Change is rarely easy, especially in the workplace. It can bring uncertainty, anxiety, and resistance. Enter the Project Management Office (PMO)! The PMO plays a crucial role in guiding employees through the transition. Let’s explore how a PMO can help maintain momentum during a change project, using a real-life example from Microsoft’s shift to a cloud-first strategy.
The Emotional Change Curve
People typically go through several emotional stages when dealing with change: shock, denial, frustration and anger, depression, bargaining and experimentation, acceptance and integration. These were first articulated in the stages of grief and change by Kubler Ross and later more widely accepted and applied by Change Management professionals in organisations across the world. The emotional change curve helps us understand how employees might feel at different stages.
This 5-minute read focuses on how the PMO can support staff throughout a change project. Of course, even the best PMO cannot be a substitute for effective Change leadership, so we’ve also sprinkled a few Top Tips for overall Change Management throughout.
PMO’s Role in Different Stages of the Emotional Curve
When Microsoft first announced the Azure Cloud-First strategy, many employees struggled with shock and disbelief. Their employees went on the full gambit of the Kubler Ross Change Curve. Read on for a breakdown of how the change was effectively navigated by Microsoft’s PMO:
1. Shock & Denial
Challenge: Employees may struggle to digest the news of the change.
PMO Actions:
- Communications campaign: The PMO tackled this initial reaction head-on by immediately launching a comprehensive communication campaign. The campaign included detailed presentations and town hall meetings where leaders explained the urgent need for the transition and its long-term benefits.
- Fact-based transparency: The PMO provided clear, fact-based information to help employees understand the external market pressures and internal strategic goals driving this decision. By being transparent and informative right from the start, the PMO helped mitigate the initial shock and began building a foundation of understanding and acceptance among the workforce.
Top Tip|| Define your Urgent Case for Change as a first step. Ideally, your Change leader or consultant would have already gathered relevant data and evidence, discussed this with key stakeholders including leadership and staff and articulated a clear “Urgent Case for Change”, to which your key staff have bought in — before any project work has begun! If your team’s denial and resistance are so fierce that the project cannot maintain momentum, it may be time to bring in some experts for a calm intervention and restart.
2. Frustration & Anger
Challenge: Employees might feel frustrated or threatened by the change.
PMO Actions:
- Open Forums: The PMO sets up open forums where employees can express their concerns. At Microsoft, leaders held town hall meetings to listen to employee worries and provide reassurance.
- Support Systems: They also set up support systems, such as counseling and peer support groups, to help employees manage their emotions.
Top Tip|| Create a Communications Plan — and use it! This plan will take the emotional change curve. Consider those whose daily processes will be most impacted by the upcoming changes: Who will be directly involved in making the change happen? Who will need to be able to adapt their behaviours to make the change successful?
Which roles might change, which people might feel nervous and how can you set them up for success?
3. Depression
Challenge: Employees may feel demotivated or overwhelmed by the change.
PMO Actions:
- Empathy and Support: The PMO provides emotional support and ensures managers are trained to recognised and address signs of demotivation. Microsoft’s leaders communicated empathetically, acknowledging the challenges employees faced.
- Visible Wins: They highlighted small wins and progress to boost morale. Celebrating early successes in the cloud transition helped keep spirits high.
Top Tip|| Be proactive in addressing signs of demotivation and depression. On average, our time at work accounts for about 50% of our waking hours during the average work week. Left unattended, the consequences of unaddressed change fatigue and stress on your staff’s mental health can be more serious than a hit to your organisation’s bottom line.
4. Bargaining & Experimentation
Challenge: Employees might try to find ways to avoid the change or negotiate terms. At this stage, if employees feel unheard or disempowered, there is a risk of looping back to the Shock & Denial stages of the curve, creating more friction and inertia for the project as a whole.
PMO Actions:
- Inclusive Planning: The PMO involves employees in the planning process. Microsoft encouraged employees to share their ideas on how to implement the cloud strategy, making them feel involved and valued while gaining some valuable insights and ideas.
- Flexibility: The PMO showed flexibility by integrating some of these suggestions into the change plan, demonstrating that employee input was taken seriously.
Top Tip|| Dedicate resource and time to support employees to do what is required to assimilate. Often organisations attempt to run a change project without dedicating the required time, or setting up accountability or governance structures that enable employees to make the changes happen, e.g. training, practice, input, steering group meetings and follow-ups. When push comes to shove, if your staff are not setup to prioritise change, they will default to continuing to do their work the way they have always done it.
5. Acceptance & Integration
Challenge: Employees begin to adapt and see the benefits of the change and integrate the changes into their normal work patterns.
PMO Actions:
- Continuous Engagement: The PMO keeps employees engaged by involving them in ongoing improvement initiatives. At Microsoft, employees were encouraged to innovate and explore new ways to leverage cloud technology.
- Recognition and Reward: They implemented recognition programs to celebrate those who embraced the change and contributed to its success, fostering a positive and motivated environment.
Top Tip|| To ensure your changes stick, create a Centre of Excellence and keep it updated. Documented processes and protocols, FAQ’s, forms, organisational charts, training and anything else that can help your current and future staff navigate your new systems and processes easily.
Sustaining Momentum Throughout the Change Process
Besides targeted efforts to help employees navigate the Change Curve, an effective PMO will offer holistic support to drive the change project forward. Maintaining momentum throughout a change project requires continuous effort and strategic actions, here are a few more from the Microsoft Cloud example:
Consistent Communication| The PMO ensures regular updates and transparent communication. Microsoft’s PMO kept everyone informed about the progress of the cloud transition through regular newsletters and updates.
Training & Development| Providing continuous training helps employees feel confident and capable. Microsoft offered extensive training programs to help employees develop new skills required for cloud technology.
Monitoring & Feedback| The PMO gathers feedback to make timely adjustments. Microsoft’s PMO continuously monitored employee feedback and made necessary changes to the transition plan.
Leadership Alignment| Ensuring leaders are aligned and supportive is crucial. Microsoft’s top executives were actively involved, showing their commitment to the cloud-first strategy.
Empowerment & Ownership| Empowering employees to take ownership of the change initiatives fosters a culture of accountability. Microsoft encouraged employees to lead smaller projects within the broader cloud strategy, promoting innovation and ownership.
Is your team prepared for the curve?
The PMO is essential in guiding employees through the emotional stages of change, ensuring they feel supported and motivated. By addressing their needs at each stage of the emotional curve, the PMO can maintain momentum and ensure a successful transition. Just like Microsoft’s shift to a cloud-first strategy, with the right support and communication, any organisation can navigate change smoothly and emerge stronger.
To increase the likelihood of success for your change and project management, CCS offers PMO-in-a-Box services: skilled and experienced people and templates to support your team holistically through change. Our PMO-in-a-Box can be stand alone, or integrated with any other Change Management service, including Business Process Improvement, Digital Transformation and Project Recovery.
Book a chat with us today to learn more. Remember to follow us on LinkedIn for Change Management titbits and the latest on organisational improvement!