Está clara la
relación estrecha entre los proyectos y el cambio y el cambio y los proyectos.
Y. por lo tanto, la relación entre la gestión de los proyectos y la gestión del
cambio.
Este es un aspecto
que ya hemos comentado en anteriores posts de este blog, por lo que no vamos a
repetirlo.
Ahora bien, a pesar
de esta estrecha relación entre ambas disciplinas, no son lo mismo.
Y es necesario
diferenciar claramente ambas.
¿Cuáles son las
características de la Gestión de Proyectos y las características de la Gestión
del Cambio?
¿Qué hace un project
manager y qué hace un change manager?
Os recomiendo que
accedáis al artículo directamente, pero por si no fuera posible, listo, a
continuación, una parte de su contenido (en inglés).
"Project management involves the use of people,
processes and methodologies to plan, initiate, execute, monitor and close
activities. It is designed to meet an organization's project goals, and
hopefully overall strategic objectives.
Change management, similar to project management,
involves people, processes, and tools to effectively help organizations manage
all the changes that occur, whether as a result of project initiatives, or
other factors that might impact the business.
While project management and change management are
two areas often work side-by-side -- and they should -- there are some
similarities. However, these are different disciplines. Think about project
management in the example of software development and implementation. A project
manager works with a project team to plan, communicate and execute the actual
development and implementation itself. A change manager will work with the same
project management team to identify, communicate, and effectively manage all
aspects relating to how any changes will ultimately impact all stakeholders.
Characteristics of Project
Management
Project management should enable strategy and is a
formalized and well documented discipline guided by a formal project management
body of knowledge (PMBOK). There is a defined start end date for each project
that includes tasks, milestones and final deliverables as well as formally
identified processes and agreed to requirements and goals. Project management
typically involves the implementation of a product or service.
Characteristics of change management
Change management, while increasingly becoming a
highly recognized and documented area, doesn't involve a formalized set of
guidelines and processes like PMBOK. There is no start and end date, and no set
formal tasks or milestones. The change management processes can vary, despite
goals. This discipline manages only the impact of changes that result of
organizational and PM activities, and involves the implementation of strategies
to deal with change (sustainability aspects).
What does a project manager do?
A PM leads projects from initiation to close, to
ensure stakeholder objectives are met with success, and facilitates meetings
between team members, company leadership, stakeholders, vendors, and other
relevant parties. The project manager maintains communication relating to
project activities with all stakeholders and is responsible for ensuring
projects remain within scope. Their project management knowledge and experience
is used to help sponsors, team members and other stakeholders to effectively
collaborate and make more informed decisions. They work with the company
leadership to ensure projects are aligned with overall business strategies and
to ensure project risks are mitigated and negative impact to project
stakeholders are minimized. Ultimately, project managers play the role of
facilitator and leader for project activities.
What does the change manager do?
A change manager guides, communicates, documents and
implements strategies to effectively manage changes that assist company
leadership, employees and other stakeholders transition better during times of
change. They aid in the process adoption and buy-in, reducing resistance when
changes occur, and in essence play the role of liaison and advocate for the
business activities. They also maintain a strong focus on the people and how
changes impact them to ensure business risks are mitigated and the impact to
people within the company is minimized.
Why is the role of change management
within an organization necessary?
Globally, significant amounts of time and resources
are poured into project initiatives annually. While projects help companies
accomplish strategic goals, they don't fully address the impact to people and
processes within organizations as a rule. Once projects have been completed,
there is the inevitably of an impact to existing processes as well as
individuals. It's important to remember while project teams and key
stakeholders may be involved from start to finish, there are many other
individuals that aren't, yet are impacted by the project outcome.
These individuals may struggle as a result of a
significant amount of anxiety and resistance. This can create a lack of buy-in,
in addition to confusion about what's changed and what it means to them in
terms of how they do their jobs. It may even lead them to question their future
and make them wonder if it will impact their employment with the company. This
is where a change management professional can play a vital role in smoothing
this transition, relieving stress and helping employees through the changes,
increasing the chances of buy-in. While there may be some overlap between
project managers and change managers this, to a great extent, is external to
the role of a PM.
How to project managers and change
managers work together?
When projects are initiated, they create a
significant amount of undue stress on stakeholders and employees in general.
While project managers maintain complete focus on overall project objectives
with the goal of ensuring stakeholder value, change management professionals
should not only attend project meetings, but also be an integral part of the
project team. Collaborating provides a holistic approach to strategy and
ensures the impact to people within the organization can be sufficiently
addressed, to reduce unnecessary stress and anxiety, and also create a smooth
transition in terms of processes and acceptance levels not only during the
project phases, but long after the project is complete.
Overall, organizations should encourage change
management professionals and project managers to work closely together to
ensure project efforts and the resulting change are sufficiently addressed to
reduce the impact on its people and level of product and service delivery.
"
