In last month’s post, I told you about a recent meeting in which a GovCon company executive asked this question: “How does CMGT respond to federal clients who think that communications and change management are the same thing?”
We respond by asking the client the following three questions. The answers to these questions help them understand that communications and change management are not synonymous.
How do you define project success? Client answers may vary. However, overall results and outcomes of a federal enterprise IT project depend 100% on adoption and usage of the new technology.
Do you want employees and other stakeholders to use this new system or simply know it exists? We've seen a lot of system development and legacy system modernization efforts happening under the cloak of darkness. When it's time to deploy this wonderful system, clients seem to think that simply telling users and other stakeholders that the technology exists will be enough for them to start using it. Meanwhile, these users have no idea what has changed, what to do with this new system, or how the system impacts their day-to-day business processes. And that leaves help desk and support staff holding the bag to spring into action because the client is now in crisis mode. These organizations run a huge risk when change management teams aren't present, have no exposure to decision makers and key stakeholders, and can't prepare people for the change.
What steps have you taken to ensure end users know about the new system and will be ready to use it on the deployment date? Most likely, the answer to this question is none. Change management is a critical component to ensure that users and other stakeholders have an awareness of the new technology, desire to use it as opposed to their existing technology and/processes, the knowledge and ability to use the new technology, and communication and training to reinforce their awareness, desire, knowledge, and ability. These elements, in turn, help to ensure overall project success.
