How do organizations today stay proactively responsive to the global market-place, adaptable in the face of constant technology advancements and effective in continuously improving? An effective Organizational Change Management approach when implementing changes, particularly those associated with new technologies such as an ERP implementation or upgrade, affects the deep structure of an organization and necessitates an transformational approach to change management that is also tailored to the unique needs of a particular organization.
Which approach do we use? We suggest change efforts using the ADKAR model for Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement. The five components of the ADKAR model support the following initiatives to help drive towards successful organizational change management:
- Create awareness for the need for change, what the nature of the change is, why the change is taking place, and what the change will accomplish
- Support the increase in desire to accomplish the change and see it through and participate and engage with the project
- Facilitate the sharing of knowledge of how the change will occur, what resources and instruction are available, and how to start using new skills and behaviors
- Build the ability and skills needed to implement the change and demonstrate measurable performance
- Circle back with reinforcement and reevaluation where needed to sustain the change and support the culture around the change
Underlying this methodology and any training that accompanies a change is the need to address the people part of the change for successful adoption of new technologies and change. A learner-centric approach to training and communications will increase buy-in and help foster participation and momentum towards end goals.
What’s the likelihood your organization’s project will be successful without change management? Effective organizational change management using the methods as briefly described above has been proven to increase adoption, speed up a project’s time-line and boost bottom-line benefits.
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