Features And Methodology Of Change Management In Projects

Abstract

On the basis of all the changes taking place at the enterprise, there is a change in the conditions in the environment of the economic entity, which forces it to constantly adapt to new conditions to minimize negative consequences and increase efficiency. At the same time, the organization itself can also provoke changes in the external environment by selling new types of products and expanding markets. Leaders of modern enterprises in a market economy must understand the inevitability of organizational change and the need to adapt to current requirements to remain competitive in the market. This article discusses the change management methodologies and the control tasks for changing the project and its factors. The approaches used in change management are highlighted. As a methodological basis of the paper, methods for studying economic processes and modeling methods were used. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the formation of managerial and organizational measures to increase the speed of the change management system for large projects. The definitions of change, concept, and scopes are studied. The methodology for change management has been researched. The features of change management in projects of enterprises are described. The relevance of the topic is connected with the idea of ​​change, which is part of modern business.

Keywords: Change management, model, project, strategic goals

Introduction

Each business entity in the process of carrying out its activities is constantly faced with various changes that can have a positive (technical and managerial qualifications acquired over the years of practical activity) or a negative impact on it (decrease in the operational characteristics of fixed assets and aging of personnel). Such changes cannot be planned, but they can and should be taken into account when determining the future of the organization. It is possible to plan measures to prevent and eliminate the negative consequences of evolutionary changes. The effectiveness of the change management process is fundamental both for new organizations in the market and for financially stable business entities.

At the same time, the projects based on which the implementation of changes is carried out include the main provisions that determine their focus. The ability of an enterprise to improve efficiency and minimize losses from the impact of various changes is influenced by the level of professional knowledge and skills of the staff and the competitiveness of tools to achieve strategic goals. Therefore, project change management occupies a special place in the training of managers at different levels.

Problem Statement

The problem of change management is becoming a constant process of improving enterprises. The introduction of changes is often not accepted by the staff and causes resistance on their part, so the main task of the change management specialist is to overcome them based on the choice of the most effective strategy from all possible options. The change strategy is the definition of the principles based on which the implementation of changes is carried out; they depend on the influence of environmental factors. In this regard, it is necessary to explore the change management methodology.

Research Questions

The subject of this paper is the methodology of organizational and managerial structures in the framework of project change management.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study of the article is the methodological justification of the methods and the definition of an approach that will allow to quickly and effectively respond to possible changes, as well as control all stages of this process for the effectiveness of a large project.

Research Methods

This paper uses such methods of general scientific knowledge as analysis, synthesis, and generalization, as well as an abstract-logical method of data analysis.

Findings

To date, there are several of the most common and effective change management methodologies for managing change (Pakhomova et al., 2020).

1) ADKAR model. This model was created in the late 90s by Jeffrey Hyatt. The model outlines the change management of profound personnel changes. It is assumed that the process of changing the incentives that determine the behavior of personnel in the course of their work includes many stages. First, the staff must clearly understand the reasons why the changes are implemented and their goals and be aware of the importance of the changes. This leads to an increase in the involvement of personnel in the process. Then it is necessary to explain to each employee how to carry out the implementation process, which further allows the staff to show the level of their professional knowledge and skills when making changes. The final stage is based on consolidating the changes.

2) AIM methodology. This method is used to implement changes and allows to pre-determine the problems that may arise during the process. The methodology includes ten stages, which can be combined into the following enlarged groups: planning, using, and monitoring the implementation process.

3) Model of Beckhard and Harris. This model includes five stages during which change management is carried out. The stages allow you to identify the need for changes, how to implement them, draw up an implementation plan and identify responsible executors. It is assumed that a change in personal characteristics is possible only in the case of a low degree of resistance to change.

4) Transitional model by William Bridge. The model is based on the internal transition of the organization and not its change. At the same time, the model does not imply personal changes in the employees, but only changes in the principles of work. In this case, change refers to what can happen in an organization (Vorob'yeva, 2015).

5) John Kotter's Change Model. The essence of this model is the need to increase the involvement of personnel in activities related to change management; these changes must be acceptable to all employees. The model includes eight stages. However, if one of the stages is skipped, problems may arise when making changes (Vorob'yeva, 2015).

6) Kubler-Ross model. The model contains the following stages of changing the behavior of personnel:

• In the first stage, the most of the employees do not accept organizational changes;
• In the second stage, the staff does not understand the consequences that the changes may lead to;
• In the third stage, the staff adapts to the new working conditions;
• In the fourth stage, employees have a positive attitude towards the implemented changes and accept them.

7) Model Kurt Lewin. This model is by far the most popular, despite the fact that it was created in the middle of the 20th century. The model contains the following stages of change:

1) “defrosting”, that is, the search for ways that help minimize the resistance of personnel;

2) the implementation of changes, during which tools are used to increase the involvement of personnel in this process;

3) “freezing” is the acceptance by the staff of changes and the lack of desire to return to the old principles of the enterprise (Yandarbaeva et al., 2018).

There are the following approaches used in change management:

1) Anti-crisis. The primary objective of this approach is to achieve the required results within the required time frame. However, in some cases, its use can lead to a high degree of resistance. The approach is based on a method that is based on phased and sequential changes and involves changing all the company's business processes.

2) Continuous improvement. This approach is preferable when changing the quality management system and involves constant and gradual work on improving business processes. Approach methods are software, coaching, etc.

3) Adaptive. The approach incorporates features from each of the previous approaches. In this case, the organization gradually adapts to changes. It uses project management methods and project evaluation methods.

Change management is the process of making a reasonable forecast of changes, planning them, defining and analyzing the characteristics of future changes, identifying and evaluating the possible results of changes, monitoring the implementation of changes, and assigning responsibilities to employees whose activities are related to the implementations.

Change is the adoption of new decisions due to the influence of various factors and the subsequent introduction of the decisions made into the project. At the same time, changes can be made to any structural elements of the project. The initiators of making new decisions can be the counterparties of the organization: for example, the person who receives the final product can initiate changes that lead to an improvement in the characteristics of the project being developed; specialists who deal with project documentation can make changes to documents that specify the basic parameters of the project; the person performing the work on the project can change the way the workflows are carried out in the project schedule.

During the control, the data prescribed in the main project schedule are studied in reports that contain information about the implementation of project milestones and the requirements for making necessary changes, for example, ensuring consistency of changes in the project execution and management process.

For unified control, many sequential procedures are used, which are prescribed in the internal regulations of the business entity implementing the project. These norms are the rules according to which changes have already been made: they prescribe the project documents and the rules for introducing new changes. For example, some organizations may develop their systems responsible for the movement of documents within the enterprise. If the company does not have such a system, then it is necessary to create it or take the existing one as a basis and adapt them to the specifics of its activities. At the same time, the development of such a system will be a component of the project. In addition, the control process is also associated with the processing of changes that need to be made urgently and are not studied thoroughly. However, such changes should be made in writing or electronically for quick access to full information about the project status.

The result of this process is an amended original project plan that contains all the considered and accepted changes. In addition, all persons involved in the project must be informed of the changes without fail (Idigova et al., 2020).

Overall control is carried out by a specially formed commission. The commission's main task is to accept or reject changes. At the same time, in non-labor-intensive projects, one commission works, endowed with uniform rights and obligations; in labor-intensive projects, several commissions can be formed, each of which has its rights and duties.

The main objectives of project change control are:

1) identification of factors affecting the project, as well as their assessment;

2) identification of necessary changes;

3) change management.

The following non-permanent components and factors of the project are distinguished:

• main tasks;
• a document that describes all the information about the project;
• tools and methods by which the project is implemented;
• the resources needed to carry out the project;
• resource management;
• applied calculated values.

All elements of the project may change during its implementation for the following reasons:

• changes in economic activity;
• automation and computerization of the production process;
• changes in key market indicators;
• competitive actions and goals of competitors;
• planning fallacy.

There are two types of changes:

1) Desirable. The management consciously changes certain characteristics of the developed project to fulfill the assigned tasks. So, for example, if the timing of the project can be changed in order to speed up the process of starting production.

2) Forced. This type of change refers to changes that can be quickly identified and implemented without significant losses. These changes are made only if they bring any benefit.

The changes can adversely affect the implementation process as well as management. Therefore, the following approaches are applied to minimize the possibility of negative consequences (Blinov, 2014):

• building an effective system of interaction of all links related to the project;
• determination of the area of ​​responsibility of each project participant;
• ongoing assessment of the impact of changes on various project indicators.

When monitoring the implementation of changes, the information specified in the documentation is used, which determines the procedure for their implementation and maintenance. It is important to note that the specifics of this process in an organization are influenced by the type of activity carried out by an economic entity and the existing management system. Any person involved in the implementation of the project can be the initiator of the change. At the same time, all changes in the project must be executed on paper or electronic media, as well as undergo control.

According to the established rules, in general terms, changes are made according to the following steps:

• Description. At this stage, the changes that need to be made are identified and described in detail. All decisions made must be documented.
• Assessing. It evaluates the impact of the change being made on the ongoing project. To do this, collect the data that is necessary for the analysis. The results obtained are drawn up on paper or electronic media and submitted for discussion.
• Approval. This stage involves the analysis of the results obtained at the previous stage and the decision to make changes. If a decision is taken to make a change, then the amount of financial resources for its implementation is determined, and those responsible for its implementation are also determined. If a decision is taken to postpone the change, the missing information is collected and the study is re-conducted. All decisions made at this stage are also documented.
• Realization. Make changes to a document that includes all information about the project.
• Implementation confirmation. Control over the execution of tasks by process participants when making changes. After receiving a positive result, the change made is no longer controlled.

The implementation of all stages is based on the provisions of the document. It specifies all the phases for which a specific project participant is responsible. There is also a paper that establishes the order of discussions and the principles for deciding on a change. The discussion participants are the project manager, a representative of the person who receives the final project product, and other representatives, if necessary (Milina, 2015).

The following types of changes are distinguished in the organization:

• in the structure: the legal form of an economic entity, channels for obtaining financial resources, the consolidation of organizations, the merger of foreign and domestic capital to create an enterprise, and the nature of the activities carried out;
• for the purposes and types of activities: expanding the types and list of products, entering new markets, searching for new counterparties;
• in hardware and software: objects and means of labor used for the production, programs, and services;
• in the organizational structure and in managerial impact: organizational conditions for functioning, business process, the process of choosing the most preferred solution from all possible alternatives, systems used to process incoming information;
• in the norms and rules of conduct adopted in the company: the model of interaction between the manager and the staff, personal interactions within the company, corporate culture;
• in relation to personnel: labor productivity, level of professional knowledge and skills, incentive system;
• in relation to efficiency: a system of financial and economic indicators, based on which it is possible to analyze the company's activities;
• the external image of an economic entity (Misakov et al., 2017).

The concept of change management contains many elements, including labor, financial, environmental, organizational, political, social, and other aspects (Valdaytsev & Vorobyov, 2005). Strategic changes are non-permanent changes in an economic entity. They are characterized as infrequently repeated, large and isolated. At the same time, the long-term development of an economic entity involves constant changes, the need for which arises as they are introduced.

Conclusion

Thus, taking into account all the challenges of the time, global changes such as the sanctions policy, changes in the cost of services and materials, and the pandemic, the management's response should be immediate. The faster decisions on changes are made, the less risky projects will become, and the investment attractiveness of such large-scale projects will increase. In this case, change is understood as a process that includes many stages, implemented in sequence, and the result of which is the exit of an economic entity to a new level. The enterprise development strategy should take into consideration the mistakes of the past and the prospects of the future to ensure the company's sustainable adaptation to change.

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