RUNNING HEAD: CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT.

Change Management in Project Management.

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CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Change management is an overarching approach that is executed by organizations to shift

from the present state to the desired state in the future through a structured and coordinated

approach in collaboration with the stakeholders. In relation to project management, project

change management process is a process that is followed during the phase of execution in the

project management life cycle. Change management process is a method by which changes to a

project (e.g., resources, scope, timescales, or deliverables) are defined formally, evaluated, and

approved before they are implemented. Change management in the aspect of project

management is a significant section that is influential to the success of a project. For this

purpose, this article will focus on change management in relation to project management.

Change management in project management generally entails implementation. This is

because it is focused on aspects of change in people implied the move from the present to the

future state. Effective implementation and management of change in project management enable

the organization to attain the benefits anticipated from the project, and it goes past the

installation. There is a need for a substantial mass of people to commit to the change involved,

observe new codes of conduct, and sustain them willingly.

The management of change in an organization entails the use of tools and processes for

managing the people’s side of change at the organization’s level. These tools constitute a

structured approach that can be utilized to efficiently transition organizations or groups of

individuals through the process of change. When these tools are coupled with an understanding

of personal change management, the tools provide a management framework for change

management in the people’s side. The process of change management entails methods for

creating strategy for change management (assessment of readiness), leadership engagement

(sponsorship support), creation of awareness to stakeholders on the need for change

(communication), development of knowledge and skill in support for change (stakeholder

education and training), and techniques to ensure the change is sustained (rewards, change

measurement system, and reinforcement).

Integrating Change Management with Project Management.

Project management entails the application of skills, knowledge, and techniques to ensure

that projects are effectively and efficiently executed. One of the significant issues concerning

modern project management is the realization of effective organizational change through the

execution of the target projects. This is valid, especially for a contemporary project-oriented

organization that incorporates project management in an integrated system (Hornstein, 2015).

Basically, when an organization desires to implement change, it has to select and implement

recommended tools to manage the process of change (Alexandrova, 2017).

One of the typical modern practices entails executing an organizational change as a

continuous process that is framed in the context of the project life cycle. Using the principles of

project management, such a change targets to transform the organization from its present form to

a desired aimed state. To that change management will be successful, an organization change

needs a justified preparatory phase (problem identification, exploration, assessment, analysis,

and problem/situation documentation (Staneva, 2015)) and a motivating internal environment

aimed at encouraging the anticipated changes.

One of the significant relationships between change management and project

management is that both aim at enhancing the likelihood that the initiatives implemented or

project initiated deliver the desired outcomes or results (Bresnen, 2016). Despite the fact that

each discipline can operate independently, one of the most effective approaches that have been
CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT

recommended is the integration of project management and change management to create a

unified approach to change implementation.

Why should change management be integrated into project management?

When an organization initiates a change within an initiative or a project, that change

needs to be managed effectively both on the people’s side and the technical side. The technical

side is focused on ensuring that the change is effectively initiated, designed, and delivered. The

aspect of project management provides the structure, processes, and tools to ensure that the

change is successful. The people's perspective is focused on ensuring that the change is

embraced, adopted, and used by employees or stakeholders who have to execute their

designations differently to ensure that the project is successful. The change management

discipline provides the tools, structure, and process to ensure that this is successful.

The available literature suggests that there is a relatively limited range of verified studies

focused on the factors influencing the implementation of organizational change through the

realization of specific projects. This situation seems to be alike with respect to the aspects of the

integration of project management and change management. Moreover, some sources of

literature review suggest that the management in most organizations have found it necessary to

integrate project management in order to ensure that the change management process is effective

(Hornstein, 2015).

It is no doubt that one change is one of the expected outcomes for the realization of a

project. However, these two aspects (change management and project management) operate

through tools and methodologies. According to the International Institute of Project

Management, project management entails a coordinated implementation of skills, techniques,

and knowledge in the execution of project activities with the aim of delivering the desired project
CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT

outcomes. Most of the recent research has questioned the essence of the stages of project design,

especially the monitoring and evaluation since they are expected to facilitate the success of the

project. According to one of the leading authors in project management, organizational change

plays a significant role in project management practices nowadays.

Recent studies suggest that project management is a naturally appropriate mechanism for

achieving transformations in an organization. Through the integration of project management

and change management, the organizational potential can be achieved in terms of production,

marketing, human resources, investment, and leadership, among other factors (Alexandrova,

2017). This helps the organization to effectively counter the challenges of the dynamic business

environment. Most of the recent studies have identified some of the essential relationships

between the typical roles of change management and project management. One of them is Padar

et al. who has clarified the overlapping between seven distinct roles of change management and

fourteen roles of project management in the study to evaluate the degree to which one role in

former corresponds to other roles in the different domain (Pádár, Pataki & Sebestyén, 2017).

Most of the recent studies have focused on the three main dimensions of successful

implementations of change through projects, namely; culture, leadership, and communication

(Al-Haddad, 2015). Communication has emerged as one of the essential arrears in project

management. Effective communication is considered to possess a significant role in for

integration of project management and change management. Without effective communication,

the personnel implementing the desired organizational change will have doubts in relation to the

direction that the change is to take, the anticipated benefits of change, and the potential benefits

of the outcomes that favor their role in the organization. Lack of proper or effective means of

communication in change management often results in misunderstandings of the human resource

functions, delays in implementation or executions of tasks, and mismatch between the planned

changes and the actual outcomes. Also, ineffective communication often results in potential

resistance to organizational change. With respect to this, effective or proper communication

between the top management and the employees of an organization could possibly act as

powerful leverage of building consensus and gaining commitment about the desired change.

The organization’s leadership also reserves one of the most critical roles in relation to

change management in project management (Attah, 2017). The leadership reserves the role of

shaping the organization by directing and influencing beliefs, values, and style to those

implementing the change within the organization or outside the organization. Effective

leadership is considered one of the essential part of the overall strategy for the success and

sustainability of organizational change. This is because the leadership takes charge and control

over the operations within an organization. Effective leadership in the management of change

will set optimistic objectives and goals through effective strategies (Attah, 2017). It is through

the organization’s leadership that an organization’s culture can be molted to suit the desired

change in favor of the project.

Despite being ignored often, the organization’s culture possesses a significant impact on

the implementation of change in project management and is considered as none of the primary

keys to the success of the implementation of organizational change. Regardless of the size, every

organization possesses a group of people with distinct personalities who act together with the

aim of attaining mutual objectives. The culture of an organization is considered as a social binder

that shapes and determines the actions, behaviors, and attitudes of the components of an

organization, which is a reflection of a mixture of practiced leadership styles and personalities.

The success in the management of change is dependent on the history of an organization in

relation to the manner in which it approaches problems, which often leaves a mark on all

processes exercised within an organization, including the management of change. In the context

of change management, it is necessary that the administration of the organization to ensure that

the change is implemented and possibly permanently adopted in favor of project management.

The culture of an organization reserves a role in the management of change enhances cohesion,

and improves the internal adaptation of the organization, which enables the organization to act

more effectively in different situations. This activity is often promoted through values such as

innovation spirit, risk assuming, and initiative spirit during a crisis.

Most of the studies related to project management have emphasized the way in which

changes have been implemented in support of organizational strategy (Stanley, Malone &

Shields, 2016). At the same time, several practices in management have been outlined as

significant issues of the successful transformation of a country, including the organizational

leadership and culture. Based on this, we can note that a significant role has been assigned to the

project management that requires careful consideration of a variety of essential aspects,

including assisting personnel to adapt to the implemented changes, acts the leaders of change,

and overwhelm the resistance to proposed changes. All these efforts are often facilitated by the

organization’s culture that supports the implementation of changes. The importance of the

human side of organizational change can act in favor of influencing the success of the changes

implemented.

According to most researches, successful management of change in project management

is essential for project success. However, one of the most challenging issues in relation to the

implementation of these changes included gaining support, awareness, and acceptance from the

project team. Project managers and project leaders should be able to perceive the importance of
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the change to be implemented and how beneficial it will be to the team. Lack of awareness often

makes project team members understand the change to be implemented as a showdown to the

project that consumes additional budget. Project teams should be aware of the overall value and

the essence change management provided in the effort to implement changes.

To ensure that change management is successful in project management, the leadership

must ensure that the change is realistic and meaningful. It should be connected with what the

project team considers to be significant in relation to the project and should be focused on what

the project is intended to deliver through better usage and adoption of the solution by the

employees since the significant constraints of project management include timely delivery and

effective change management, with successful management of the people’s aspect of increases,

the likelihood of successful completion of the project within the budget limits and in time. To

ensure that change is more realistic to project teams, change management should be presented in

their terms as structured, credible, and an intentional approach that is guided by solid steps

towards the desired deliverables. The more structured and genuine that the change management

is designed, the more support that the leadership is to gain from the project stakeholders.

To conclude, it is clear that for the organizational change to be achieved; there is a need for

affirmative and clear support from the management and project team. Without this support, the

obstruction to effective shifts in the organization could be problematic. Communication is

essential in describing the goals and vision while inducing commitment among the external and

internal stakeholders of change in the organization. The management of change cannot be

successful if the human side and cultural values are ignored.

References

Alexandrova, M., & Kuzmanova, M. (2017). Change Management and Project Management

Integration: Survey Evidence. Leadership & Management: Integrated Politics of Research

and Innovations, 204.

Alexandrova, M. (2017). Project Portfolio Management Processes: Survey Evidence from

Bulgarian Project-Oriented Organizations. Годишник на УНСС, 1(1), 73-85.

Attah, Y. E., Obera, V. A., & Isaac, S. (2017). Effective leadership and change management for

sustainable development in Nigeria. International Journal of Public Administration and

Management Research (IJPAMR), 4(2), 37-42. Havranek, T. (2017). Modern project

management techniques for the environmental remediation industry. Routledge.

Al-Haddad, S., & Kotnour, T. (2015). Integrating the organizational change literature: a model

for successful change. Journal of organizational change management.

Bresnen, M. (2016). Institutional development, divergence, and change in the discipline of

project management. International Journal Of Project Management, 34(2), 328-338. doi:

10.1016/j.ijproman.2015.03.001

Hornstein, H. (2015). The integration of project management and organizational change

management is now a necessity. International Journal Of Project Management, 33(2), 291-

298. doi: 10.1016/j.ijproman.2014.08.005

Pádár, K., Pataki, B., & Sebestyén, Z. (2017). Bringing project and change management roles

into sync. Journal Of Organizational Change Management, 30(5), 797-822. doi:

10.1108/jocm-07-2016-0128

Staneva, D., Alexandrova, M., & Petkov, G. (2015). Quality assessment criteria and their role in

the development of a successful educational project proposal.

Stanley, D., Malone, L., & Shields, L. (2016). Project management supports the change

process. Nursing Management (Springhouse), 47(6), 52-55. doi:

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