6 Steps that Made Ben a Better Change Manager
Ben is the new IT administrator of a large production company. Soon after joining, Ben learned that the company used outdated software to manage its payroll and used different applications to track employee absences and travel claims. This resulted in miscalculation of the amount payable by the company to the employee and vice versa. Often, the company paid the employees either more or less than the correct amount, which led to a lot ofchaos.
Ben decided to tackle these issues by first implementing a new payroll software solution that came with two integrated modules, an expense module and an HR module. The expense module will track the travel expenses of the employees and the HR module will track the absence and leave types, ensuring accuracy in calculating the amount payable to an employee.
Regardless of how small or big it is, change involves managing people, processes, and technology. To ensure a smooth transition, Ben used the Change Management module in ServiceDesk Plus. He first classified the change as ”major” based on its impact. Like all major changes, this change went through a six-stage cycle as follows:
- Submission
- Planning
- Approval
- Implementation
- Review
- Closure
Step 1 – RFC Submission
First, Ben assigned a technician to collect information on the value this change will bring. This technician will be the change requester for this change. Then, the RFC (request for change) was created with all the required change parameters. As you can see from the screenshot below, one of Ben’s first steps – during the RFCsubmission in stage 1 – is to assign roles to people who will participate in the change management process.
Ben authorized the change after reviewing the change details. The RFC was moved to planning, the next stage of the change life cycle.
Step 2 – Plan Analysis, Review, and Approval
The change owner assigned by Ben analyzed the impact of the change, recorded the rollout and backout plan, and sent the RFC to Ben for approval. Before approving the plans, Ben reviewed them to see if the plans addressed the technical challenges and if they would ensure a smooth transition. Then, he moved the RFC to the approval stage.
Step 3 – RFC Approval
Ben sought the recommendations and assistance of the stakeholders, who constitute the Change Advisory Board or CAB. Then, the CAB analyzed the RFC from a business and a technical perspective and collectively shared their analysis with Ben.
Based on the feedback and analysis from the CAB, Ben approved the RFC and moved it to the implementation stage.
Step 4 – Change Implementation
In the implementation stage, the implementer was responsible for creating a project to implement the change, breaking down the project into multiple tasks, and completing the change within the given change implementation window.
Ben reviewed the implementation after the implementer completed the tasks and the RFC was moved to the next stage, post-implementation review.
Step 5 – Post-implementation Review
In this stage, the change reviewer ensured that the desired results were obtained. The reviewer evaluated the change and informed Ben. Ben then informed the change owner and the change requester about the success of the change implemented and the RFC was moved to closure.
Step 6 – RFC Closure
After the change owner and the change requester were notified, Ben ensured that a closure code was applied to the RFC as Successful and closed it.
With a new streamlined payroll software product in place, Ben is now able to do payroll calculations quickly and makes the pay day a joyful one for the employees.
