ITIL v5 Compass
Management Practices
Organizational Change Management

Organizational Change Management

Definition

"Ensure that changes in an organization are implemented smoothly and successfully, and that lasting benefits are achieved by managing the human aspects of the changes."

To fulfill its purpose, this practice must:

  • Create and maintain a change-enabling culture
  • Establish and maintain a holistic approach to Organizational Change Management (OCM)
  • Ensure organizational changes are realized effectively, leading to stakeholder satisfaction and compliance

Key Terms

Organizational change: "a modification in a major organizational component, such as culture, structure, or processes."

⚠️

Important distinction: Organizational Change Management (OCM) deals with the human side of organizational transformation -- culture, behavior, adoption. This is different from Change Enablement, which manages technical changes to products and services.

Processes

Management of the OCM Approach

  1. Analyze organizational change management requirements and capabilities
  2. Develop OCM approach and guidelines
  3. Communicate and embed OCM approach across organization
  4. Review OCM performance

Organizational Changes Lifecycle Management

  1. Assess change request
  2. Plan change
  3. Communicate change
  4. Control realization
  5. Sustain change
  6. Review change

Key Metrics

MetricWhat it measures
Awareness of change principles and methodsKnowledge level
Organizational attitude toward changeCulture readiness
Level of change resistanceAdoption barriers
Alignment of change attitudes across organizational levelsCultural consistency
Satisfaction with procedures and communicationProcess quality
Improvements initiated by OCM practiceValue output
Satisfaction with knowledge of transformation tools/methodsCapability
Change initiators' satisfaction with outcomesResults quality
Change success/acceptance rateEffectiveness
Compliance with formal change requirementsGovernance
Change timeliness satisfactionSpeed
Satisfaction with change realizationOverall success

Key Roles

  • Organizational change leader
  • Change team member

Recommendations for Success

  • Adopt common OCM approach
  • Define clear, relevant objectives
  • Ensure strong, committed leadership
  • Engage willing, prepared participants
  • Demonstrate progress
  • Ensure sustainable improvement
  • Leverage existing practices and automation
  • Continually improve OCM

Software Tools

  • Analysis and reporting tools
  • Collaboration and communication tools
  • Enterprise architecture management tools
  • Knowledge and document management tools
  • Learning Management System (LMS)
  • Social media
  • Workflow and task management tools