The Role of Program Management in an Organisational Change

Developed by Sebbe Sidenius Bull

Revised by Cirkeline Bräuner

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In today's rapidly changing society, organisations are going through changes all the time. This causes, that organisations must be able to adapt to new market conditions, changing customer demands and emerging technology. To remain competitive in a continuously evolving business environment, organisations go through changes such as process optimisation, cost reduction or technology adoption. These are few examples of changes which affect the entire business, and it is therefore crucial that the change is managed in a successful way to avoid harming the business.

Organisational change is a huge alteration for any organisation and can be a dawning task if not managed properly. In the context of project management, organisational change refers to any significant alteration in an organisation that affects the way projects are planned, executed and managed. Project managers must be able to identify the potential impact of organisational changes in their projects and adapt their project management approach accordingly to ensure successful project delivery. (THIS SOUND WIERD) In this regard, program management can serve as an effective tool for managing organisational change. With its comprehensive toolbox of evaluative methods, program management offers a structured approach to assessing each potential change project. This toolbox supports change managers in providing an overview of the change project, ensuring efficient project execution, promoting project alignment, evaluating risks, mapping stakeholders and identifying potential benefits. All of these elements work together to facilitate a more effective and efficient change management process.

This article provides an introduction to what change management is and why it is a difficult task to manage. Afterwards, an introduction to program management is given. Then, the two management fields are combined into one common understand of how program management can be applied in organisational change. Lastly, the benefits and limitations of organisational changes using program management is discussed.

Change management

What is change?

"The act or result of something becoming different" or "The process of replacing something with something new or different" are two examples of a definition of what a change is.

A change is simply a variation in the common way of doing things. It refers to any modification, alteration or transformation in something from its previous state to a new state. Changes occur everywhere and is an opportunity to make or become different through new ways of acting. Changes can be temporary or permanent, positive or negative and gradual or sudden. It can be a source of growth and development as well as a source of challenges and difficulties (SOURCE).

Changes are defined as either incremental or radical. An incremental change is a change which happens gradually over time. It involves making small adjustments of an already existing system to improve efficiency, effectiveness and performance. An example of an incremental change is making small step-by-step adjustments in an organisation's strategy. Radical change, on the other hand, is different from incremental change as it involves making a significant change such as introducing a completely new business strategy. Both types of changes can be beneficial for different purposes and choosing the right approach depends on the context .

What is change management?

In the section above, the definition of a change is briefly described. This leads on to the next topic, which deals with what change management is from a project management point of view. Unfortunately, there is not a single recipe for applying change management in organisations as the is no one-size-fits-all approach. The process has to be tailored to the specific needs and circumstances of the organisation.

However, the psychologist Kurt Lewin has represented a simplified way of viewing a change process . As illustrated in the Figure 1, the change process is divided into three distinct stages; freeze, change and refreeze.

Figure 1: Kurt Lewin's three step change process

1. Unfreeze: The first stage characterises the starting point of the change process where the organisation prepares for the change. This involves creating awareness about the need for the change, identifying current behaviours and to get people to let go of their old ways of thinking and working .
2. Change: The second stage involves implementing the change through planning, communication and execution. The objective is to create new ways of thinking and working. During this phase, people must be trained and educated to adopt new methods and behaviours and to overcome any obstacles that may arise .
3. Refreeze: The third stage addresses making the new change permanent. The objective is to reinforce the new behaviours, ensuring that they become a part of the organisation's culture. During this phase, the focus is on stabilising the new ways of thinking and working, and creating a sense of ownership among employees .

However, all organisational change process can be described through the following simple four-step process:

1. Assess the need for change: Recognise that there is a problem and identify the source of the problem.
2. Decide on the change to make: Decide what the organisation's ideal future state would be and identify obstacles to change.
3. Implement the change: Introduce and manage change and decide whether change will occur top down or bottom up.
4. Evaluate the change: Compare performance and use benchmarking.