What is change management and why is it important?

Prosci defines change management as “the application of a structured process and set of tools for leading the people side of change to achieve a desired outcome.”

Change management is to the end user side of change as project management is to the technology side of change. Organizations need to consider both management types to drive the success of your technology investment. With change management, organizations strategically plan for and execute tasks and stages of a project in the same way that you would in project management. However, the focus is to ease employee frustration and to optimize productivity. An organization that fails to address the people side of the change will often end up dissatisfied with project outcomes. Pointing back to the luxury car analogy, you will be guzzling gas on the lot – while remaining stuck in park.

Today, IT is tasked with digital transformation and changes that happen both rapidly and frequently. Understanding and executing change management is a necessity in IT.

^*Gartner®^{, “How to Enable Organizational Change Management in a Digital Business,” February 17, 2022. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.}