Change Management in Government

Can you tell us about your background and your current role?

I am a Change Management Lead at the Ministry of Defence (UK). In my role I am responsible for providing strategic direction, methodology and tools to the change managers that operate across our 250,000 people-strong organisation and for raising the profile of the discipline at all levels. I also chair the cross-government Change Management working group. 

Throughout my career I have worked within various public and private sector organisations and lead teams to deliver complex strategic change and transformation programmes. My professional journey - like many other Change practitioners’ - has also involved Project Management, in my case across numerous sectors from commercial deals to construction.

In my spare time I co-lead the London Chapter of the Change Management Institute, which provides me with an amazing opportunity to work with colleagues across the globe and to be at the forefront of Change Management innovation.

Can you talk about your Change Management journey?

As I mentioned earlier, like many Change colleagues, I have taken a project management route to change management. As a Project Manager, I really struggled to specialise in a specific sector, as I have always enjoyed variety and change (I know – what a cliché!).

My favourite projects to deliver have always been around Transformation and so I decided that Transformation will be my specialism! As a Transformation Project Manager, I have managed service redesign, sustainability and merger projects. And although very different in scope, all of those projects had one thing in common - people experience was never at the forefront of the effort. I knew that there had to be a better way to handle the ‘people side’ of projects. In my pursuit to find that ‘better way’ I came across APMG’s Change Management course and decided to take it – and that was a pivotal moment in my career!

Why did you choose to take the Change Management certification?

I chose the APMG course because it is the most popular change management training in the world – and for good reason! It was definitely the right choice for me. The thing I enjoyed most about the course was the structure: before launching into technical aspects of effective change management, the course first builds an understanding around why people react to the change the way that they do, which is a crucial piece of knowledge for those that are new to the discipline.

Another reason for choosing APMG was the fact that I could study at my own pace and in my own time in preparation for the exam, which was helpful given that I was working full time. That setup enabled me to build my skills and gradually transition into a Change Management career.

How do you think your organization will benefit as a result of your success with the Change Management training and exams?

According to research, approximately 80% of project benefits are dependent on changing the way people think and operate. Utilising change management techniques and managing people through change effectively has a significant impact on an organisation’s ability to realise benefits. Therefore, I can confidently say that my change management expertise results in tangible benefits for my organisation every day. Furthermore, over time, I help create a more flexible and change-ready workforce.

What are your top 5 tips for successful Change Management?

1) Change management is a relentless collective effort

• As a CM you cannot do it all by yourself.
• My advice would be - to utilise various organisational resources that are available to you and that can help you manage change effectively.
• Line managers are a crucial communications resource and so are communications colleagues – Invest time in giving them the right change tools and knowledge so that they can help you to manage change; 

2) Look after the coach/sponsor

• It is our responsibility to make Sponsor’s job as easy for them as possible. They are crucial to success of change.

• They want to be good – they just need help understanding their own role – it's our job to help them navigate their role in their busy schedules,
• The value of building that rapport early on cannot be overestimated.

3) Workarounds will emerge!

• The majority of change initiatives fail at the ‘embed stage’ - that’s because people are really good at workarounds and because of a serious misconception that when Project Management stops, so does Change Management.
• When the Change Management resource is removed prematurely, workaround activities emerge and there isn’t anyone to deal with it. My advice – fight to stay on long enough!

4) Utilize listening

• You can be almost certain that resistance to change will occur when you are managing change - so keep listening!

5) Mind your culture - beware

• Too often change projects are perceived as stand-alone initiatives and not in the context of culture;
• We end up attempting to embed a solution without addressing the environment in which the new solution will be operated.
• To use a famous quote by Peter Drucker  ' Culture eats strategy for breakfast', it also eats change initiatives for breakfast!.