John Gillett, Client Director - Public Sector, explores what ‘change management' actually means and why it's become an essential discipline in both the public and private sector.

The Internet can be an excellent tool, providing countless sources of information on every conceivable topic. For instance, I recently ran a search on “what is change management” and received some 900 results; small potatoes compared to some search topics but daunting nonetheless. Let's look at some of these definitions.

Here's one from an IT perspective: “the process of controlling changes to the infrastructure or any aspect of services, in a controlled manner, enabling approved changes with minimum disruption.” This sounds OK but is a little simplistic. Today, technology has become ‘commoditised' and, in any case, probably only accounts for between 20 and 30 percent of the overall costs and resources involved in effecting a significant change; changing how people work requires far more investment and thought. Indeed, implementing new technology in isolation - without an effective change programme - is a sure-fire way of failing to deliver business benefits in the most timely and effective ways.

Here's an academic view of change management that, I believe, is ‘incomplete' in that it fails to suggest the hands-on practicalities actually involved in enabling change: “a systematic process of taking into account the global conditions affecting an organisation, as well as specific conditions in the organisation. The change management methodology examines the current environment with respect to organisation culture, communication, organisation design, job design, infrastructure, personnel, skills and knowledge, people/machine interfaces, and incentive systems.”

And a third definition of change management, this time from a US government agency. I like this one because it reflects the three critical areas of change: definition and planning; cultural issues; and getting your hands dirty. It describes change management as “the activities involved in (1) defining and instilling new values, attitudes, norms, and behaviours within an organisation that support new ways of doing work and overcome resistance to change; (2) building consensus among customers and stakeholders on specific changes designed to better meet their needs; and (3) planning, testing and implementing all aspects of the transition from one organisational structure or business process to another.”

Finally, here's how one of our own Associates views change management - I think this sums it up neatly. It is “ the ability to bring an ‘old world' into a ‘new world' through cohesive, seamless and credible people and process management.”

Change is of course fundamental if an organisation is to continue evolving and meeting the needs of all interested parties, be that the public, employees, business partners or politicians. And for change to occur it has to be managed: to move the organisation (whether that means its physical fabric, IT, people or processes) from one state to another, taking the shortest and most cost-effective route. And when you're juggling multiple projects, the logistics challenge alone can be huge.

So change has to be planned meticulously, from a position where the strategy, priorities and outcomes are all understood, and change is then implemented, managed and followed-up by people who know what they're doing - not least because the implications of getting it wrong can be serious.

If you would like to comment or offer your own views on change management, please e-mail the editor