Week 4 Post 1

This evening I decided to start with a term on the suggested list: change management. Wikipedia, as usual, was the first site on the list. They describe change management as "the process during which the changes of a system are implemented in a controlled manner by following a pre-defined framework/model with, to some extent, reasonable modifications." This sounds like HPT to me.

The next site on the Google list was "Change Management 101: A Primer." This site described four basic definitions of change management. There is a section dedicated to framing the working problem in a how, a what, and a why format to clarify gaps and objectives. The site goes on to describe the steps of change management. They go through factors in selecting a change strategy as well as tips on managing change. I would highly recommend reading through this site as it is quite comprehensive and well written for the novice HPT student.

I had a bit more time and decided to see what else showed up on my Google search. I looked at the change management toolbook, the change-management learning center, and then stumbled across a six sigma change management page. Since I've have six sigma certification, this looked like an interesting combination for my blog assignment. In my past experience, six sigma does look a lot like the stuff I'm reading about change management. The titles are just different. The processes are probably a bit different. However, the goals are the same: improve the organization by streamlining processes. In my industry, the processes are mostly human processes rather than industrial processes.

My favorite link on this page was "Managing Six Sigma Change Resistance." Boy, do I have experience with that one! My staff loves their old ways as much as I love to change it up. This article described specific stratetegies to use in a change managment project. Some of the suggestions were to tie the success of the project to personal stakes such as annual performance review, to clarify communication with additional inservices or cheat sheets, and to cite previous success stories related to the project.

All in all, I feel comfortable with the topic of change management. It seems from this research that it is a sub-set of HPT and much of the information found in change management articles can be applied to a wide variety of human resource issues.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Change_management
http://home.att.net/~nickols/change.htm
http://www.isixsigma.com/ce/change_management/