The focus of the Strategic Project Manager is on achieving business solutions. He/She is responsible for
mapping strategy to projects and monitoring projects and portfolios to ensure they continue to address strategic
initiatives
Role and Responsibilities
 Exercises discretion, confidentiality and independent judgment when handling day to day issues
 Drives change management across the organization
 Develops and leads special projects, using formal project management techniques
 Supports in the implementation of strategic frameworks (EOS, OKRs, etc.)
 Sets KPIs and health metrics, reviews and supports the team on improving the results
 Reviews processes and procedures and suggests improvements
 Conducts research, collects and analyses data to prepare reports and documents
 Researches and advises on digital solutions
 Follows up on implementation and roll out of digital platforms
 Manages and creates presentations, agendas and materials to the management
 Provides highly skilled management advice and assistance to the heads of departments and their
teams. Assists them in identifying issues and using problem-solving skills (including root cause analysis)
to resolve issues in a timely manner
 Generates documentation for all meetings & workshops conducted by executive management, as well as
tracks delivery of follow-ups with related parties
Qualifications Requirements
 6 to 10 years in similar field
 Experience in FMCG
 Strong Organizational and Communication skills
 Strong Project management skills
 Experience in deploying ERP / digital transformation
 Tech-savvy
Education Requirements
 Master’s degree in Business or any similar field
 Executive MBA is a plus
 Ideally, a certified Member of Project Management Professional (PMP)
16 Essential Change Management
Principles You Should Know About
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What Is Change Management?Part 1
Change Management StatisticsPart 2
16 Principles of Change ManagementPart 3
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PART 1
What is Change Management?
Change Management is the intersection of change and project management. It
represents how business leaders manage processes, systems, organizational structure,
job roles, and overall morale during a time of transition within a company.
Changes can be anything from realigning goals to become more efficient for customers
or dealing with a mass turnover situation. These can be “make-or-break” times where
business leaders decide how they are going to guide departments through the
designated shake-up. One of the largest feats associated with change management is
getting everyone from senior leadership to employees of all levels to accept and become
comfortable with the change. If people cannot see their way clearly, then systems and
structures within the business can collapse. This makes it critical for every organization
to have someone who is adept at managing all of the processes associated with the
change.
One of the most critical aspects of change is conveying the messaging of what exactly is
changing. If people are in the dark about what a new project will bring or how the
company will fill new roles that have suddenly been left vacant, people can make up
their own opinions about what is going to happen.
Change management also requires leaders to identify key stakeholders; these can be
department heads, senior management, and influential employees. Then leaders need to
create a coalition involving these people to help convey the messaging of the change
and how the organization is preparing to address it. This type of management also
allows leaders to make a case for why the change is needed and set the expectation for
what employees can expect going forward.
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PART 2
Change Management Statistics
Many real-world reasons convey the importance of having a change management plan
of action. With the threat of changing consumer tastes and volatile economy leaders
always have to prepare their companies for a transition.
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According to a study by Leadership IQ, only 35 percent of leaders are “actively” or
“frequently” sharing the challenges the company is facing with internal teams. Since
challenges lead to change, it is problematic that companies are not more transparent about
what changes they will take to address these issues. People will not understand the reason
for the change if one needs to be made.
70 percent of efforts to create change within an organization fail. These are the behaviors
that lead to those failures:
A. Management does not support the change – 33 percent
B. Employees are resistant to change – 39 percent
C. Inadequate resources or budget – 14 percent
D. Miscellaneous obstacles – 14 percent
A global 2013 Strategy and Katzenbach Center Study revealed that 65 percent of employees
were overwhelmed by the number of changes undertaken at one time within their
respective companies, and 44 percent did not understand the details of the changes they
needed to make. Along with those statistics, 33 percent did not even agree with the changes
they were prepared to undertake.
There are a lot of factors as to why organizational change is difficult for those tasked with
leading it. These statistics show two critical issues that change managers need to address:
employee perception and adequate communication.
The Challenges of Change Management
To develop a comprehensive change management plan, leaders have to acknowledge
the obstacles that could come their way and how to address them.
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1. Employee Resistance
If a majority of employees are not on board with changes then this can tank a
transition quickly. As a result, they may not make implementation a priority which
will cause productivity to suffer. This can happen if organizational culture is not
acknowledged, communication is not clear, and employees are left out of all decision making.
2. Planning
Planning for a company-wide transition can be overwhelming and stressful. These
two factors can cause leaders to leave out vital details and essential stakeholders who
need to be involved in conversations about changes. Each aspect of the rollout needs to
be addressed, and potential employee and customer responses need to be mapped out.
3. A Lack of Communication
The above study conducted by Legendary IQ revealed that organizational leaders
are not always transparent about challenges the company is facing. Therefore,
when changes are brought to employees, they do not have context for why these
transitions need to occur. Organizations can preempt questions ill feelings about
changes if they are honest with employees about challenges before a massive change.
4. Leadership Buy-in
Nothing can derail a transition quicker than a lack of management commitment.
There may be some executives who feel the change is needed, while others do not agree
and will use office politics to convey their dislike. This is why it is vital to start from the
top and involve all management in initial conversations about the plan and why it is
critical to the success of the company.
PART 3
The Principles of Change Management
1. Diagnosing the Problem
Before any changes can take place, a problem has to be identified. Pioneer of the
Toyota Production system, Taiichi Ohno developed a simple way to locate issues within
a company. His method is known as the “Five Whys.” He would take one process and
ask why it did not produce the intended result. This would then lead to four more
question that would hopefully allow those asking to arrive at the root cause for the
problem. Ultimately, it would lead to a conversation about how to fix the root cause. A
method such as can be implemented on a wide scale and involve surveys and focus
groups to identify problem areas to address.
2. Lead with the Culture
It is crucial to take into account a company’s existing culture. The organizational
culture informs the way people interact with each other, behave, and work
together within the company. Addressing this will help leaders to overcome any
resistance that will be attached to an already established culture. It may be informal
and “soft,” but leaders cannot ignore the effect this has on an attempt to bring any
change.
3. Start at the Top
To present any changes effectively to lower level employees, executives need to
be united. If those who make up the C-Suite discuss changes and hash out their
concerns, then it is easier for executives to answer questions managers may have and
continue to work from the same page.
4. Involve Every Layer
While planning for a change rollout does need to start at the top, mid-level
employees and those on the frontline need to be brought in not too long after.
These people will be able to bring any logistical or technical concerns to the forefront
that executives may not be privy to because of their positioning. They can also present a
perspective of how this might impact customers and how their own teams will take the
change. The input of mid-level employees and leaders will smooth out most glitches
because if anyone is aware of how this will impact the frontline, it is this group.
5. Coalition Building
Change leaders cannot manage the challenging task of getting everyone on board
themselves. Leaders need to bring in internal people with stated power (such as
executives), as well as informal leaders (influencers, veteran employees, and stakeholders
other employees will trust).
Transitioning can be made a lot more comfortable if business leaders find out who these
people are and involve them in the plan to help everyone adjust to the new changes.
These groups can make up a coalition that can help disperse the message about the
changes, put people at ease, and get their own teams on board.
6. Provide Clear Instructions
Leaders should take their coalition and help them spread the word about the
transition. Employees should receive clear and logical reasons for the change as well as
easy-to-understand instructions for how to implement it. This will involve a lot of
smaller meetings, training managers on how to correctly convey transition details, and
surveys to identify questions that may need to be addressed in a broader setting.
It won’t be easy for employees to immediately adhere to the transition due to learning
curves and old habits. This is why it is imperative for leaders to outline immediate
behaviors and actions that employees can take within days of the transition to help
things move along smoothly.
7. Transparent Communication
This is one of the most crucial elements of rolling out a change. From the first
rumblings of a company-wide transition to the initial meetings concerning
implementation, business leaders need to keep a high-level of transparency with
all internal stakeholders. If employees sense that backroom deals and concessions are
being made without being informed of the specific decisions, then it is likely that panic
and negative feelings will take root. Business leaders should communicate effectively
ensuring there is nothing to hide.
8. Training
This goes hand-in-hand with communication. Preparing staff for change takes time
and patience. Change managers should develop a comprehensive training program that
requires all employees to participate that not only teaches them new principles and
techniques, but can also serve as a Q&A session to address lingering questions and
concerns.
9. Questions and Concerns
As stated above in the Katzenbach study, nearly 44 percent of employees were not
aware of how they were supposed to implement the indicated changes. Therefore,
it is vital for managers and leaders always to leave opportunities for questioning. This
can be in the form of online and open-door sessions where individuals can inquire
about how this change will directly impact them.
10. Formal and Informal Solutions
A. Formal Solutions
Company transitions of any kind may require a change of policies and procedures.
Therefore, leaders have to keep track of how changes impact employee handbooks, HR
policy, company objectives, or any other formal and official documentation that needs
to be handled and conveyed to employees.
B. Informal Solutions
This is where reminders of history, tradition, and company culture come in. When
times get rough, it pays to remember the anchors that can hold a team together.
Motivational messages, an internal newsletter, open-door policies, and getting company
influencers on board are informal but are just as important as formal solutions.
11. Accountability
It is vital for business leaders in charge of change management to ensure that all
levels of employees are held accountable for how the implement new methods.
Leaders have to set clear expectations and rules for how internal stakeholders facilitate
a transition project. Holding team members accountable also gives employees a sense of
ownership which in turn makes them more invested in the changes taking place.
12. Appreciation
Change can be overwhelming and difficult, that is why it is essential for business
leaders to acknowledge positive steps all employees are making in transitions.
This can be through a company gathering or a simple “thank you,” to let employees
know their efforts are acknowledged and appreciated. In turn, this can also be used as a
motivator to keep the favorable work effort going.
13. Ongoing Support
While ongoing assessment is key, there needs to be a plan for ongoing sustenance.
Scenarios where employees can build upon the changes made to bring innovation to the
company can only be accomplished if there is ongoing training, education, and a culture
of support. Workers need to know that their development in relation to the transition is
just as important (or even more so) as the change itself.
14. Evaluation
Assessing the development of change is not a one-off task. It should be something
that should be a regular part of policies and procedures. Finding out what works
and what doesn’t (no matter how large or small) will allow leaders the opportunity to
jump on any potential problems before they become larger.
15. Assessment
As stated above, a transition might be failing for a number of reasons, but no one
will know if there is not any data to support why it is happening. Leaders need to
focus on gathering quantitative and qualitative data that assesses the progress of
transitions. This will inform them if all is going according to plan or if some tweaks
need to be made. This simple step can prevent an overall failure in the future.
16. Utilize Technology
We live in a digital world, so it is to the advantage of leadership to use it to aid in
communication efforts. Status.net feeds can be used to provide regular updates about
transition, gather data from employees (including obstacles they face), and outline ways
employees can reach back to ask questions.
Change is never easy, and when a whole company of different individuals with a variety
of opinions and attachments to the group are involved, then it becomes even more
complicated to implement change. Therefore, it is essential for leaders to develop a
comprehensive plan to handle potential problems and communication breakdowns.
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ProsperForms is a cloud solution for effective communication during organizational
change. It brings a more light-hearted tone to messaging making it easily digestible, and
makes it easy for leaders to provide and receive updates regularly, as well as to have
open door policies to address any issues.
How to use ProsperForms during organizational change:
Downward communication:
a) Build trust and improve leadership communication by sharing regular updates and
reasoning behind your decisions.
b) Share information about company announcements, new hires, etc.
c) Share company goals and objectives regularly.
Upward communication:
a) Easily implement weekly status updates for your team members by creating a status
feed “How did you contribute to the team’s goals this week?”.
b) Create automated scheduled questionnaires with questions like “How can we improve?”.
Increase workplace satisfaction by improving transparency:
Each status update has a separate section for comments, which is used by team members
to clarify information, and by leaders to provide feedback and coordinate better without
micromanagement, post congratulations and acknowledge job well done.
For recurrent questionnaires: no one forgets to answer because it sends automated
reminders according to the recurrence schedule you chose.
Use status updates for future reference and decrease time and efforts spent on monthly,
quarterly, and yearly reporting thanks to powerful filtering and export features.
Optionally, enrich reports with the latest updates automatically added from web
apps your team uses (such as project management tools, version control systems, support
systems, financial applications, CRM, etc.) by connecting these apps to your status feed.
Spend less time on meetings by making them more productive because everyone is on
the same page at all times.
Sharing: Status updates can be either
— exported to files and printed, or sent by email;
— shared with manager online; or
— shared online as company-wide or team-wide status reports, i.e., all team members share
their progress with each other.
How to configure status updates:
Step 1: Create your account and create a new applet by selecting a customizable form
template.
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Configure who will add records by choosing the “Participants” tab.
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Set the applet as “Team-wide” if you want all team members to view each other’s records.
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Alternatively, you can allow each participant to view his/her own records only and
stakeholders to view all entries.
Step 2: Users will click the “Open Submission Form” button to fill it out and submit it.