Starting the change management process
Setting up a change process, I usually analyse the organisation, the size of the change task, any methodology that may exist and then think about appropriate models for change.
There are a wide number of models of change that exist in the literature. Some, like change specialist Dr John Kotter’s model are very well known with its eight steps.
Kurt Lewin also has a three-step model with nine activities within it. William Bridges‘ two is a staged approach of ending, neutral zone and new beginning. Each has merit.
I encourage the change managers I coach and mentor to understand the rich range of theoretical models that can be applied within a methodology. There are excellent resources that summarise each of these models and also some that provide an overall summary. (I will be covering these in future blog posts.)
Another source will be the soon-to-be-released Change Management Institute’s Change Management Body of Knowledge (CMBOK), the first globally recognised body of knowledge currently being created by a team of committed volunteers. This will be a resource that will provide the foundations for change management practice.
Like the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), the CMBOK will contain a rich range of agreed best practice principles and philosophies that underpin what is considered best practice and that methodologies are built upon.
