Alsbridge CEO Cites Five Key Steps in Successful Change Management
DALLAS, December 12, 2008 –Change management in IT sourcing can deliver vast benefits by improving the system and satisfying customer needs, according to Alsbridge, Inc. CEO Ben Trowbridge.
Whether the sourcing solution is a shared service center, or an outsourcing or off-shoring relationship, “Change management is the glue that fixes the changes in the organization,” said Mr. Trowbridge. He cited five key steps in successful change management:
1. Set clear objectives for the change effort -- Define the change you want to achieve precisely. Precise definitions might include: restructure the retained organization to enable delivery of services via the sourcing relationship; introduce new business processes and motivate people to adopt the news ways of working, to produce cost savings and quality.
2. Target interventions -- State exactly the contribution of the change management effort and cost to the project’s success. Not knowing what you're working towards leads to distractions and being pulled off track. What will the change function contribute to overall delivery of the project? What activities/deliverables is the change function accountable for? How will change management contribute to creating the framework in which changes can start their own cycle of continuous improvement?
3. Involve the right people -- Make sure you're talking to all the right people in the organization. If one objective is to motivate people to adopt new ways of working, targeted interventions might include revising the organization’s performance management system to include objectives and measures linked to new ways of working.
4. Measure and track the change management effort. Without measurement, you can't see how effective activities are. You can't take corrective action when results aren’t what you expected. Don't do anything you can't measure. If you can't prove that you should be doing something, stop it and do something more effective instead.
5. Plan for a long-term effort -- Maintain change management activity right through the change initiative and beyond. Typically, the change management effort ends too soon and people revert to old ways of working. But the organization can't revert completely to old ways, and ends up with a random blend of old and new ways of working. It takes time and reinforcement for people to adopt new ways. Don't stop too soon.
Applying these change management rules effectively will ensure that the organization gets the benefits of its IT sourcing investment, Mr. Trowbridge said.
For more information on outsourcing advisory services, contact Alsbridge at, 214-696-6410 or www.Alsbridge.com.
About Alsbridge, Inc.
Alsbridge is an independent advisory firm that helps organizations conduct thorough evaluations of outsourcing options for operating their information technology, finance and accounting, and human resources organizations. For more information, visit www.Alsbridge.com. |
