Creating Valuable ROI through Change Management
Maximizing Project Success through Effective Change Management
Successful change management helps organizations get the most value from their projects. It does this in three important ways:
Benefit Realization – Making sure projects achieve their full potential.
Risk Mitigation – Reducing problems that come from poor adoption.
Cost Avoidance – Preventing extra expenses caused by mistakes or inefficiencies.
By managing change well, companies can improve project success, help their people make needed adjustments, and get the best return on their investment.
1. Benefit Realization: Maximizing Project Outcomes
A project can deliver two types of benefits:
Automatic benefits happen regardless of stakeholder action.
Stakeholder-dependent benefits only happen if people adopt new ways of working.
Change management focuses on the second type – helping people embrace change so organizations can fully realize their goals
Example: Learning System Consolidation
A packaging company replaced five different learning management systems (LMS) with a single, company-wide system.
Automatic benefit: The company saved money by eliminating license and maintenance fees for the systems it no longer used.
Stakeholder-dependent benefit: The company wanted to improve onboarding for line workers and decrease the time to start work by having all training materials in one place.
To make onboarding more efficient, several teams needed to change how they worked:
The Learning and Development team had to store all onboarding training in the new LMS.
The HR team had to enter new employee data in the HR system (which interfaces to the LMS) faster and in a new
format.
The IT team had to keep computer kiosks updated to ensure new employees could safely access training via readily
available portals.
People Leaders had to make sure new employees completed their training and met the required scores before
starting work.
Without these stakeholder-dependent changes, the company would not realize the full benefits of the new system
2. Risk Mitigation: Tackling Resistance Early
Even the best-designed projects can face challenges if people resist or feel disconnected from the change. Successful change management isn’t just about processes and systems—it is about people. Leaders play a critical role in fostering a culture of trust, providing clear communication, and addressing concerns early. By actively engaging employees, acknowledging their challenges or fears, and reinforcing the value of change, organizations can reduce resistance and drive higher adoption rates.
Example: Learning System Consolidation
The packaging company knew that some employees might resist the new LMS. Here’s how they managed two key risks:
Risk #1: The Learning and Development team might use other tools, like SharePoint, instead of the new LMS. To mitigate this risk, the change management team provided multiple training opportunities leading up to the launch to ensure all L&D staff were proficient in using the new LMS. The change management team also worked with the project team to establish clear deadlines for moving content to the new system and communicated these milestones with the L&D team. The L&D team then felt informed, and they began to more readily leverage the new system as the project progressed, therefore minimizing the feeling of needing to rely on other tools as a backup.
Risk #2: The small IT team might not have time to update kiosks, leading to safety and security risks or system downtimes. The change team identified this issue and associated risk early in the project. The project team was able to build automation to schedule routine kiosk updates and create an escalation process for reporting and resolving technical issues quickly.
By anticipating and addressing people-related risks, organizations can reduce the likelihood of workflow disruptions and compliance issues.
3. Cost Avoidance: Preventing Unnecessary Rework
A well-executed change management strategy helps prevent the costly consequences of project remediation, including:
Recommunicating with stakeholders. Help people understand early on why the change is happening and its benefits. Continue to communicate throughout the project.
Redesigning failed implementations. Get input from employees and design solutions that meet their needs.
Reworking inefficient processes. Understand the workflows among each stakeholder group as processes are modified.
Revisiting decisions due to resistance. Give people a chance to share their thoughts and be part of the change process. Establish (and communicate) clear decision rights for the change.
Retraining employees on overlooked elements. Identify the knowledge, skills, and abilities people need to work effectively in the future.
Reimplementing changes that did not stick. Create a robust change management plan with multiple communication and engagement opportunities across leadership and stakeholder groups.
“When organizations invest in change management, they increase the percentage of success for an initiative, leading to smoother transitions and better project outcomes. By focusing on benefit realization, risk mitigation, and cost avoidance, companies can make change easier for their people, reduce risks, complete projects on-time and on-budget, and avoid rework down the road. ”
Partnering for Success
At Switch, we empower organizations to articulate the value of change management and achieve their transformation goals. By applying these strategies, businesses can navigate change effectively, drive adoption, and realize their desired ROI.
For more information about Switch and how we can help you, send us an email at contact@switchconsultinggroup.com. If you’re interested in receiving our latest articles in your inbox or hearing about upcoming webinars, submit your email address in the “Stay in the Know” form below.