CHANGE MANAGEMENT TOOLS: Techniques & All You Need to Know

It can be hard to know where to start looking for information on a topic with as many different parts as change management. This is very true when it comes to tools and techniques for managing change. Where do you start looking for some of these free tools for managing change? Well, this article can help you with that. It tells you everything you need to know about tools and techniques for change management that can help your organization make the transition. Enjoy!!

What Are Change Management Tools?

Change management tools are applications that businesses use to make an organizational change as smooth and easygoing as possible for employees, supervisors, and customers. Of course, just as there are numerous organizational change and change management models, there are numerous expensive and free change management tools.

The proper change management tools will depend on the type of change you’re carrying out and the stage of change management you’re in. For example, if you recently divided a huge department into many smaller departments, you might want to use a feedback tool to poll your teams and see how you can improve the efficiency of each department.

The 7R’s of Change Management

This is a checklist of important factors to consider before submitting a change request. This prepared list of 7Rs assists in reducing change rejection at the time of change logging. The checklist consists of seven easy questions, as follows:

#1. Who Made the Change?

With so many access points, sources, and stakeholders requesting a change, getting a response to this question became hard. The best method to solve the problem of change authorization is to develop a system that records all modifications. This record-keeping system will help you during audits.

#2. The Motivation Behind the Change

The answer to this question has the potential to avert changes with high risk and low business reward. Notwithstanding the cause of the change, all substantial modifications should be subjected to an agreed-upon portfolio analysis criterion. This will ensure that updates are prioritized.

#3. The Projected Return From the Change

Before carrying out any change, it is quite important to evaluate the return on investment to determine the priority. 

#4. The Risks Associated With the Change

All changes are risky. Some risks can be avoided, while others can’t. Consider the danger of not making a change when approving or rejecting a change request. No one can predict the exact amount of risk involved in change, but they may estimate the degree of thinking required before making changes.

#5. The Resources Needed to Implement the Change

You should consider the availability and need for infrastructure assets and people resources to accomplish a transformation. Also, consider the implications of change on other projects as you accept it. Other projects should be unaffected by the change.

#6. Who Is in Charge of Developing, Testing, and Implementing These Changes?

The persons in charge of the project should be able to answer this question. Responsibility for change and release management should be traceable, actionable, and enforced.

#7. The Relationship Between the Proposed Change and Other Changes

It can be tough to respond in a complicated IT environment where many changes are occurring at the same time. It is necessary to determine the relationship between changes across functional boundaries. Failure to do so may result in a meeting timetable delay.

Obtaining answers to these concerns before executing any change has lots of advantages. These questions, in addition to quantifying the risk associated with the change, are a wonderful approach to determining the effectiveness of your change-management strategy. 

Change Management Tools and Techniques

The following is a list of some of the tools and techniques used for change management

#1. Whatfix

Whatfix is one of the interactive digital adoption change management tools that offer employee onboarding assistance. The tool also offers continuous training to solve a significant gap in digital change management. Whatfix’s interactive walkthroughs (workflows) help businesses in moving the transition to new technologies.

Through individualized onboarding and training programs, this change management solution guides people through each procedure in the new technology.

#2. The BMC Remedy Change Management 9

BMC Software’s Remedy Change Management 9 is an innovative IT service management (ITSM) platform. This change management software is suitable for IT departments that need to document and coordinate different change management process requests.

Change managers can use this tool to assess requests, make change plans, and track the implementation’s progress. The solution also includes tools to aid in the management of new releases, such as deployment tracking and automatic notifications to stakeholders.

This tool is one of the change management tools that can cut the likelihood of a failed change by 40%. Also, change requests, tracking, and release management can all be done from a computer or a mobile phone, making it simple to monitor releases from anywhere.

#3. The StarTeam by MicroFocus

The change management tool from StarTeam is intended to assist development teams in improving their software delivery process. The tool connects disparate and globally dispersed teams by offering a single source of truth throughout the transformation process.

To ensure a controlled distribution, development managers can use the collaborative environment to track changes to source code, faults, features, and other assets. StarTeam also features customized workflows that pave the way for a flexible, integrated workflow engine that aids in the establishment of the process and regulations for a software release.

#4. Change Compass

The Change Compass, as the name implies, is a cloud-based data visualization and planning application that can serve as a compass in your change process. It allows you to see your change process in a single location and via a single lens.

#5. The Rocket Aldon

Rocket Aldon claims to be the only multi-platform, end-to-end configuration, and change management software on the market. It was designed to assist development teams through change procedures.

One of the major advantages of this program is that it can be accessible to multiple people at the same time. This enables managers to view changes based on apps and tasks, or other recognizable structures, in real-time, rather than the development files’ stored structure.

Rocket Aldon also offers an enterprise Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) solution that aids in the automation of the complete software delivery and change management process.

#6. The Giva eChange Manager

The eChange Manager, a component of Giva’s Service Management Suite, is a simple ITIL-compliant cloud application. It’s among the change management tools capable of giving a strong reporting system that aids in the proper monitoring and measurement of analytics and KPIs.

Another advantage of this tool is that point-and-click customization and setting eliminate the need for programmers/consultants to set up the application.

#7. Wrike

Wrike is what they call professional services software. It is, as far as we can tell, a project management tool. It has a robust collection of features. 

Wrike assists businesses in aligning and connecting goals across teams, creating efficient processes through the power of automation, and increasing work openness and visibility.

What Are The 5 Key Elements Of Change Management?

Some key elements to look for in a change management system include:

#1. Approval Processes That Are Effortless

Issues with approval status are vital for seamless change operations. As change requests are transferred across workflow stages, you must have the appropriate approval checks in place. A decent change management solution will have global approval status checks to ensure that requests are sent logically, but it will also allow you to construct a custom approval script to automate authorizations.

#2. Automation of Processes

The ability for one to transition processes from one user to another without delay, disruption, or confusion is important to change success. This might be challenging if you rely on your IT or support staff to document what has been completed and pass the procedure on to the next user. These processes can be automated to maintain smooth operations and maximize productivity.

#3. Governance Instruments

A strong change management solution will include built-in checks and balances to help users understand not just what they must do, but also how and when they must do it. Managers, for example, can set reminders regarding regulatory standards when certain change processes are implemented. These simple software change management tools can play an important role in keeping processes running smoothly and error-free.

#4. Data Availability

When users conducting change operations have access to the proper data, they may operate more efficiently. Effective data visualization tools are critical in assisting users in managing change operations wisely and efficiently.

#5. CAB Capability

Tools that aid in the formation and implementation of a change advisory board aid in the integration of business and technological objectives into change operations. A CAB brings IT and business users together to build long-term change plans, respond swiftly to unanticipated change requests, and prioritize work to optimize value.

What Are The 4 Key Things To Change Management?

Four fundamental elements to getting effective change management include:

#1 Recognizing Change

To effectively communicate the benefits of the change, you must first comprehend them. So, consider why you need to change. Also, consider these questions:

• What are your primary goals regarding the change?
• What are the advantages of the change for the organization?
• What beneficial effects will the change have on people?
• What impact will the change have on how people work?
• What should individuals do for the change to be a success?

It can also be beneficial to consider the negative consequences of not adjusting. According to Beckhard and Harris’ Change Equation, there must be sufficient unhappiness with the old way of doing things for change to occur. People must also believe that the new method will be superior and that there is a clear path to get there.

#2 Change of Plan 

Effective change does not happen by chance, and whatever plan you devise must be appropriate for your organization. How change projects are managed varies from organization to organization. Some have very rigid change procedures, whereas others are more open and flexible.

#3 Implement the Change

As we’ve seen, there are many change management tools and techniques available to help you carry out your transformation. For example, Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model illustrates how to inject a feeling of urgency into your actions to develop momentum and inspire everyone to support your changes.

Meanwhile, the Change Curve encourages you to keep other people’s sentiments in mind as you carry out your strategy. It depicts the stages that we all go through throughout organizational change, from shock and denial to full commitment to the new strategy.

#4 Communicate Change

Communication can be a game changer in change management. The change you want to make must be obvious and relevant for others to comprehend what you want them to do and why they need to do it. However, you must also set the appropriate tone to elicit the desired emotional response.

Features Of Change Management

#1. Assessments of Readiness

Readiness assessments are tools that analyze your company’s expected level of change resistance. At this point, various factors of your organization should be considered. These factors include:

• The entire organization
• The organization’s culture and history
• Your workers
• Your supporters
• The scope of the change. 
• The influence will be on each specific group as you evaluate each of these characteristics.

#2. Communication Planning

Effective communication planning is required for effective change. This is one of the cornerstones of a change management plan that must be maintained on an ongoing basis.

Simply explaining the change to your employees once is insufficient. Repetition is essential.

#3. Sponsorship Roadmaps

According to the Project Management Institute, the most important success element in project and change initiative success is sponsorship. 

#4. Training

Change management training is the first form of training you will require. Managers should know the necessary to drive change inside their departments.

End-user training is another form of training you will require. Employees should be instructed on how to follow new business procedures and/or use new ERP systems, in other words. This training should be tailored to the specific needs of each group affected by the change.

#5. Resistance Management

It is impractical to expect every employee to be completely on board with every change. There will almost certainly be some dissatisfaction, disagreement, or outright opposition.

This is why a resistance management strategy is essential. When resistance is tackled proactively, it is less likely to derail your project.

#6. Ongoing Employee Feedbacks

Once a change has been carried out, you must monitor its progress. Employee input may assist you in determining what is working, what is confusing, and where the pain points are. Once you have this information, you can take the required actions to rectify any difficulties.

Allowing input shows employees that you care about their experience and are committed to providing them with the tools they need to handle change.

Conclusion

Change is challenging, but selecting the proper change management tools and techniques does not have to be.

Hopefully, you’ll find your favorite(s) software change management tools and techniques in this article. However, we must always remember that successful change is about people, not tools. Best wishes!

Change Management Tools FAQs

Reference

1. whatfix.com – 16 Best Change Management Tools for Managing Change (2022)
2. userguiding.com – The ONLY 6 Change Management Tools You Need to Make Change Easier
3. medium.com – 7 Rs of Change Management
4. serviceaide.com – 5 Key Elements of Change Management
5. mindtools.com – The Four Principles of Change Management
6. panorama-consulting.com – Key Components of a Change Management Strategy

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