go-live a week later - i.e. the week of October 26, 2009.

1.2.4 Schedule for the wrap up for the Change Management work

- Likely to be tied to the go-live support plan and thus beyond end October

- Training will end before the soft go -live. But the KT conclusions will need to be after that go-live - an issue will be to ensure that resources are still available in this post go-live period

- Change Management draft ready by the end of the original ISIS plan. This can then be used for the inclusion into the work for the lessons learned

1.2.2 Scheduling of Training lessons learned workshop

- Aim for the week after go-live. All is fresh in the minds of the participants and the outcomes can be rapidly actionable

1.2.5 Scheduling for the Change Management lessons learned workshop

- Aim for the week after go-live. All is fresh in the minds of the participants and the outcomes can be rapidly actionable

- There are likely to be fine tuning issues with ISIS that will be happening in that week - so these can also build into the lessons learned

- There are likely to be fine tuning issues with ISIS that will be happening in that week - so these can also build into the lessons learned

1.2.3 Milestone for KT completion for Training

- Develop a "Playbook" for both Training and Change Management (as mentioned above). This is not meant to be a beautiful document - but a hands-on guide to what to do for overall training and Change Management success.

1.2.6 Defined milestone for Change Management KT completion

- Develop a "Playbook" for both Training and Change Management (as mentioned above). This is not meant to be a beautiful document - but a hands-on guide to what to do for overall training and Change Management success.

1.3 The target audiences for the defined knowledge transfer

1.3.1 Definition of audience within ISIS project concerned with the UPK Training

- Change Manager and staff - NUS UPK developers

1.3.3 Definition of audience within ISIS project concerned with the Change Management work

- Change Manager and staff - NUS Change Management consultant

1.3.2 Definition of any audience outside the project who will have involvement beyond go-live. This is as regards the UPK training, management of SharePoint and the like

- Not determined as yet - So it is reasonable to assume that the current ISIS Change and Training staff will be the prime audience - At a later phase in the project there may need to be a KT process to other members of the NUS community

1.3.4 Definition of any audience outside the project who will have involvement in CM beyond go-live.

- Not determined as yet - So it is reasonable to assume that the current ISIS Change and Training staff will be the prime audience - At a later phase in the project there may need to be a KT process to other members of the NUS community

1.4 Procedures for sign-off that transfer has occurred as agreed

1.4.1 Definition of the deliverable documents

1. Handover Plan2. Summary of Training undertaken3. Playbook

1.4.3 Definition of the deliverable documents

1. Handover Plan2. Summary of Change Management undertaken3. Playbook

1.4.2 Sign - off of the deliverable document

Mutual agreement between OU and ISIS that there is satisfaction on both sides

1.4.5 Sign - off of the deliverable document

Mutual agreement between OU and ISIS that there is satisfaction on both sides

1.4.3 Sign - off procedures for actual KT taking place

TBA 1.4.6 Sign - off procedures for actual KT taking place

TBA

2.0 Business Continuity (BAU)

2.1 What change and training components will be continued into BAU

2.1.1 Specifics for training content - modules to be retained

- All the developed modules will be retained for BAU - Accountability for the UPK ownership and module maintenance should rest with the NUS Change and Training Manager - Location of content will initially be on the ISIS SharePoint

2.1.4 Definitions of which change components will be maintained

- Stakeholder information would only be provided for the subsequent BAU releases of ISIS. - End - users communications will be more important and will align with each release - Accountability will reside with the NUS Change and Training Manager

2.1.2 Managing the fine-tuning within UPK

- In the month following the October go-live, there needs to be close attention paid to the impacts from any fine-tuning. Modifications to UPK is the most logical area to look at.

2.1.5 Managing the operation, updating and development of the defined change elements

- There needs to be the basis for such updating and development. This will come from the Playbook - in the sense that the Playbook should enable actions to be planned and executed in conjunction with the BAU itself. - Thus for the next releases, there will need to be plans drawn out of the Playbook for stakeholder comms and for all the end user communications.

2.1.3 Developing updates for modules in line with releases of CS

- There are also releases due in December(?) and February. So if the training for these has not been prepared along with the October content - then there will be a content development

2.1.6 Approach to continuous development - if any

- Whilst there are cases where continuous improvement is a worthwhile goal - i.e. where the subsequent BAU audiences of end - users are new and varied - such is not the case at NUS. - Therefore, if the Playbook and Handover Plan are acceptable then the logical approach would be to keep a good thing going.

- Furthermore there will be the training conduct and the load up of modules to SharePoint

2.2 What components can be curtailed - and the schedule for this to happen

2.2.1 Definition of what is curtailed, why - and the exit plan to disengage them.

- At this stage, there is no indication that any of the training content would be curtailed - Only content to be discarded would be where an updated version has been developed (as a result of the fine tuning process etc.

2.2.2 Definition of what is curtailed, why - and the exit plan to disengage them.

- The level of stakeholders interactions will diminish. This is the only curtailing

2.3 Alignment of business continuity of change and training against the BAU schedule for the first 12 months (or whatever period is currently specified

2.3.1 Plan for setting a schedule for training relative to the current BAU plan.Where the plan is emerging - then still align against whatever detail exists. The plan can develop over time

TBA 2.3.2 Establish a Change Management "package" which can be readily aligned to the plan.Set the schedule for change against BAU plan

- The overall BAU will be viewed from a change perspective as a series of releases - some small and just fine-tuning - some more significant releases of applications - some related to the progressive subsuming of satallite apps. - The change work can be directly aligned to these releases. So there is no need to have a detailed plan for the next 12 months - it will be sufficient to have a CM approach to be applied to each and every release regardless of when they happen. - The approach should be in the Playbook

2.4 What will be the organisation and resourcing for managing and delivering the business continuity for BAU

2.4.1 Define the organisation and resourcing for training handover

TBA 2.4.2 Define the organisation and resourcing for change handover

TBA

2.5 Integration with NUS HRM functions

2.5.1 Integration of training within the overall training programs for NUS

- There is no centralised training operation within NUS - so any integration would seem to need to stay with the post go-live ISIS team. - Communications would then go direct to defined ISIS end - users for reminders re new training releases or reminders for applications that have not been used since the last term or year - There would need to be, ideally, linkages into HR, however, to handle linking the training modules to new starter training

2.5.3 Review whether any integration to the NUSHRM is required

- It is unlikely that there will be any integration required. The Change Management work needs to planned and delivered via ISIS.

2.5.2 Linkage to the induction and refresher programs for current and future ISIS users

- As per the topic above

2.5.3 Linkage to the NUS mentoring or coaching systems

- On the assumption that the university does undertake performance reviews and coaching for staff - there is value in being able to link this process in with the ISIS module availability (assume that the system already exists to link training content and coaching)

3.0 New Developments

3.1 Definition of the high level developments likely for ISIS - and the schedule: - future tranches - releases of CS - integration of satellite systems - migration to database

3.1.1 High-level position re the alignment with training

3.1.2 High-level position re the alignment with Change Management

From broad to stakeholder – specific communications

• We have the message loud and clear from CRA – “go down to my level”

• We need to quickly get closer to all the relevant stakeholder groups. Financial Services have already done so…..and the benefits are evident

• We should consider the series of targeted stakeholder briefing sessions

• We should raise the issue at all the CRP topic sessions and try to get commitments to dates for these sessions [after all we should have all the relevant decision-makers in the room on every one of the CRP topic sessions]

• One issue of real difficulty, to my mind, is what to talk about. Up to now we, as a project, have not had a clear enough focus when we talk…..we do not have an “elevator pitch”…..I am proposing that we need to rectify [see further on]

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