Change Management in the Project Lifecycle

This change management framework details how a professional services consulting firm can integrate Change Management into formal project implementation methodologies to guide customers through organizational change. It aligns structured "FROM-TO-WHY-WHAT" principles with implementation phases to ensure clarity, adoption, and measurable success.

Change Management in your projects.

The FROM-TO-WHY-WHAT Change Management Framework:

Too often professional services delivery teams do not think about nor plan for the changes they are making to the customer’s business processes, tools and employee’s day-to-day. We’ve built a simple yet effective change management framework to help visualize the changes for your customers.

Key benefits of utilizing a Change Management framework:

  1. Higher Adoption Rates: Users embrace new processes and technologies more readily.

  2. Reduced Resistance: Proactive communication mitigates resistance and builds trust.

  3. Measurable ROI: Benefits are tracked and demonstrated to stakeholders.

  4. Sustained Improvements: Ongoing evaluations ensure that changes deliver long-term value.

This approach ensures the success of organizational change initiatives, aligning them with formal project management practices to achieve strategic goals.

FROM: Current State

Identify existing business processes, tools, and practices that are being changed. Example: Manual data entry processes causing inefficiencies.

TO: Future State

Define the desired business processes, solutions, and objectives. Example: Automated workflows for increased efficiency.

WHY: Drivers of Change

Explain the key business drivers for the change, such as growth, competition, compliance, or operational efficiencies. Example: Meet regulatory requirements for data reporting.

WHAT: Benefits and Efficiencies

Describe the tangible improvements for users, teams, and the organization. Answer "What's in it for me?" for each stakeholder. Example: Reduced workload, faster processes, higher data accuracy.

Application:

Use the FROM-TO-WHY-WHAT framework to document the changes for each persona impacted by the change. Once you document the changes, use the framework to enable you to identify tactical things to help mitigate the resistance to the change. Focus on the “WHAT” to help any resistors see the “What’s in it for me?”, which highlights the benefits to them or efficiencies they’ll gain as a result of the change.

Table for Managing Change in Solution Implementations using the FROM - TO - WHY - WHAT model.