In our first two editions we examined the results of our Initiative Legacy Assessment and what that meant for change leaders. In this edition we try to answer two questions:

1. Why is the rigor, discipline and logic of project management not enough to reach a sustainable return on investment on major projects?
2. What change skills do project managers need to be successful?

Hopefully we keep within the spirit of keeping these articles short and thought-provoking. Not an easy combination!

The importance of project management

Project managers are vital to the continuing transformation of most organisations. The need for large-scale technology and process changes means that project managers are at the 'epi-centre' of most organisation's change agendas. While these projects are becoming much more complex and much more expensive they are increasingly the way organisations are led and managed. This has dramatically increased the demand for talented project managers. As a result, across the globe, we have seen an increasing emphasis on project management training as a way to develop talent and to create a common set of standards and competencies. In particular, the development of PRINCE 2 in the UK and PMI in North America have ensured a certified standard for project management competencies.

Why project management is not enough

The problem is that project management is taught and used as a logical process (analysing, planning, checking etc) whereas change management is often a messy 'contact sport' with people learning new behaviours, changing mindsets and giving up well engrained, old ways of working. The result is a common pitfall we call 'Installation versus Implementation'

• Installation is when the organisational processes and technological components of a change have been put in place.
• Implementation is installation plus people are committed and willing and able to change their behaviour to align with the change goals.

Project management without strong change management skills leads naturally to Installation. A realisable return on investment comes from Implementation and that can only come when people significantly shift their behaviour and commit to the new way of working. To support this a survey from the independent IT research firm Gartner Group reported, in 2000, that 80% of major corporate systems investments are not used in the way they were intended to be or not used at all 6 months after installation. In a subsequent study on CRM success rates Gartner pointed to the inability of the organization to change people's behaviour as the #1 reason for project failure.

So what skills do project managers need to develop to become successful at facilitating change?

While project management methodologies heavily emphasise the criticality of addressing people-centred issues such as commitment building and managing resistance they offer little practical guidance. Our experience is that, with the right toolset, action-centred training and follow-up coaching, project managers can develop these change skills.The question is what skills do they need?

Project leaders who are strong change agents possess a number of important skills. Most critically they:

• help senior executives and managers play an active leadership role that ensures people support the change
• help people in the organisation to see a real personal need for change and to understand the project vision
• identify project stages and activities where high levels of involvement are required and they facilitate this involvement so that commitment is built
• build plans that ensure that people have the necessary skills and motivation to meet the new demands the change brings
• work with front-line leaders and staff to ensure the change is 'biting', where it most needs to, and they develop follow-up plans to accelerate the acceptance of change