“It’s been said before, but it bears repeating: in order for change management on any scale to succeed, it must be perceived as an initiative that arises from a partnership with all stakeholders involved, sharing an understanding of the project’s outcomes. Change should not be handed down with the commandment to “make it happen.” When others don’t understand the purpose or urgency of the change, it can be met with bad attitudes, resentment, and conflict. That’s why alignment matters.“

The idea that change management will run a few activities during your project plan and your check mark of their involvement is therefore complete…. is very flawed. And yet, we see this integration of change management advisors all the time.

To know what actions change management should take, you have to engage with your stakeholders first. They have to be part of the group that helps identify their own needs and potential solutions to those needs. Assuming what they need and why runs the risk of wasting time on products or activities that will end up ignored, resisted or missing the mark entirely.

But even before you begin to explore the activities needed to improve the “how they will change” aspect of the project aka “the make it happen”, stakeholders need to know why. They also need to understand what is changing, what is the current state and planned future state, and who will it impact by when. This initial understanding can help build desire for people to change, they understand why the change is happening and the benefits it will have on their specific role and organization in order for the change to succeed. Then you can move into the make it happen phase, equipping with the knowledge and tools of how to change.

But if you rush and miss this initial step, and if when you get to rolling out activities you miss involving stakeholders in their development, you will likely face resistance and be required rl take a step back.