Change Management in Project Portfolios

Most companies keep project management and change management in separate lanes. That’s the mistake. Because the magic (and the mess) happens where they meet. Many scars of 3 decades in projects taught me what really makes or breaks change: ❗ 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 PMs love deliverables. CMs care about behaviors. If people don’t change how they work, your beautiful project plan is just wall art. ❗ 𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗜 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗥𝗔𝗦𝗖𝗜 The sponsor isn’t a signature on a budget. They’re the visible champion when resistance shows up. No sponsor, no adoption. Simple as that. ❗ 𝗦𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻’𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘀 They’re sensemaking moments. The team steps back and asks: is this landing, or are we just building very expensive shelfware? ❗ 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀 Budgets, deadlines, scope creep, those always get tracked. Resistance and burnout? That’s what kills you quietly. ❗ 𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 “Code deployed” isn’t done. “Training delivered” isn’t done. Done is when people actually use it. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀. 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. The best project managers, the best change leaders don’t pick a side. They work the intersection. They work where milestones meet human reality. ----- 👋 I’m Lars – delivering transformation that sticks. 🔔 Follow me for more on 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 and 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.

You can’t deliver a project without delivering change. Projects don’t just deliver new systems, tools, or processes. They change 𝒉𝒐𝒘 people work. And we all know that people are the hardest part of any project! You can have the best Gantt chart, risk log, and resource plan…But if your stakeholders aren’t ready for the change? You’ll face delays, resistance, confusion, and rework...all elements that almost guarantee the change won't stick after implementation! So what can PMs do to deliver change successfully? It's simpler than you might think, but it requires a shift in mindset: ✅ Partner early with change champions. 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥? ✅ Communicate the why—not just the what. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳, 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭? ✅ Create feedback loops, not just status updates. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘴𝘬 '𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘣 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴' 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘥? ✅ Build space for learning and adoption. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨? ✅ Plan for change resistance—not just technical risk. 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺? ✅ Anchor the change. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘰-𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦, 𝘴𝘪𝘹, 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦? Change management isn't just a buzzword to add to your resume. It's a project survival skill, pure and simple. The sooner we project managers truly embrace this, the smoother our deliveries become, and the more impactful our work will be. #projectleaders #projectmanagement #pmp #capm #programmanagement #programmanager #projectmanager #changemanagement

You're not just delivering a project You're delivering a behavior shift. A new system, process, or tool means nothing if no one uses it. Except most project plans stop at launch. Not adoption. If you're a PM, you're also a change manager. Here's 3 tips to build for behavior AND delivery: ☝ Define what's changing for the end user Every project introduces friction. New steps. New tools. New habits. Map the real impact. Not just the shift in duties, but the human change. ✌ Bring people in early Change lands smoother when people see themselves in the solution. Co-design communications + plans with users. This will make them champions rather than critics. 🤟 Reinforce even after launch The project isn't done at go-live. Change management doesn't just happen at the end either. It's a living process, so plan for training, support, feedback loops, and follow-ups. That's where real adoption happens. Deliverables don't manage change. People do. Make sure to build behavior change into your projects so they're successful. 🤙