Change Management vs. Project Management: Key Differences
Blog: Monday Project Management Blog
Many people confuse project management and change management because they’re each a management process. In both roles, you manage a process and people. However, which processes or people you manage differ in each position.
Understanding the differences between project and change management can help you better excel in your position or assign the work to someone most suited to it. Today we’ll discuss the differences in these roles and how each can benefit from monday.com’s Work OS platform.
What is change management?
Structured change management is the process of implementing change within a project or organization and supporting those affected. Some companies may simply write up a communications plan that ensures all team members know of an upcoming change and then slowly begin implementing it. However, a change manager looks at the people side of changes. How might an upcoming change affect people? What tools, training, or support might they need during the transition and moving forward?
Change management is the process of supporting the people affected by organizational changes with appropriate training and tools.
When employees are well-supported during a project or company-wide change, they’re more likely to succeed in their efforts. By looking beyond the overall project into the people who make it work, you’re more likely to meet project objectives effectively and efficiently after the change.
What is the difference between change management vs. project management?
Project management teams use specific skill sets to deliver something of value to current and potential customers or companies. For example, a project may revolve around creating a new product or service. Or a project’s purpose may be to brainstorm, design, and implement new processes to increase employee engagement throughout the organization.
On the other hand, change management is the application of a structured process, tools, and training that leads the people side of change. Change management aims to support the individuals who make up a project team in implementing change that helps achieve the desired project outcome. A change manager may even support a project manager by providing them with the management tools necessary to move forward more efficiently.
The primary differences in these roles include:
- Purpose: Change management focuses on supporting individuals, while project management focuses on achieving results.
- Length: A change manager and project manager are temporary or consistently changing positions. However, a project manager is usually in their role for the duration of a project. In contrast, a change manager only works in a specific position during change implementation. Therefore, a project management position tends to be longer.
- Processes: A change manager uses strategies that focus on individual achievement and change adaptation. A project manager uses processes that focus on meeting benchmarks and achieving clearly defined objectives.
Although both are management positions, the roles of project manager and change manager are quite different. Exploring how your organization can use change management can help you better understand these differences.
Examples of change management for an organization
There are many times to use change management in your organization. However, a few of the most common times are during mergers and acquisitions, changes in leadership, implementation of new technology, or times of crisis.
Mergers and acquisitions
During a merger or acquisition, an organization makes significant changes in how a company functions and even its organizational culture. For example, leadership may change, and there may be a widespread rebranding effort. Using change management during this transition can make it easier for existing workers to adapt and continue thriving in current roles.
Changes in leadership
When an old CEO retires and a new CEO steps up, there may be multiple changes in daily operations. Even if things primarily run the same, everyone has their own way of leading. When it comes to upper-level management, these small changes can trickle down to affect every employee. Using change management during this transition can ease tensions and uncertainties about leadership changes.
Implementation of a new technology
Often, an organization implements new technology to create significant long-term benefits. However, every new technology has a learning curve, and some employees may find it easier to understand than others. For example, you may introduce a new point-of-sale system to your storefronts, or you could implement a new employee engagement software program in your human resources department.
A change manager can ensure the appropriate employees are thoroughly trained to use the new technology. Then, they can identify individuals who may be struggling to adapt to the new technology and allocate more time or resources to their training.
During times of crisis
Unfortunately, times of crisis do occur. An excellent example of how change management can help during these times was seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, many companies used change management to implement new strategies and processes that kept employees and customers safe while allowing workflows to continue as much as possible. For example, businesses used change management to implement mask policies, transition to remote work, and create exceptions for sick days.
Whether you’re integrating a new tool or implementing procedural changes, a technical solution that keeps your teams organized and communicating can drive better project or change management.
Using monday.com to manage change in your organization
monday.com can help you manage change in your organization more effectively by:
- Allowing seamless collaboration: Our Work OS allows teams to collaborate seamlessly, even when working remotely. Employees can work on projects in real-time, leave notes, and share documents within the application.
- Tracking progress through changes: Detailed data and analytics let you track progress through changes to see where your company is thriving and where additional resources may be necessary. With this information, you can make better-informed decisions about resource allocations, timelines, and other factors during changes.
- Providing resource breakdowns: Our operations management platform can support managers during change by providing accurate resource breakdowns. You can use this to schedule time effectively, plan new hires, or request additional resources when applicable.
- Supporting workflow automation: Change management can sometimes be challenging, but automating routine workflows can make the transition significantly more manageable. Save time and ease frustrations with automatic task approvals and other functions.
- Supplying customizable dashboards: You can customize dashboards on our platform to suit your organization’s unique wants and needs. See the information you need, when, and where you need it, to make management more straightforward and reduce error risks.
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FAQs about change management vs. project management
Is change management part of PMO?
Change management is sometimes included as part of the project management office (PMO). However, there isn’t a clear definition of whether the role falls within the PMO, as not all modern companies assign it as such. But, many companies do include project change management as part of the PMO, with organizational change management falling elsewhere.
What is another word for change management?
Many companies prefer to use the term implementation management instead of change management. However, these two terms mean the same thing.
What are the three types of change management?
The three types of change management include:
- Developmental: Focusing on improving existing processes, skills, and methods.
- Transitional: Focusing on replacing one process, skill, or method with an entirely new approach.
- Transformational: Focusing on implementing new approaches where the future of doing so isn’t clearly defined (which separates it from transitional change management).
Manage a change or project successfully with monday.com
Although change management vs. project management is often confused, the two require distinct types of management methodology. Change management focuses on the people affected by specific projects, tasks, or processes. On the other hand, project management focuses on the project itself. Once you understand the key differences in these disciplines, you can get the support you need for either role from start to finish at monday.com.
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