Change Management and the Role of Effective Communication in Project Management - Research Proposal Example

Title: Change Management and the Role of Effective Communication in Project Management Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Name and Code: University: Date of Submission: Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 2 Aims of the research project 3 Background of the study 4 Research scope 5 Literature review 6 Methodology 9 Secondary data 9 Primary data 10 Population sample 10 Underlying assumptions 10 Data analysis 11 Critical discussion of the proposal 11 Conclusion 14 References 16 Change Management and the Role of Effective Communication in Project Management Introduction The relevance of communication in any organizational setting is undeniable; particularly with the consistent need for firms to survive in the highly competitive environment. The need for informed decision making, enhanced coordination and proper dissemination of information from one person to the other is of great importance in promoting efficiency in the organization. The importance of passing clear information is highly critical as it determines the decisions and actions taken by the recipient. Further, the mode of communication is of great importance in enhancing efficiency. Effective communication ensures that the right information is disseminated throughout the team, thus ensuring that any kind of decisions made are based on full information. Breakdown of communication may lead to undesirable consequences and it is therefore important for the management to ensure that all actions are based on readily available information in order to enhance project success. The change process is highly sensitive because any mistakes occurring during the change period could lead to the failure of the planned changes. Effective communication is considered one of the most important aspects during the change process as it allows for the passage of important information within the organization during the process of implementing change. Aims of the research project The main objective of this research is to establish the importance of effective communication in the change process. Organizational change is considered a project and one of the most significant prerequisites for the success of such a project is enhancing effective communication. This research therefore seeks to establish the role of effective communication in enhancing a smooth organizational change process. It aims at answering the following questions: What is change management? How does communication affect change management in the process of project management? What is the relationship between effective communication and successful project management? Which communication skills are required within a firm in order to promote an efficient and flawless change process? What role did communication play during SASO’s change process towards ISO 9001/2000 accreditation? How could the communication process have been improved to deliver more effective results? The completion of this study will culminate in the establishment of how well an organizational change project can be effectively managed through enhancing communication. It will indicate the relevance of communication in change management and project management in general through the illustration of SASO and the change process towards ISO 9001/2000 accreditation. Background of the study The Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) is a governmental institution which is given the role of ensuring standardization and all matters related to standards and measurements (SASO website). These include formulating and approving national standards on products and enhancing standards such as calibration, metrology, and marking; and inspection, testing and sampling of commodities. The organization also enhances standardization awareness across the Kingdom and also publishes Saudi standards. The organization was formed in 1972 and has been considered the main body for enhancing standards in the Kingdom. On 05/03/2008, SASO was given ISO 9001/2000 certification, becoming the first government body in the civil services docket to receive Quality management Systems ISO 9001/2000 (SASO website). This certification however took a significant level of effort to obtain and a considerable level of changes had to be implemented in the organization. SASO had to improve its processes in order to meet customer demands effectively and improve customer confidence, provide quality service, improve supplier performance, improve documentation, improve profitability and reduce costs (SASO website). This change process forms the centre of discussion for this paper by seeking to establish how effective communication was during this period. It is imperative to note that communication plays a vital role in project management and therefore this is an important factor to consider in assessing the success of SASO towards obtaining the ISO certification. The use of SASO as a case study will provide significantly important information to be used by other organizations in regard to effective communication and the change process. This way, organizations will be in a position to enhance efficiency in project management and thus enhance the success of their organizations. Research scope This research paper will define the concept of effective communication within the firm in a bid to determine how it impacts on the firm success. It will explore what is meant by effective communication and the main communication skills that are required in enhancing project management (Pauley & Pauley, 2009). Due to the importance placed on effective communication, this paper will detail the importance of having a communications management plan aimed at ensuring that effective communication during the project is maintained. Further, it will explore how the management needs to manage the change process and how communication can be enhanced in order to promote effective project management. The focus of this paper will be to impact the entire industry through providing highly relevant information regarding the effective communication in enhancing project management. More specifically however, this study will study the change process at Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) which recently underwent significant organizational changes in order to attain the ISO 9001/2000. The study will seek to explore the importance of effective communication in enhancing the success of such projects. Literature review  The usefulness of change in organizations has been singled out as highly important as more organizations attempt to implement large-scale organizational change to increase their competitive advantage (Cameron & Green, 2004). In most circumstances, organizational change involves a significant change in the internal operations with a view of improving competitive position in the market. According to Cameron and Green (2004), organizational change may be stimulated by a certain external force or internal force that necessitates change in order to cope with the identified change. Organizational change usually helps companies in re-aligning their systems in order to deal with factors that are prevailing in the external environment and also helps in revamping the internal systems within the organization (Leban & Stone, 2007). Internal and external environment forces leading to change can result from the rapid changes in technology that necessitate companies to adopt new technologies in order to keep up with competition, competitive environment that prompts businesses to change their strategies in order to effectively compete with the peers and social and political pressures that often threaten the existence of the business if they are not addressed accordingly (Holt, 2007). This is a highly complex process that requires a considerable level of cooperation with employees in order for the change to be effectively implemented. Further, a proper understanding of the change is necessary in order to ensure that the required effect is eventually achieved (Cameron & Green, 2004). Accordingly, the need for effective communication is highly necessary because this ensures that employees are well informed about the change and that their responsibilities during the change project are well defined (Naihmullah and Syed, 2010; Berko, 2010). The literature on organization change leaves a gap for research in that there is need for more information regarding how effectively change can be conducted in order to enhance success. It is from this that the need to study the importance of effective communication is derived. Research on effective communication in the change process will give a relevant answer for the inquiry sought and thus establish the importance of communication in project management. Leban and Stone (20070 bring up the concept of resistance to change and notes that in order for the change process to be successful, the management must be able to deal with employees’ resistance to change. Resistance to change is caused by a variety of factors. The most notable factor is the fear of uncertainty. This represents the fear that employees are likely to have about the impeding change because they may be expected to acquire new competencies and skills to cope with the change (Leban & Stone, 2007). Further, they may be afraid of unlearning old habits as well as the fear of losing their jobs in the event that the change requires internal restructuring. In essence, they do not know what to expect upon the implementation of the change. The second most important factor is the issue of rewards. Employees may feel that they are not being adequately compensated despite the increased level of responsibilities following the change (Cameron & Green, 2001). Thirdly, employees may resist change due to inadequacy of resources and information. This is because they would be limited during implementation of the change thus leading to resistance of the change. All these challenges can be easily overcome through ensuring effective communication within the firm during the change process (Vaagaasar. 2011). According to Binder (2007), it is imperative for the management to ensure that employees are well informed about the strategic changes expected in the company and guided about what will be expected of them during the change process. This literature further leads to a question of what are the best communication strategies to enhance successful project management. According to Goudar (2010), communication can ne equated to a fuel that promotes smooth running of the project. Further, it is said to be the ‘glue’ which holds together the team involved in the project and that clear and timely communication plays a significant role in enhancing the success of the project. It is considered among the most important factors in enhancing project management success. A similar view is given by Gido and Clements (2008), Campbell (2009) and Doubra and Taha (2010) who note that without effective communication, it is impossible to effectively complete a project and therefore significant challenges are likely to be anticipated. These include poor implementation of the project, wrong decisions and undesirable actions by the project implementers (Doloi, 2009). In order to enhance effective implementation however, Goudar (2010) suggests the following factors in enhancing successful communication and success of projects: use involvement, statement of requirements and executive management. The management needs to be able to identify the form of information to pass to stakeholders through identifying who needs which information and when; what kind of information is needed and the extent of the detail; and what the goal of communication will be and how it is disseminated (Goudar, 2010). On the other hand, failure to communicate is considered a threat to project success. The insights provided by Goudar (2010), Gido and Clements (2008), Doloi (2009), Doubra and Taha (2010) and Campbell (2009) exemplify the need for companies to take the role of communication in project management with serious consideration. In regard to this research, it sets the background to further probe how effectively information can be disseminated in the organization in order to enhance success. It ignites the need to establish the kinds of communication skills that are required within the organization to guide effective implementation of projects. Methodology The approach to research is of great significance to the study because it enhances the ability of the study to present reliable and accurate information on the topic. In order to ensure that the objectives of the study are met, this research will utilize both primary and secondary data in the collection of relevant information for a conclusive research. This study will be qualitative in nature because it seeks to find explanations about the need for effective communication during the change process. As noted by Clark and Creswell (2010), qualitative research attempts to seek an explanation for human behavior and social occurrences through answering the what, where, why, how and when of various actions and occurrences in the environment. Secondary data The collection of accurate information on the subject of change and effective communication in organizations will require the use of relevant printed material on the subject in order to provide background information for the research. Secondary data is a good source of information because it provides information which has been researched by other scholars and which is relevant to the research (Holliday, 2007). Useful information for the research will be obtained from books, journals and web resources. Primary data The primary data for this study will be obtained through the use of questionnaires which will be sent to SASO employees in order to establish the nature of communication in the organization during the change process. The questionnaires will mostly seek to establish the views of employees on the change process and the nature of communication during this period. Permission to conduct the research will be sought from the administration before the questionnaires can be sent. Population sample The sample size will consist of 40 employees who will be sent a mail questionnaire for use in obtaining relevant information about the organization and change in general. These will be selected from different departments in the organization; ensuring that the management and employees are well represented in the sample. 10 questionnaires will be reserved for individuals in the management while the rest will be sent to regular employees because they are most likely to be affected by organizational change. Underlying assumptions There are various underlying assumptions that are made in the process of conducting this study. To begin with, it is assumed that the information that will be obtained from the respondents is a true representation of the exact conditions at the company during the change process; given that this is considered first-hand information. Secondly, it is assumed that the respondents who give their consent to take part in the study will return their questionnaires such that there will be no cases of missing questionnaires. Further, it is expected that the questions will be accurately filled. This will enhance effective collection of information for the purposes of the study. Thirdly, it is assumed that most contemporary organizations are undergoing change from time to time and that this research is bound to benefit basically all organizations that seek to stay ahead of competition. Data analysis Data collection must be followed by analysis, interpretation and presentation and is therefore not the end of research. This research will use a combination of coding and recursive abstraction during the process of data analysis. These are qualitative research analysis methods that are considered effective in the analysis of data to produce refined results. Coding is an approach that works by organizing data into segments of related information (Clark and Creswell, 2010). Each segment is then given a label of ‘code’ which is usually a short phrase or word to suggest the association of data in each segment with a particular finding. Once coding is complete, the researcher summarizes the findings which include assessing differences, similarities and relationships in the different codes. Recursive abstraction on the other hand refers to a process in which datasets are summarized. These summaries are then summarized further until the finest details are obtained from the collected data (Orcher, 2005). The use of these data analysis tools will culminate in the most relevant results for the study. Critical discussion of the proposal This proposal presents a subject that is expected to ignite a considerable level of interest among modern companies through providing valuable information on how to conduct effective change management. This is because with the rising levels of competition, companies are continuously becoming aware of the need to change strategy in order to increase their competitiveness. Strategic change to a significant level not only involves implementing the new changes in the company but also ensuring that effective dissemination of information about the change so as to enhance successful implementation of the change (Paton, Paton & McCalman, 2008). This study to a significant level accentuates the importance of ensuring that employees receive detailed communication about the change process, what will change within the organization and the role they are expected to play during the change process. Through the use of the selected case study, this research will illustrate that effective communication plays a relevant role in the success of the change process. Companies are expected to gain significantly from the findings of this study which aims at identifying effective communication strategies to enhance effective change within the organization. The rationale for the choice of process methods used for this study lies in the fact that they will ensure that the most conclusive study is obtained. To begin with, primary data is significantly important in research because it ensures that first-hand information about the topic of study is obtained. The use of questionnaires promises to give a detailed research and first-hand information from the respondents who have witnessed change within the organization. Accordingly, it will be easy to determine whether there was effective communication during the change process and thereby help in the analysis of the importance of communication in project management. It is also important to note that secondary data will play a vital role in enhancing valuable results for my study. According to Holliday (2007), secondary data acts as a backbone for research by providing background information on the topic. The process methods therefore promise to give results that are highly relevant. There are possible alternatives that I could have used in conducting the study as opposed to the selected ones. To begin with, the research would have utilized solely secondary data in the collection of information without the need to use questionnaires. This would have been effective in that it would save me a significant level of financial and time resources thus making the completion of the research quicker and less costly. Another alternative would have been to use interview methods as opposed to questionnaires. Interviews are highly effective in that they provide the researcher to get a detailed research because he or she can seek clarification and probe the respondent beyond the provided questions (Orcher, 2005). The disadvantage however is that they are time consuming and this would have been difficult in a situation whereby the employees at SASO are working and they may not wish to be interrupted. On the other hand, they could respond to the questionnaires at the time of their choice, even at home after work, thus providing more flexibility. The proposed research is expected to be of great value to managers because it emphasizes the importance of effective communication in the change process and in project management. Notably, a significant number of companies have failed during the implementation of change strategies due to failure to communicate properly (Kliem, 2007). This is witnessed through failure to provide employees with adequate information or not having a clear line of communication between employees and the management in the change process (Pauley and Pauley (2009). Accordingly, the change project is likely to fail. This research will however provide a perfect guide for managers who wish to implement change in their organizations to enhance successful implementation. The research also provides a perfect avenue for additional research for other scholars in the same field. It is possible that this research will ignite the need to research more on the subject of effective communication and project management and is therefore a good trendsetter for other researchers. It would be impractical to state that there will be no challenges during the completion of this study. There are certain difficulties and uncertainties that are likely to impact on this research including practical, political and ethical issues. To begin with, SASO is a government corporation and there may be limiting factors during the collection of information. This is mostly because getting access to internal information could prove difficult in case the management does not allow the research to be conducted within the corporation. Employees could also fail to give accurate information due to the fear of being victimized. This is a practical challenge that is likely to impact on the research process unless the respondents are assured that they will not be victimized for their responses. Ethical issues involve the inclusion of individuals who are willing to participate in the study and privacy issues associated with research. In order to prevent this from occurring, I will ensure that the consent of the respondents is sought first before the questionnaires can be sent out. Further, the respondents will be assured of their privacy so as to ensure that accurate information is given. Accordingly, respondents will not be required to indicate their names in the questionnaires so as to protect their privacy. Conclusion The research on change management and effective communication in project management will play a significant role in enhancing efficiency in companies through providing a clear insight on the importance of effective communication. It is notable that change strategies have become an important part of the business culture as companies seek to outdo each other in the market and gain competitive advantage. Effective implementation of change however requires that employees within the organization have adequate information to guide them through the process, tell them what the change is all about, what is expected of them and how the change will affect them. It also involves having clear channels of communication in order to effectively disseminate instructions and obtain feedback from the implementers of change. This research therefore comes in handy for companies that wish to effect change with a view of enhancing competitiveness. The use of SASO as a case study is particularly important because it will give the readers a practical example on what is expected during the change process in order to enhance success. The completion of the study will culminate in the identification of the importance of effective communication in project management. References Berko, R. M. et al. (2010). Communicating. 11th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. Binder, J. C. (2007). Global project management: communication, collaboration and management across borders. Los Angeles, CA: Gower Publishing Ltd. Cameron, E. & Green, M. (2004). Making sense of change management: a complete guide to  the models, tools & techniques of organizational change. New Jersey: Kogan Page  Publishers. Campbell, G. M. (2009). Communications skills for project managers. New York, NY: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. Clark, V. L. & Creswell, J. W. (2010). Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research. London: SAGE. Doloi, H. (2009). Relational partnerships: the importance of communication, trust and confidence and joint risk management in achieving project success. Construction Management and Economics, 27(11), 1099-1109. Doubra, H. N. & Taha, M.S. (2010). The integration of human relationships in capital development projects :A case study of BSF scheme. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 3(3), 479-494. Gido, J. & Clements, J. P. (2008). Successful Project Management. London: Cengage Learning. Goudar, J. (2010). Effective project communication management. Retrieved April 19, 2011 from http://www.projectperfect.com.au/white-paper-effective-project-communication-management.php Holliday, A. R. (2007). Doing and Writing Qualitative Research, 2nd Edition. London: Sage Publications. Holt, D. T. (2007). Readiness for Organizational Change: The Systematic Development of a Scale. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science. 43 (2), 232-255 Kliem, R. L. (2007). Effective Communications for Project Management. Boca Raton, Florida: Auerbach Publications. Leban, B. & Stone, R. (2007). Managing Organizational Change. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. Naihmullah, S. & Syed, G. S. (2010). Relationships between employee readiness for organisational change, supervisor and peer relations and demography. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 23(5), 640-652. Orcher, L. (2005). Conducting research: social and behavioral science methods. Los Angeles, CA: Pyrczak Pub. Paton, R. A., Paton, R. & McCalman, J. (2008). Change Management: A Guide to Effective Implementation. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Pauley, J. A. & Pauley, J. F. (2009). Communication: the Key to Effective Leadership. Milwaukee, Wis.: ASQ Quality. Vaagaasar, A. L. (2011). Development of relationships and relationship competencies in complex projects. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 4(2), 294-307. Read More