7 Key Organisational Change Management (OCM) Lessons for a Successful ServiceNow Implementation

Enable’s approach to Organisational Change Management (OCM) has a laser-like focus on the People side of our clients’ ServiceNow implementations in support of the technical aspects of Processes and Platform. Our OCM, adoption and training services align with The Enable Way – our project delivery methodology (Figure 1).

Figure 1: The Enable Way

Enable’s OCM, adoption and training activities run in parallel with, and across, the five delivery stages with inputs to and delivery outcomes from each stage.

Enable OCM, adoption and training efforts track across four key times of work (shown in Figure 2):

1. Readiness
2. Go Live Preparation
3. Go Live Transition
4. Sustainment

Figure 2: Enable’s 4 stages of OCM, adoption and training work

The key to Enable’s OCM approach is in our name – Enable – we work with our clients to:

• enable their staff to adopt, and be upskilled in, the new ways of working generated by their ServiceNow solution
• generate a commitment to the new ways of working (rather than compliance)

Our goal is to eliminate or mitigate challenges, pain points and risks and to engage with our clients’ stakeholders who will be impacted by the change by:

• making them aware of the changes
• helping them understand the goals of the change\
• influencing them toward supporting, becoming involved in, and committing to the changes

We work with our clients to ensure relevant staff receive the appropriate, timely and ‘fit-for-purpose’ communications and training they need to reduce ‘time-to-capability’.

Enable has experience in a number of OCM implementation methodologies, such as:

• PROSCI’s ADKAR
• IMA’s Accelerating Implementation Methodology (AIM)
• PCI – People Centred Implementation
• Lewin’s Change Management Model
• Kübler-Ross Five Stage Model
• Change Management Book of Knowledge

We work with our clients in understanding if there is a pre-existing change management framework being used and work within that framework. If there isn’t, we can help our client design an adaptive OCM, adoption and training strategy that fits with their organisation and culture.

Artefacts provided

Figure 3 depicts typical Enable OCM, adoption and training artefacts and documentation.

Figure 3: Enable’s OCM Strategy, Components and artefacts

Typically Enable would work with our clients in creating one or more of the following artefacts and documents (depending on the stage of work):

• Change Agent Assessment
• Organisational Stress Test
• Implementation History Assessment
• Business Impact Assessment
• Sponsor Assessment
• Individual Readiness Assessment
• Business Readiness Assessment
• Communication Audit
• Targeted Reinforcement Index
• Implementation Risk Forecast – Risk Management Plan
• Communication and Engagement Plan
• Change Plan
• Training Plan
• Reinforcement Plan
• ServiceNow-specific “messaging” snippets that could be used for client’s internal communications
• Boilerplate emails, newsletters, intranet announcements: preliminary, pre-go-live, at go-live, post-go-live

What Makes Enable Different

We know that implementation occurs before, during and after Go Live. We also understand the importance of continued people support beyond Go Live, through Hypercare and Warranty periods. Mature organisations pay particular attention to supporting their staff 3, 6, 9 months or more after the implementation has moved from being a Project to being Business As Usual (BAU). Figure 4 depicts Enable’s OCM maturity model.

Enable can provide clients with the tools and support that assist with embedding and measuring the adoption rates of the new ways of working.

Figure 4: Enable’s OCM Maturity Progression

Lessons Learnt

So, what have we learnt over many years of successful ServiceNow solution installations?

Enable’s experience has highlighted seven fundamental key lessons learnt for successful ServiceNow implementations:

1. OCM starts BEFORE formally kicking off any deployment:

• Dedicate a role(s) to designing and managing the OCM plan that considers all stakeholders and contexts
• Research the organisational context (including the stakeholders, risks, etc.) to inform OCM planning
• Use collected knowledge of the organisational change environment to design an OCM Plan that includes plans for how to communicate the organisational change with stakeholders, deliver needed training and enablement, and minimise the impact of organisational change

2. Assign a fully dedicated OCM lead + team. Ideally, the team would consist of:
   • A communications person
   • A systems trainer
   • An administration person
3. OCM is a part of good governance and should be developed concurrently with any changes in the client’s work processes and policy. To ensure consistency, the OCM Program Team and Plan would be in alignment with, or a part of, the client’s governance program for the implementation
4. Enable and our clients agree on what “good” OCM looks like – expectations can be set at that point and then together we work in creating and driving the various Plans along with agreeing what the measures of success will be and how/when we will report them
5. Constant, visible, active sponsorship is the single most important factor in ensuring a successful implementation
6. Selection of Change Agents (eg SMEs) / Champions / Advocates / Stewards is the second most important factor. They are not selected just because they are available.
7. Change Agents need to be represented at every level of the organisational hierarchy to avoid ‘black holes’ of communication and support.

Written by –
Mark Galgsdies
ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE MANAGE
Tribe – OCM