IT Change Management Process: Simply Explained

Change management is all efforts to manage change or transformation that occurs in an organization. The goal of change management is to ensure that the transformation from the current state to future state ran smoothly and continuously. IT change management is all efforts to manage change or transformation in an organization due to new IT initiative. This new IT initiative could be the implementation of a new IT work culture, a new procedure, or generally the implementation of new applications or systems in a company. IT initiative is usually run as a project.
 

Change Management

IT change management process is basically comprised into three processes, i.e. stakeholder management, organizational alignment, and training and event coordination.

Stakeholder management

In this process, change manager or change management team conduct stakeholder analysis. They list the stakeholders involved, from senior management, middle management, users, IT team, to vendors. Each stakeholder category can be further divided into smaller groups depending on the situations and needs of the organization and the existing system, such as user is divided into key users and common users. Change management team analyzes the needs of each stakeholder group, what information they need during the course of the project in order to follow the transition process smoothly. Next, they make a list of key messages to be delivered to each stakeholder, delivery time, and delivery media. Key message may be an announcement that the project will be begun, brief description of the project, training schedules, issues and concerns, etc. Media delivery can be through newsletters, posters, banners, and others.

Organizational alignment

A new initiative in an organization requires changes in the organization. This usually impacts business processes and responsibilities of each employee in the organization. For example, an organization plans to implement new ERP system, replacing the current manual system. The existence of a new ERP system makes all the business processes that were previously done manually to change. For example, any type of approval must be made online. Approval processes that were previously done manually using paper must be changed. The people involved in this process are also likely to change. It could be, in the old state, the process involves three people; while in future state condition, the process will involve one person only.

These things are analyzed at this stage. Change management team or change manager can start by gathering information about existing business processes. Then, they map it to on modules or features of new system that will be used. What are the processes that will change? Which employee that has his role changed?  Which employee that will lose his job? Which process that needs more people? It can also be done in reverse. Change management team can start by analyzing the system modules will be used. Then, they map t to the people who have the most suitable position for running or responsible for each module.

Training and event coordination

Change process requires people to adapt. In adapting, people need to learn. Change management team or change manager should provide adequate information insemination about the new initiative. It can be training to use the new system, coaching, counseling, workshops, and so on. If your change management team comes from the internal organization and you hire vendor as a provider of initiative, do the coordination with vendors regarding the event will be held. You provide input to the vendor about anyone who needs training and what training materials needed. At the end of the training, you need to check whether the training has met the change management’s expectations.

To ensure continuous implementation of these changes, do enforcement by establishing new policy and procedures. You can also document the user manual on the use of new applications.