Change Management Glossary

Sometimes, you simply need to get back to the basics of change management, and the change management glossary helps you do just that.  Furthermore, we are as guilty as most at referring to our own terminology, so we have included some of the key phrases that describe the methods we use in our methodology.

Adapter Readiness Assessment / ARA    An interactive risk assessment tool in the PCI toolkit, designed to make an early predictor of the degree of disruption of a particular change and the likely level of readiness for change among impacted groups. This tool carries built in planning suggestions.

Adapters     Targets of the change, these are individuals or groups who must most change their behaviour for the organisational initiative to succeed. This is not necessarily hierarchical and does not only refer to front line staff. Middle managers are often the people whose behaviour must change the most for organisational efforts to succeed.

Agent / Change Agent    The term used to refer to the individual or group responsible for building and deploying the implementation plans. Agent plans make sure that sponsor intentions actually happen.

Aron Lee Ralston     An American mountain climber who became famous in May 2003 when he was forced to amputate his lower right arm with a dull knife in order to free himself after his arm became trapped by a boulder when he was mountaineering in Utah. Aron's story is used to illustrate the importance of having an imperative during change where the cost of the status quo must be greater then the cost of changing.

Associated Resources    Resident in e-change - this library houses your handy hints, tips, techniques, reference materials you'll be referring to regularly while you work through the e-change Wizard.

Change Agent Assessment / CAA    An interactive risk assessment and development tool, designed to aid Change Agent selection and promote discussion regarding critical dimensions for Change Agent effectiveness during major change. This tool carries built in development suggestions.

Change Network Map    A graphical representation of the true political environment in which change unfolds. Typically it precedes stakeholder analysis and is used to identify key people needed to secure sponsorship and influence for the change, other groups and relationships that are critical to change success.

Commitment    The terms used to describe the point at which people are changing in either institutionalised or internalised for people such that they are making a necessary shift in behaviour.

Committed Local Sponsors    The fourth of PCI's six critical success factors, this is about enabling middle and front line managers need to take responsibility for the change in their areas of authority. Firstly, they need to commit to the change themselves and then they need to lead their change. Done well your managers are connecting the needs of the organisation to change to the reality of people having to change at the local level.

Communication Effectiveness Assessment /CEA    An interactive feedback tool in the PCI toolkit, designed for change leaders, project teams and communication specialists to probe any suspected issues with the communication messages / process.

CSFs     Abbreviation given to the term Critical Success Factors. PCI is the result of fifteen years of evolution, testing and improvement. In the end all that analysis has been distilled into six critical success factors (CSF) for successful change, whether big or small, single or multiple, simple or complex. Although this is a six-stage model, the model is not necessarily sequential. It doesn’t have to be a one-through-six model although it is the most common way to describe them. For example as a change agent you may decide that you need to get more leaders on board or establish if there is any senior support for the change prior to you creating a shared change purpose. In that case you may start at CSF2.

Current State    The current expectation, behaviours and practices that major change will disrupt. An imperative is required to convince people to move away from the security and control of the current state.

e-change    Online business change management application for project managers and change leaders, integrating all the PCI® learning, planning processes and change tools you need to build and deploy people centred implementation plans.

Effective Change Leadership    The second of PCI's six critical success factors for effective change implementation. This is about enabling leaders to provide direction, guidance and support for the people implementing the change and for the other people who are transitioning. Done well people will see their leaders providing real leadership through their actions as well as their words.

e-learning    PCI learning modules available on demand over the web. E-learning modules explain and describe how to use PCI sub processes effectively.

Elevator speech     You need to communicate your Shared Change Purpose in a simple, easy-to-remember format so as to build urgency and early momentum for change. 'Elevator speeches’ allow you to do that. They are short focused descriptions of the change told in story form so that it is easy to remember and therefore easy to pass on.

ERP system    Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is an integrated computer-based system used to manage internal and external resources, including tangible assets, financial resources, materials, and human resources. It is a software architecture whose purpose is to facilitate the flow of information between all business functions inside the boundaries of the organisation and manage the connections to outside stakeholders. Notably it is used to integrate the workflows between front office / sales teams and back office / supply chain teams.

Extrinsic Rewards    More tangible - usually financial approaches to rewarding a person's extra efforts during major change.

Future State / Vision    The positive picture of the future designed to describe how things would be when the change has been implemented.

GPS    Abbreviation given to the term Global Positioning System which show the precise location and provide visual and spoken directions on how to drive to the chosen destination. We say the e-change Wizard is like GPS for change because you can assess the current state of your change and then get written and spoken directions to get to the next stage of change planning and delivery.

Implementation / Implementing Change    The term used to describe the stage in a project where the change has been installed AND people are engaging with the new system and realising that they get information out that is helpful to them. The PCI methodology contends that to have successful change you need implementation and not just installation.

Informal Influence    The term used to describe the clear and active support you may need for change from other influential people who do not have a formal sponsor or change agent role in the change. Harnessing informal influence is an important part of getting effective change leadership.

Initial Change Description / ICD    An interactive planning tool in the PCI toolkit, designed to describe the true nature and scope of the change. It is often used to distil common themes and significant differences from diverse views about the change, to re-focus a change that may be going off track with scope creep, or to craft the elevator speech that will underpin ongoing change communications.

Initiating Sponsors    Individual or group with overarching power to kick start the organisational change effort.

Initiative Legacy Assessment / ILA    Modelled on PCI's six critical success factors, this tool, also called the ILA, takes a historical look at the way change implementation would have happened in a particular part of the business in a 9 - 24 month period so as to pinpoint potential areas of strength and risks for an upcoming project.

Initiative Risk Assessment / IRA    Modelled on PCI's six critical success factors, this tool, also called the IRA, tracks implementation progress for a change initiative, pinpointing new risk profiles for the risk register and refining and updating implementation plans.

Installation / Installing Change    The term used to describe the stage in a project when the new system is in place or the software is uploaded to the servers or the hardware is up and running.

Intrinsic Rewards    Less tangible - more psychological approaches to rewarding a person's extra efforts during major change.

Lead indicators     Early indicators of success that give you a clear signal that the change is on track to deliver against the more lagged measures that may be described in the business / benefits case.

Learning curve    In major change this is a risk if people believe that their personal performance, resulting from the change will only be judged after they have had sufficient time to practice performance in the new way.

Organisational Imperative     A feeling of dissatisfaction that people have with the current ways of working and an understanding of the cost of not changing.

PCI    Abbreviation given to Changefirst's People Centred Implementation methodology. PCI recognises the synergy that needs to exist between the organisational need for change and the personal concerns that exist when change is announced, and provides the process through which people and organisations thrive through change.

PCI Resources    Library of worked examples, sample plans, change practitioner examples of applying the PCI methodology effectively to deliver major change.

PCI Tools    Assessment and diagnostic instruments you can deploy to understand people risks and issues associated with a change.

PMI     Abbreviation given to the Project Management Institute (PMI) which offers a range of services to the project management professional such as development of standards, research, education, publication, networking-opportunities in local chapters, hosting conferences and training seminars, and maintaining multiple credentials in project management. The abbreviation PCI also used in short hand to refer to the PMP (Project Management Professional) credential that members may have and follow as their discipline for sequencing and delivering projects to time and budget.

Powerful Engagement Processes    The third of PCI's six critical success factors, these are planned processes put in place which engage the organisation in the change process. They are designed to foster commitment, encourage new behaviours and teach new skills. Done well and people will become committed to the change.

Practitioner Podcasts    At the end of a group of Learning modules, there are short audio files of a PCI Practitioner sharing some helpful hints and tips for effective use of the methodology.

Prince 2    Project management discipline for sequencing and deploying a project to time and budget. The e-change application shows how the change management work integrated with project management to help build and deploy people centred implementation plans.

Reinforcing Sponsors     Individual or group required to ensure that the organisational change effort is sustained and delivered locally in their area of immediate control.

Resistance    The term used to describe any opposition from people to a shift in the status quo. Resistance is the behavioural consequence when someone feels that they have lost control of a situation.

Resistance Reasons Assessment / RRA    An interactive risk assessment tool in the PCI toolkit, designed to assess the likely and actual reasons for resistance among individuals and groups who are adapting to change. This tool carries built in risk management suggestions.

Shared Change Purpose    The first of PCI's six critical success factors for effective change implementation, is all about people understanding why the change is needed, why things cannot remain the way they are and what the plan is to get from ‘A’ to ‘B’. It is all about building clarity about what the organisation needs to achieve. Done well it should create urgency and momentum for change.

Six Sigma / DMAIC    Process for improving the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects (errors) and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes. The e-change application can be customised to show how the change management work integrated with Six Sigma / DMAIC to help build and deploy people centred implementation plans for process improvements.

Solution     The clear set of milestones and deliverables that show people how progress will be made during change, and the time needed to reach the future state / vision. This solution needs to not only be made visible through effective communications, but it needs to be viable for people for them to engage in change.

Solution Builder    Individual or groups focused on delivering a quality solution. PCI makes a distinction between this role and role of the change agent, where the focus is on ensuring that a quality solution can be implemented effectively.

Sponsor    Individual or group who has the power to legitimise change for people in their span of control. Sponsor of major change need to be actively involved the implementation challenge and their commitment to change success needs to be clear to others.

Sponsor Assessment    An interactive risk assessment and development tool, designed to provide education and promote discussion regarding the critical dimensions for active sponsorship during major change. This tool carries built in development and support suggestions.

Strong Personal Connection    The fifth of PCI's critical success factors, this is all about helping people to convert the shared change purpose into something that makes sense to them. They then need to go through the process of personally committing to the change. Key factors here are their belief in the solution as being viable,  they know they cannot continue working in the same way and they can see themselves as being successful. Done well people commit to the change sooner than they would have done and adapt their behaviour.

Sustained Personal Performance    The last of PCI's six critical success factors, this is where people’s concerns and reactions are effectively addressed. People are being helped to adapt and transition. Done well and their performance will be maintained during the change.

Value-Gap    The term used to describe the gap that exists between installation and implementation when an organisation fails to react to the business case or return on investment predicted. This is probably the most powerful case for change management. Without change management it is very difficult to achieve the organisation’s change goals.

Wizard     Like GPS, but for change, Wizard describes and explains how change management integrates with project management, when and where to use PCI process and tools.