According to Wikipedia ”Change Management is a structured approach to shifting/transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future state.”  In other words, change management is going from Present Mode of Operation (PMO) to Future Mode of Operation (FMO) in an organized way.

Change Management rarely goes as you plan primarily because it involves people and shifting people’s frameworks. For change management to be truly successful the people need to understand that the change is necessary.  It is difficult to determine when this will take place. The best thing you can do as a leader is impress upon them how important the changes are, you are behind the changes and that you believe in them.

Innovation and Change Management go hand in hand. One of the difference between the terms is innovation is about doing things a different (better) way; change management is managing how you implement the changes, how you get from PMO to FMO. Ultimately both are to take you and your organization to a better future. To have innovation there needs to be a lot of change management happening.

In IT and Telecommunications organizations that have been around a number of years have been talking about PMO to FMO. How you go from current to the future involves thinking about what the future looks like and coming up with strategies to get there –  both innovation and change management. To maximize the success of innovation and change management you need your company to see how serious you are and communicate it as frequently as possible.

Questions to think about as you implement innovation and change management:

• Are you looking to go from an incremental innovator to a disruptive innovator?
• If you want to go from incremental to disruptive innovator what do you need to do?
• What systems, processes, standards, governance boards and people need to be in place and which need to be removed?
• How are you doing to gain the support and trust of the rest of your company?

To find out more about how to successfully implement innovation and change management in organizations contact us.