TL;DR: Change Management Core Definitions

Newsflash: Almost all of them start with "Change"

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Link to Post:

Your Change Management Guide

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Change Management Core Definitions

I have not been able to find a unified Change Management dictionary or glossary of terminology. Also different sites have different definitions for some of the terms; which makes it even more confusing.

Paradoxically, to try and make this less of a problem here are the definitions that I use when thinking about and discussing Change Management.

We will give the definitions here, and you can find more detail and context around these definitions in the main article.

Change Management: A term encompassing all methods and approaches to: plan, deliver, and support businesses and their employees during a process that alters the way their business operates.

Change Journey: The process of undergoing change, and the delivery of strategies that enact change.

Direction of Travel: The current path that a business is on, and informs their standard operating procedures or day-to-day decision making

Change Strategy: A plan that helps reach the “Change Goal”; typically focused on delivering one type of change and comprised of one or more “Change Actions”.

Change Goal: The goal of a “Change Strategy”, which is what we want to accomplish by embarking on this “Change Journey”.

Change Action: A decision that is made during the “Change Journey” which will move the business towards its “Change Goal”.

Think of it this way: Once you identify a “Change Goal”, you embark on a “Change Journey”, which you navigate with your “Change Strategies” which are a combination of one or more “Change Actions”.

All fancy business ways of saying: identify your goal, make a plan to reach that goal, break that plan into steps, execute those steps. There’s a bit more to it than this, but we will get into that in the next section.

We come to another point of disagreement which is around the “States of Change”, where some models view this as the state for the overall “Change Journey” I prefer to look at this at the “Change Action” Level. So I define the “States of Change” like this:

States of Change: As you go through a “Change Journey” each “Change Action”, and “Change Strategies”, will go through three states of change:

1. Planned: Yet to be started

2. Active: Currently being delivered

3. Completed or Terminated: Delivery completed or abandoned in light of learnings.

This definition celebrates when a “Change Action” or “Change Strategy” is completed, as well as gives the option to reflect an item is no longer needed due to our learnings on the “Change Journey”. This is important because as we will see shortly with our definition of the types of change; businesses can have multiple active “Change Strategies” on a “Change Journey”.

When it comes to delivering our “Change Strategy” there are multiple ways of doing so with each of the powerhouses in the field having their own “Change Frameworks” and everyone having their preferences.

Change Framework: A model through which we can guide a business towards their “Change Goal” through a “Change Strategy”.

There are a lot of “Change Frameworks” out there and it is personal choice which you use; but the consistant parts are the key people on a “Change Journey”.

Change Agent: A “Change Agent”, or agent of change, is an individual who is jointly responsible for helping the business navigate their transformational journey alongside the change and business leaders

Change Leader: A “Change Leader”, or leader of change, is the individual who is responsible for overseeing the delivery of the “Change Journey”. This individual can either be a part of the business or a third party.

Change Champion: A member of the business who is fully behind the “Change Goal”. “Change Champions” are key to delivery of a “Change Strategy” as they will help in the delivery of “Change Actions” by helping reduce levels of “Change Resistance” and “Change Fatigue”

Change Advocate: A member of the business who supports, and has a positive outlook on, the “Change Goal”. “Change Advocates” will help support initiatives, and be vocal proponents of change within the business, helping reduce levels of “Change Resistance” and “Change Fatigue”.

Change Detractor: A member of the business who is against the “Change Goal” and is either sceptical of its benefits, or outright opposed to its implementation.

We have mentioned some terms in the previous definitions and descriptions which we will now define, some of which sound much more dramatic than they are.

Change Resistance: An opposition to change in the business either through passive or direct means.

Change Fatigue: Disengagement or lack of enthusiasm in the change process due to a large amount of change happening in a short period. Can be a source of “Change Resistance”.

Crisis: An unexpected event that requires attention before continuing the “Change Journey” or implementation of a “Change Strategy”.

Conflict: A disagreement between parties involved in the “Change Journey”.

Change Inertia: Lack of willingness or ability to start the “Change Journey” or the tendency to advocate for the continued use of current operating practices.

We have given a lot of these without any context, and you can find more context in the main article; however these are the core definitions for Change Management which we will use in future TL;DRs.

GTFYT

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