Change management can be the forgotten element when delivering a project. To justify the need for a change manager the project being delivered needs to be part of a wider program, essentially a large program and to add to this the systems being implemented must be replacing old legacy systems that have been in use for a long time. The need for change managers in smaller deliveries is more subjective and is at the discretion of each organisation. Some important points regarding change management are noted below.

• Each project sponsor must access the need for whether a change manager is needed.

• Project Managers should give their opinion on whether a change manager is needed to the project sponsor based on their experience.

• If the budget allows and it makes sense for the deliverable at hand then hire a change manager.

• Resistance to change is a common phenomenon amongst end users and must be sensitively managed.

• Sometimes end users need to be sold the value and benefits of changing and moving to a new system.

• Thus it is important the Project Manager is candid and clear in all communications regarding the new system in order to sell its benefits and values.

• Project Managers need to outline these reasons clearly and concisely and listen to and be considerate of end users and stakeholder concerns.

• Project Managers responsibilities can morph into many areas and it is not uncommon for that to include change management.

• It tends to go hand in hand with stakeholder management.

• For employees who have worked in organisations in the long term which I would categorise as greater than five years transitioning smoothly to new systems can be difficult.

• Employees can become institutionalized and comfortable in the norms and cultures of their company so change may be hard to embrace.

• The benefits for them may not outweigh the negatives.

• Implementations that enhance existing functionality and technology will help ease the transition.

• Extensive end to end, system and user acceptance testing that proves the new system works will aid the transition.

• The production of training guides and manuals will aid the transition.

• An effective training programme to give users access to the system and give them comfort in the basic functionality is essential.

• This has to be completed before UAT to make this phase progressive and effective.

• Once a system goes live a dedicated support team that is available to answer user issues and deal with problems is needed.

• This will ease the transition and act a crutch for users to rely on.

• Support should last four to six weeks and then a help desk or ticketed support system should be enough as issues and bugs should be remedied and not as frequent in scale.

• But remember project and change managers can only do so much, they are not there to hand hold but to help in the transition from old to new.

• Change managers need buy in from the wider project team to aid project success.

• End users must demonstrate a willingness to use new systems and embrace change even if the change period is difficult.

• Change management forms a crucial part of any delivery alongside project management and systems development.

• Not having a change manager is a perilous situation and if not remedied in time can lead to project delays and in extreme cases project failure.

• To sum up, assess the need for a change manager at the planning stage of a project factoring in areas such as organisational culture, new system being deployed, workforce (end user) dynamic, cost, etc