We live in a fast time. Change has become business as usual. Organizations with the change DNA, also called agile organizations, are the future. For a number of years, agile working has been promoted to THE way of working, and you almost belong to the dinosaurs if you still use a Waterfall approach to manage change on a project basis.
“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler – Albert Einstein”
If you cannot participate in the conversation about Epics, sprints, features and MVPs, you will no longer be part of it. Apparently. Fortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to manage and accelerate change. The context is decisive. But what always applies is that successful change is about people who enjoy working together and want to make lasting, strategic impact. In my opinion, things should be arranged as simply as possible, in line with the development level of the organization.
10 Best practices
In this blog I would like to share 10 best practices with you to manage change in the simplest possible way. Whether you do that via a Waterfall approach, agile, or in hybrid form. See this blog as a piece of contemplation in these fast times and ask yourself whether things have really changed or whether “the wisdom of the old box” still applies and it is good to dust it off a bit now and then. And I hope that there are also a few best practices for you that, despite the fact that you already knew them, are good to pay attention to within your organization in the coming period.
- Not revolution, but evolution
The degree of development (or maturity) of organizations to manage change differs greatly per industry and per organization. A good best practice is to start with a maturity assessment in order to align the change method as closely as possible with the development level of the organization. The Eiffel Tower was also not built in a day.
- Keep it simple
Like every field, project management also has its own slogan. To name a few: portfolio management, epics, sprints, minimum viable product (MVP), product owners, etc. We notice that employees with often a limited project management background give up the use of such a phrase. Keep it simple and understandable for everyone. Try to avoid slogan as much as possible and don't get too far ahead of the troops.
- Ensure involvement of the client
Regardless of which project management method you use, Waterfall or Agile, involvement of the client in the project is of the utmost importance. A client often has little time to properly fulfill his / her role. Therefore, make sure that the commissioning role can be properly completed with minimal time commitment. Provide a clear agenda, clear reports, short meetings and prepare decisions well.
- Work on awareness
With every (organizational) change, it must be clear to employees why the change is being implemented. You would say that there is no way to pin it. Often insufficient (permanent) attention is paid to this. The necessity of the change will have to be seen and recognized by everyone. It is also always good if the "what's-in-it-for-me question" can be answered positively for everyone. It is advisable to spar with a creative team, with experience in organizational change, which creative and fun steps can be taken to obtain the necessary awareness.
- Choose those initiatives and projects that deliver the most added value
As an organization, how do you determine which initiatives and projects are started? Should the decisions on this be taken at a central level, or can they also be taken locally at departmental level, or perhaps even at an individual level? This is a difficult issue, because “decentralized”, for example, does not want to hand over power to “central”. Without directly reaching for organizational measures, a lot of profit can already be achieved by making the vision of the organization tangible and understandable for everyone, for example by formulating concrete objectives or themes for the coming year. When the direction of the organization is clear to everyone, it is easier for everyone to make choices that best suit the direction in which the organization is moving. In subsequent years, if necessary, work can then be carried out on further improving the way in which it is decided which projects should and which should not be started. This is the important area of what is called project portfolio management.
- Overview and grip
You probably know the feeling that you get restless if you have no overview of your work. If you have the feeling that you are not “in control”. This is exactly the case for project-based work. Project managers become restless when they feel they have no control over their project. Portfolio Managers become restless if they do not have an overview of all current projects within their domain. Department managers become restless when they are responsible for achieving certain results, but do not have enough control over the realization thereof. For example, that they do not know what everyone is doing and have no insight into available capacity. It is therefore important that everyone can easily get an overview of what is important to him or her, for example by making a number of standard reports available.
- Don't let projects go on forever. Dare to stop a project
Do you also have them in your organization? Projects that have been on the calendar for centuries, while it is clear to you that they will no longer yield the desired result. This is partly because no one wants or dares to make the necessary decision, or because there is simply too little focus on results. This leads to an accumulation of current projects and a blurred image. Work on a culture in which results are positively driven and where people feel free to discuss whether projects should be terminated prematurely. This should not be seen as a shame, but rather a best practice. Dare to take your “loss” in time. After all, the world is changeable. Don't look back, look forward.
- Avoid elaborate project plans, if it can be easier
Many organizations nowadays work “agile”. No more detailed project plans are drawn up in advance, but work is carried out in short cycles of a few weeks, whereby after each cycle, in consultation with the client, the results delivered are built on. Communication, involvement of the client, agile competence and a high degree of self-empowerment are preconditions for the introduction of Agile working. But even if you use a Waterfall approach, you can learn from Agile by avoiding overly elaborate project plans. Dare to steer more in outline and plan some extra coordination moments with the team and the client to make adjustments in the meantime. With this you will also see that you as an organization become a lot more agile and that the result of many projects is easier to predict.
- Focus on the "critical path"
In the 1980s, Eliyahu M. Goldratt's Theory of Constraints (ToC) became very popular. The core of the ToC was that it makes no sense to focus on matters that are non-critical when improving business operations or projects. By focusing only on the weakest link, you get the best return. Within the project management world, this often refers to the critical path. This is the sequence of activities for which an extension of them directly means that the project will also be delayed. The best practice is to know the critical path of the project and to steer it with priority.
- Anticipate risks
No schedule will be followed and achieved 100%. Practice is always unruly. It is true that many things can be foreseen. We advise not only to work with a project plan, but also to use a risk management method, no matter how rudimentary. What risks with regard to commissioning, lead time, costs, organizational resistance, etc. can you foresee? What actions can you think of in advance to avoid these risks or reduce their effect? By applying these principles you are more in control of the implementation of the project.
Use Fortes Change Cloud
Fortes Change Cloud is het meest open en flexibele platform voor het managen van verandering in organisaties. Met fit-for-purpose apps die onderling nauw samenwerken komen alle verander-initiatieven samen op één plek (Agile én PPM). Het platform bestaat uit verschillende bouwstenen (apps). Met vier categorieën apps bouwt je een maatwerk Change house. Hiermee koppel je strategie en doelstellingen eenvoudig aan portfolio’s, programma’s en projecten.
Finally
We hope that this article has provided you with a number of (perhaps renewed) insights and intentions for your change organization or. make the project organization more in line with the maturity of your organization. Simplicity, overview and grip is the primary message. At Fortes we would like to discuss with you how we can support you in this.
With the Fortes Change Cloud we help organizations to get a grip on change. With our software you can easily link strategy and objectives to portfolios, programs and projects, and we support an agile, waterfall and hybrid approach. The users get exactly the functionalities (and no more) that match the level of professionalism of the project organization. We believe in starting small, trying, learning and then expanding. That's how we intended our software.
The 5 advantages of the Fortes Change Cloud:
- Simple to use
- Quick to implement
- Can be adjusted by yourself
- Simple application of standards
- Easy to integrate
For further information or to schedule a meeting, you can contactus at any time