What is Organizational Change Management?

Organizational Change Management (OCM) is a framework for managing the effect of new business processes, new technology, shifting economic landscapes, or changes in organizational structure and culture within an enterprise. Simply put, OCM addresses the people side of change. 

A project can be any type of change in an organization that addects its' people resource. OCM addresses three core areas in any project: communication, training and change readiness.

• OCM Communication focuses on solid two-way communications through all levels of the change. In today’s information-heavy workplace, people quickly are inundated with communications that are too frequent and unclear thus making change even harder. OCM focuses on getting the communication simplified, clear, and right the first time.  It also focuses on all levels of communication from the executives, sponsors to frontline employees. 
• OCM Training focuses on assessing the new skills and knowledge needed by those adopting the change or managing the change and ensuring training is delivered in a timely and effective manner. Every project is different and every group of end users is different, so OCM focuses on getting the right training, in the right way, to the right people to ensure a successful project. 
• OCM Change Readiness seeks to understand why people work and behave the way they do in order to help them in any transition they experience at work. OCM actively seeks to understand the level of readiness of the people impacted by the change. In addition, OCM Change monitors areas of risk and resistance and deals with them head-on to elevate project outcomes and successes. OCM recognizes every person in an organization is also an individual and brings with them experiences and background that can be helpful to the change effort. OCM understands the impact of change to individuals and by leveraging the change methodology and tools identifies ways to support them throughout the process.   

Watch this video from our partners at Prosci® to learn more about Change Management.