White Paper - Leading and Managing Change
Organisational Change in 2009 – is the current economic climate having a significant impact on how change is managed?
Project Management used to be stereotyped as very task and process focussed, yet in recent years much emphasis has been placed on the people side of change – how to engage the hearts and minds of people, as well as the basics of good communication. With the current economic climate creating previously unthinkable changes in many sectors, we wondered whether project management might have reverted to a task and process focus?
- What do the current economic pressures mean for the people managing change programmes within organisations?
- What does it mean for the stakeholders and end-users within those change programmes?
- Has stakeholder/people engagement taken a back seat in our drive to get change accomplished - or is it being pursued more actively than ever?
This White Paper sets out to explore and 
answer these questions,with a view to offering constructive advice to companies undertaking significant change programmes.
Senior Consultants Jo Murphy (left) and Sarie Leroy (right) conducted the research.
Methodology
The authors are both experienced project managers who help companies with people development and organisational change. They held in-depth interviews with eight companies from a range of industry sectors in the UK and Belgium, speaking with consultants, project managers and line managers. Twenty responses were also received from an internet survey of change professionals and consultants In addition research was carried out using recent management journals and internet resources.
Context
Historically the focus of Project Management has been primarily task and process, yet in recent years there has been a growing acknowledgement of the people side of projects increases the chances of success. The project management journals regularly run articles on people skills, communication and leadership abilities. From a very black and white ‘task’ view of projects and change, there seems to be more openness to the greyer areas of influence and engagement, towards a more holistic approach. The authors have a strong interest in this theme and were intrigued to research what impact the current economic climate may or may not be having on this task/people balance. Our fear was that we would find project management had reverted back to being very task and process focussed, to the detriment of the people engagement aspect of good project management practice.
The White Paper has three main themes:
1. Has the pattern of projects/programmes being undertaken changed?
2. What opportunities or challenges does change management face currently?
3. How is change being managed now?
In the conclusion the authors put forward their recommendations for companies, with a model for consideration.
If you would like a free copy of this White Paper, please contact Primeast’s UK offices directly, or email our Marketing Manager Rachel Sorton-Hall.
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