Overview of Management of Change: Part 1

It has come to our attention that a large number of people in the oil and natural gas industry are struggling with the topic of management of change (MOC). Although the details of implementation will be very different for different situations, great MOC programs are developed from the same basic foundation. This will be the first of a three-part overview of what is needed to run a top class management of change program.

The first fundamental aspect of MOC is the actual change request. What change needs to be made? What are the individual specs for the materials needed? What plans and documents need to be included in the change request to fully communicate what is needed? If you can’t clearly communicate what it is that needs to be changed, then the change can’t be implemented properly.

The next aspect of MOC that needs addressed is the reward of the change. Why am I even making this change? Each change should be fully connected to satisfying a business objective. Again, specificity is important in addressing these concerns. The reward needs to clearly satisfy a business goal. If it does not, why even bother taking the risk?

Possibly the most important foundation of the MOC program is the evaluation team. The MOC evaluation team is responsible for the objective evaluation of the requests. Members should represent different areas of expertise throughout the organization, with different experiences under their belt. There shouldn’t be any aspect of a request that the team can’t properly address and evaluate. Team members should be respected among their peers, and confident enough to speak up when they have concerns. If these criteria are used, your organization will select a MOC evaluation team that can handle any challenge put in front of them.

Be sure to check back next week for part 2 of our overview of Management of Change. For more information on how Accupoint’s solutions can help streamline your MOC program, visit www.accupointsoftware.com or call us at (800) 563-6250.