Change management is the process of matching the expectations of those affected by an implementation project to the results they are receiving — it helps people decide whether a given project is good for them. This is the first of two articles that help you successfully manage the change that comes with all projects. This first article provides an overview of change management and the seven precepts that you must address when considering a specific SAP project. It provides advice to help you avoid the change management pitfalls that have derailed many projects. The second article maps typical change management tasks to the phases of an example SAP implementation project.
Gerhard Friedrich
Gerhard Friedrich’s 15 years at Digital Equipment Corporation taught him that concern for people and technology can coexist quite well. While at MIT’s Sloan School of Management as a visiting behavioral scientist, he was able to influence how to take artificial intelligence (AI) research into real-life experience. Gerhard spent several years as a licensed psychotherapist, learning how difficult change is for some individuals (including himself) and how complex the human “systems” are. At Computer Sciences Corporation and PricewaterhouseCoopers, he helped others struggling to achieve the right balance between people, process, and technology change, so they could move their companies forward. At SAP America, he helped manage change when SAP repositioned itself from selling applications to selling solutions. Today, Gerhard is an executive consultant with RWD Technologies, a powered by SAP NetWeaver company for SAP end-user training, performance support, and organizational change management.
You may contact the author at GFriedrich@RWD.com.
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