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5 Effective Change Management Tips for Project Managers

Project managers have to constantly face and adapt to changes that have an impact on the project. Customer requirements may change, external vendors may exert increasing influence, or an unexpected event may create project delays.

Project managers should know how to effectively manage the change and seamlessly adjust their operations in line with the altered demands. They need to be ready for change and transition the team towards continuous change management.

Here are five effective change management tips for projects managers related to any field or discipline.

1. Stick to a Tried and Tested Technique

When it’s time to develop a change management plan, you should not try to reinvent the wheel. Use the established process (if present) to manage the change. The main components of any change process include the change request form and the change log. It’s important that you use them instead of making a new one. However, you should keep them in a medium where it’s possible to track and update the changes.

2. Leverage Technology Tools

You should consider using an online project management software to better track the project and easily make the updates whenever required. Select the right work management software allows improved collaboration between the employees. An online collaboration software is to make the transition a lot smoother for the employees.

3. Enterprise Level Deployment

Remember that effective change management must be deployed at an enterprise level. It requires treating change as a separate project with its own objectives, risks, and outcomes. There is a need for utilizing a holistic strategy that is aimed at effective management of the process. A representative team should be deployed for the management of the change. It requires securing sponsorship from the upper management. Without a holistic enterprise level approach, effective management of change is difficult.

4. Understand, Analyze, and Execute

Project managers need to keep an eye out for change. They need to critically analyze the outcomes. Once the impact of the change is determined, they need immediately put to action their change management plan. The more you wait, the more negative will be the impact on the project outcome.

5. Expect and Overcome Resistance

Resistance is natural whenever it comes to change. This is because most people naturally resist change. They are used to the tried and tested ways and are not really happy about ‘new’ approaches in light of changed circumstances.

Project managers need to anticipate the inevitable resistance and have a plan to address and manage the concerns. And one of the first ways to break the resistance is by showing them the outcome of acting like a stone in the face of the hurricane of change. They need to remind the team that the rewards will outweigh the efforts taken to adopt a changed way of working.