Implement change projects sustainably

Aktualisiert: 15. Dez. 2021

How can you implement your change projects successfully? And what is the role of the project leader?

“70% of all change projects fail with the implementation.”

First of all, there are the classic project management or change management processes:

Project clarification (results, time, costs) and planning (e.g. work packages)
Organization of the necessary resources, team member goals and workflow processes such as decision-making
Management and controlling of the project including changes to the project content and target achievement discussions with the team members
Documentation and handover to business

"Every project manager is also a little CEO."

In addition, a project lead must also address the emotional component of the change. Since there is no direct lead, stakeholder management skills are all the more important. And that is where the "human factor" comes in. In order to better understand the emotional world of employees in a change project, I would like to refer to Streich's seven-phase model.

In strategic projects, the ability to change comes into play. Let us assume that the change is seen as necessary and the readiness is there (departure). But that doesn't mean that people are also able to live this change sustainably. On Streich's emotional journey the traveler falls and denies going any further. After the valley of tears has been overcome, however, the trial phase begins. This is where the ability to unlearn and learn comes into play. All three components (necessity, willingness, skills) must be given for sustainable implementation.

Because not everyone can simply do it, the support of a change project manager is required or must be included in the project planning. This results in a certain complexity of the change projects. A traditional project plan does not take this into account. I have therefore expanded this in my project planning with other important components and include a specific stream "Change Management”.

Change projects that contain no or poor change management even have negative effects on the sales figures and fluctuation of an organization.

What good and bad experiences have you had with change projects? 👇