What is the four stage Change Management process?

What is the process of change? What are the change requirements in a project environment?

These are commonly asked questions. Before we step through the four stage process, an important point to make is that the change management process is NOT aligned to time. For example you can choose to collapse 'Planning' and 'Assess and Design' phases. It is not ideal of course, but it is possible if you are an experienced practitioner. If you are delivering a sizeable change, you should make sure that each phase is outlined so you can set the change plan up for success as much as possible.

So here is an overview of the four major phases:

Phase 1: Planning. In this phase you are in 'investigation mode'. A high level overview of the change comes to life. The intention and outcome of this phase is to create clarity. This can be in the form of a stakeholder engagement plan, a change on a page and a high level change story. While exploring all of these aspects, a lot of analysis can be undertaken and high level change activities to create momentum can be scoped.

Phase 2: Assess and Design. In this stage you are getting into the detail. Engagement increases in this phase with stakeholders and the better you assess change impacts, the better the change plan that you can create. Change impacts are definitely not assessed by completing a spreadsheet through a discussion. This is where many digital or technology change often falls down. It is being able to identify groups who are impacted the most, how they are impacted and so the change support and response in those areas is focused and fit for purpose. 

Phase 3: Implement and Reinforce. Technically implementation is taking place at all stages, but the pre-go live activities and focused interventions are all to ensure change readiness. Then from the 'Day 1' of new ways of working, continuous tracking and responding to issued to embed the change, remediate design and/or celebrating success is in full swing. Reinforcement and responsiveness are both key in this phase.

Phase 4: Review and Learn. This is an often forgotten about activity which is also the most important as this is all about value add for the future. This is all about continuous improvement. Being able to conduct a post implementation review from a change perspective is where future uplift can be realised. Often change occurs more than once in an organisation of a similar type and being able to dissect the lessons, the ways in which change can be approached and capturing those will be extremely beneficial.

You can line this process up well with stages in a program or project. A reminder once again that these phases do not need to be linear. With the right experience at the change helm these can be collapsed with critical elements in each addressed only. Where agility is needed, then this can be applied. If you are seeking to add to your toolkit the exact step by step process and templates in this process, explore our course which can step you through it here.