When your organisation undertakes projects or initiatives to improve performance, seize opportunities or address key issues, change is often required: changes to processes, job roles, organisational structures, and the types and uses of technology. However, it is actually the employees of your organisation who have ultimately to change how they do their jobs. If these individuals are unsuccessful in their personal transitions, if they don’t learn or embrace the new way of working, the initiative will fail. However, if employees embrace and adopt changes required by the initiative, the expected results will be delivered.
Change management (CM) refers to any approach to transitioning individuals, teams and organisations using methods intended to re-direct the use of resources, business processes, budget allocations, and other modes of operation that significantly reshape a company or organisation. Organisational change management (OCM) considers the full organisation and what needs to change. Organisational change management principles and practices include CM as a tool for change focused solely on the individual.
CM focuses on how people and teams are affected by an organisational transition. It deals with many different disciplines, from behavioural and social sciences to information technology and business solutions. In a project management context, CM may refer to the change control process wherein changes to the scope of a project are formally introduced and approved.