Principles of PRINCE2, MSP, MoP and Change Management
With the recent publication of the Management of Portfolios guide (MoP™) from the Office of Government Commerce the best management practice family is complete – there is a structure and set of processes for managing individual projects, multiple, interdependent projects and change activities (programmes) and managing all projects and programmes as a cohesive unit (portfolios).
The unifying feature across all of the guides is that they each offer a set of principles. Principles act as a guide to how we want people to behave, what we want them to consider when they are planning their work and what we want them to prioritise.
Portfolios of projects and programmes are the management disciplines that organisations use to define and create transformational change. So what are the principles of effective change management?
I think that the best management practice contained within PRINCE2®, Managing Successful Programmes (MSP®) and Management of Portfolios (MoP™) offer us some ideas:
PRINCE2®:
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MSP®:
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MoP™:
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| Continued business justification |
Remaining aligned with corporate strategy |
Alignment with the organisation’s strategic objectives |
| Learn from experience |
Learning from experience |
Alignment with the organisation’s governance structure |
| Defined roles & responsibilities |
Envisioning and communicating a better future |
Senior management commitment |
| Manage by stages |
Focusing on the benefits and threats to them |
the use of a Portfolio Office (real or virtual)
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| Manage by exception |
Adding value |
| Focus on products |
Designing and delivering a coherent capability |
| Tailor to suit the project environment |
Leading change |
an energised change culture |
Change Management:
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- Alignment with strategy
- Alignment with governance
- Senior management commitment
- Stakeholder participation
- Flexible implementation
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Alignment with strategy
To be effective, transformational change must be aligned to the overall goals and direction of the organisation. To apply the significant resources required for transformational change to the creation of non-strategic activities is madness because no organisation has the resources to pursue its critical aims (strategic objectives) and non-strategic initiatives.
Alignment with governance
This principle is an interesting one because whilst it is important that the change and the governance structure are aligned, the type of change may lead to a re-organisation of the governance structure. It might be better to say ‘don’t forget to have some governance’ rather than have a direct tie to the governance structure you have at the moment.
Senior management commitment
The amount of resource assigned to transformational change means that senior managers have to actively participate in decisions to prioritise the use of resources, agree where service levels are allowed to fall during the implementation of change, and consistently scan the environment for ideas on how the change should be shaped and scoped. Essentially we are looking for:
- Communicating a compelling vision of the future
- Demonstrates an emotional commitment to change
- Providing energy and commitment to the change
Stakeholder participation
People participate if they see that there is really a role for them, and that they will be able to decide what they are best equipped to contribute and to take decisions about when and how they contribute. This means that those who conceive and plan the change must show a degree of latitude in their resource planning to encourage people to decide to become involved. This is critical as change cannot be imposed upon individuals, they need to sign up to the change and become sufficiently involved that they change for themselves.
Flexible implementation
Change evolves and as we make changes early in the lifecycle, we realise that some of our later plans are no longer relevant or viable. As the changes evolve, the market place, the regulatory and competitor environment and the demand from customers also evolves, meaning that change that sticks rigidly to its original scope is unlikely to achieve its intended benefits.
