Few worlds are as ever-changing as the world of IT. There's always some software that needs updating, new hardware to be installed and a firewall that needs replacing. Preferably yesterday, always with the highest priority. Many IT departments are therefore struggling with the challenge of getting structure in a rather hectic everyday life where it is important to get control of the changes and launch them in the right order.
What's more, IT organizations are not as flexible and agile as they would like to make out. There are even studies on this. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology have investigated whether IT departments can work on several areas (dimensions) at the same time, i.e. whether they were agile. In the survey, they only gave themselves a score of 52 points for it on a scale of 1-100. A little alarming is also the fact that active work on improving agility does not seem to be a priority. Here, respondents gave themselves a rating of only 56 points.
The negative associations of change
Perhaps the explanation lies in the fact that the word 'change' too often evokes negative associations. People are not prone to change and when a manager announces a change process, it is not uncommon for the odd weary employee to mutter "well, we know how it went last time". Change always meets with some resistance. Change psychologists talk about the four phases of change:
- Denial
- Resistance
- Exploration
- New commitment
Virtually all people go through these different stages before they can move on, including individuals in the IT department. And really, it's phase four where the individual says "I accept the change and see the alternatives" that you want to get to faster.
And agility is important for IT departments. In the above-mentioned survey from the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers, where 100 was "very important" and 0 "completely unimportant", respondents indicated the total weight value for it as 82 on the scale.
Agility and flexibility are needed, everyone agrees on that. Especially when it comes to being prepared for constant changes, updates and implementations. "Change is the only constant", said a wise man centuries ago.
IT departments must change to become better at change
It is true that IT departments need to undergo some change management to be better at implementing change. Given the importance of change, there is a need to coordinate and formalize change projects so that they proceed according to well-managed processes and do not paralyze entire IT organizations, which we know are not as flexible as they need to be.
Implementing Change Management according to ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) is a step to cover all aspects of change. Change processes are formalized and a world of structured change is built with the goal of reducing incidents after the change is launched. The goal may even be to have no incidents at all as a result of a change made by the IT department.
When highlighting the benefits of Change Management, three arguments are often mentioned:
- Reduced costs
This is because only changes that have a business case are approved, meaning they are evaluated from a value/cost/risk perspective - Increased quality
A well-functioning change process requires structured work from requirements definition to implementation and follow-up. - Traceability of changes
All changes, both rejected and approved, are documented. This enables recovery and analysis of statistics.
In addition, it is also possible to measure the benefits, both at an overall level and at a detailed level.
So where do you start?
Management plays an important role in the change. If the CEO, IT manager or department head is not convinced of the need for change, the process will be a long uphill battle. But that's not enough - in the 1940s, a German-American psychologist observed that planned change that is controlled only from above is less likely to succeed than change that involves those who are subject to the change. Therefore, according to his theory, one should preferably work with "change agents", i.e. change facilitators.
Change Management according to ITIL therefore suggests working with a group of people that includes both those who are actively involved in the work and those who are not at the controls. In addition, the proposed process is characterized by an active flow of information and communication that keeps the entire organization informed.
Read more about Change Management and how to implement change management effectively in our white paper Change Management in Practice (SE)
