Integrating change management and project management has been an area of study for over a decade at Prosci. While some people seem to think that project management and change management have a rivalry akin to the Capulets and Montagues, we do not believe that to be the case. Previous research tells us that integrating these disciplines leads to more effective change management. More effective change management, in turn, leads to a higher likelihood of project outcomes being achieved.
To respond to recent changes, organizations are deploying Agile methods and mindsets using iterative development to increase alignment with client needs, increase speed to value, and reduce risk over the project lifecycle. However, moving from traditional waterfall approaches to Agile approaches is a change in and of itself – one that must be effectively managed. The transition to Agile can be plagued with obstacles if not intentionally managed. It takes more than a declaration or hiring a few Agile coaches – systemically adopting Agile throughout an organization takes structure and intent.
“In a project using an Agile method, change management must adapt and be flexible. In related news, the sun rises in the East and the sky is blue."
The volume of chatter about Agile and change management has been on the rise in recent years. Unfortunately, the direction on how to integrate change management in an Agile project has been quite shallow. Prosci decided to tackle this challenge in true Prosci fashion – with research. In late 2016, Prosci engaged change practitioners that had a foot in each discipline to provide insights, experiences and expertise on the intersection of these emergent and critical disciplines.
The result of this research is captured in the new benchmarking report, Change Management and Agile: The intersection of the people side of change and Agile development processes – released on September 12, 2017. One part of the report explores how to effectively manage the people side of change when moving from waterfall TO Agile – the systemic introduction of Agile as an approach, sometimes called the “Agile Transformation.” The other part of the report explores how to most effectively adapt and adjust the practice of change management IN a project using Agile.
This blog shares insights on the adaptations to change management IN Agile projects.
“Flexibility is key and not panicking with the uncertain nature of Agile delivery. Keep the basics but be prepared to negotiate on other aspects of the traditional change approach. Know that every day is different, and that's okay.”
Study participants identified four impacts on change management necessitated by the iterative nature of projects using an Agile development process:
When applied in an Agile development process, change management…
When supporting an initiative using Agile, the change practitioner must be more flexible and adaptable. There is a certainly level of discomfort involved with letting go of “perfect” change management strategies and plans. However, the rapid pace of a project using Agile means that change management practitioners must refine and focus their work – becoming more precise and efficient and knowing where to flex and where to relax the change management rigor.
“If you plan short 4-8 week sprints, every little achievement can be a success story, however small (even a 2 person change which has a measurable business impact to a business process). Small = greater commitment for all.”
Participants highlighted four specific contributors to success when applying change management to a project using an Agile approach.
Engagement all around was the major theme related to top contributors. First, engagement between the Agile team and the change management resource is crucial to ensure that the people side keeps up with the technical side. Engagement of senior leaders, both in support of the initiative and Agile as an approach, was critical. Finally, engaging impacted employees through consistent communication and celebrations of successes created the necessary momentum to keep an effort progressing.
“[The greatest challenge is] the tendency to be less strategic about the people approach to adoption. The focus on the ‘story’ tends to overshadow planning for operationalizing the product (e.g., adjust business processes, weave into training/user documentation, etc.)”
Study participants identified five common obstacles when working to bring change management into a project using Agile iterative development processes:
Interestingly, the interplay between effectively managing the transition TO Agile and the effective application of change management IN Agile shows up in the top obstacles. Major obstacles faced when applying change management IN Agile were often symptoms of ineffectively building support and buy-in for Agile in the first place.
Prosci took an innovative approach to uncovering specific direction and guidance for change practitioners working to adjust their work in an Agile environment. We began by identifying a set of ten change management practice areas to investigate. First, we looked to the seven top contributors to success that have emerged from Prosci’s decades of research:
Then, we added three more practice areas that have emerged in research:
For each of the ten practice areas, we collected data from study participants on:
The full Change Management and Agile report has complete write-ups on each of the three questions for all ten of the practices areas. For the purpose of this blog, I’ll provide a short “punchline” for each of the ten practice areas below:
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Practice area |
Punchline |
| Sponsorship |
Sponsors must understand and embrace the Agile mindset. Sponsor participation must become more precise and efficient. |
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| Middle Manager |
Managers need to be equipped with resources and training on Agile and engaged with face-to-face communication. Their role changes across the project. |
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| Employee Engagement |
Employees must be engaged more but also less formally (seemingly a paradox). Engagement should also promote the Agile culture. |
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| Approach |
The change management approach must align to Agile process phases and must be selective regarding which activities drive value. |
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| Resources |
Change management resourcing needs vary across an Agile development effort and must be ready to pivot based on employee impact of a given phase. |
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| Integration with Project Management |
The change management and project teams must integrate earlier, with higher levels of communication and collaboration. |
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| Communication |
Communication requires precision and increased frequency aligned with the Agile process but must also be managed well to avoid overload. |
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| Training |
Training must be focused, concise and delivered more frequently, with an emphasis on delivering just-in-time training. |
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| Resistance Management |
A formal resistance management plan with increased communication, with an emphasis on the “why” of both Agile and the project, can build buy-in. |
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| Reinforcement |
Reinforcement is required early and more frequently to match the iterative approach, with an emphasis on goals and progress. |
Agile is continuing to grow as a new way to tackle initiatives by breaking them down into iterative segments. Its application is extending past software and IT projects to include non-IT projects as well. Within a project using Agile, change management can support the adoption and usage required for true results to be achieved. But the pace and nature of an Agile effort means that change management must change. Precision, efficiency, focus, trade-offs, early engagement, balance – all must be present for change management to be most effective on a project using iterative development.
Prosci’s newest research report uncovers concrete, research-based direction for practitioners working to have impact by adapting and adjusting change management practices in an Agile environment. Download the free executive summary or purchase the full report today to begin applying these critical lessons.
In our age of innovation and sophistication, I am always amazed by the power of the throw-back. We post old pictures on social media in honor of “throw-back Thursday.” We sing and dance along with throw-back songs (which, for me, is early nineties pop music). We look back at old year books or family photo albums. There’s a reason we love throw-backs: they feel comfortable and familiar, but they also take us back to our roots and our formative experiences. It’s a powerful thing to return to where we came from.
When people do not share a common language, it can lead to confusing, even hilarious results. Consider the classic Abbott and Costello skit “Who’s On First,” where both comedians are saying the same words but meaning completely different things. While this conundrum makes for great comedy, it can cause real problems in our organizations. And lack of a common language doesn’t just manifest in people assigning different meaning to the same word; it can also result in people using vastly different terms to describe the same thing. This can cause frustration, misunderstanding, and decreased efficiency as people decipher each other’s language.
Where were you in 2004? The answers among us will be wide reaching but perhaps we all had one thing in common: we were experiencing some sort of change (professional or personal) or we were leading others through change.
As 2016 comes to an end, we shift our focus to 2017 and the new opportunities and challenges on the horizon. The New Year brings us new possibilities to grow, expand and extend our impact. So, I’d like to ask you – what’s next? For you? For your organization? For this discipline? And for us here at Prosci?
Imagine that you, an experienced change management practitioner, are assigned a new change initiative to manage. You attend your first meeting with the project team ready to plan out the course of the project from now through go-live and beyond. However, you find out that they have only planned out the first two weeks of work! More shockingly, the project plan calls for only addressing work in these two week ‘sprint’ cycles. What do you do?