Change management

Change management is a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future state. In project management, change management refers to a project management process where changes to a project are formally introduced and approved.^[1].

The field of change management grew from the recognition that organizations are composed of people. And the behaviors of people make up the outputs of an organization.^[2].

[edit] Examples of Organizational Change

1. Strategic changes
2. Technological changes
3. Structural changes
4. Changing the attitudes and behaviors of personnel

As a multidisciplinary practice, Organizational Change Management requires for example: creative marketing to enable communication between change audiences, but also deep social understanding about leadership’s styles and group dynamics. As a visible track on transformation projects, Organizational Change Management aligns groups’ expectations, communicates, integrates teams and manages people training. It makes use of metrics, such as leader’s commitment, communication effectiveness, and the perceived need for change to design accurate strategies, in order to avoid change failures or solve troubled change projects. An effective change management plan needs to address all above mentioned dimensions of change. This can be achieved in following ways:

1. Putting in place an effective Communication strategy which would bridge any gap in the understanding of change benefits and its implementation strategy.
2. Devise an effective skill upgrading scheme for the organization. Overall these measures can counter resistance from the employees of companies and align them to overall strategic direction of the organization.
3. Personal counseling of staff members (if required) to alleviate any change related fears

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Change_management