Fear No Project Blog – Focusing on the Management Side of Projects

I recently had the pleasure of participating in an article on Process Change.  Kathleen Irwin had been tasked with putting together the article to uncover tips on Costly mistakes that organizations should avoid when attempting to change technology, process(workflow) or team structure.

You can read the entire article over at Software Advice’s site – Process Change Gone Wrong: Costly Mistakes Businesses Should Avoid.

For those of you that want the “readers digest version”, here is a short synopsis of the article:

Ms. Irwin starts out with some basic principles that most seasoned project managers already know – effective management strategies can make or break a project!   She sights some reports, including one from PMI, that show how as many as half of the projects which involve a change component fail.

The article goes on to share tips from several experts (and they even included my humble opinions) on common types of change companies undertake, common mistakes made, and tips for avoiding them.

• Technology Changes – common mistakes
  • Adopting Unnecessary Technology
  • Overlooking Simpler solutions
  • Not getting buy-in from End users
• Workflow Changes – common mistakes
  • Ignoring the Project Management triangle and principle
  • Failure to Understand the Existing Process
  • Communicating Poorly With Employees
• Organization or Team Structure Changes to Avoid – common mistakes
  • Eschewing Diversity
  • Overvaluing Raw Credentials
  • Assuming Employees Are Interchangeable

The final summary is very clear –

…. all of our experts emphasized the importance of focusing on the human elements of change. As Eastman wisely notes, “The only way that the change is successful is if human beings actually use it.”

Bottom line manage the change and include people!!