Practice Organizational Change Management

Organizational change
management
ITIL®4 Practice Guide

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11th January
2020
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ITIL®4 Practice Guide AXELOS Copyright 2
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Contents
1 About this document 3
General Information 4
Value streams and processes 15
Organization and people 24
Information and technology 31
Partners and suppliers 34
Important reminder 35
Acknowledgments 36
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1 About this document

This document provides practical guidance for the organizational change management (OCM) practice. It
is split into five main sections, covering:
● general information about the practice

● the practice’s processes and activities and their roles in the service value chain
● the organizations and people involved in the practice
● the information and technology supporting the practice
● considerations for partners and suppliers for the practice.
1.1 ITIL 4 QUALIFICATION SCHEME

Selected content from this document is examinable as a part of the following syllabuses:
● ITIL Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support

● ITIL Specialist: Direct, Plan and Improve.
Please refer to the relevant syllabus documents for details.
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General Information
2.1 PURPOSE AND DESCRIPTION
Key message
The purpose of the OCM practice is to ensure that changes in an organization are implemented
smoothly and successfully, and that lasting benefits are achieved by managing the human aspects
of the changes.
OCM is a practice that serves the continually emerging wish and need for organizational growth,
improvement, and evolution.
To improve product and service portfolio, organizational structure or underlying technology, people are
essential for the transformation to be successful. Organizational evolution enables a change in their
capabilities, the way they work, feel, and behave. These changes should not be forced upon people but
should lead to a new valuable system, so people could willingly adopt new ways of behaviour and work.
Key message
People are responsible for changes in behaviour as a response to changed circumstances (i.e. Changes
to the system in which we work).
OCM aims to build a value-driven environment across the organization and enable successful
organizational changes of a required scope. According to the organizational vision and need, all
stakeholders should adopt new ways of working, as well as minimize risks and possible negative impacts
of any change to the quality of service/products and consumer experience.
This is achieved by recognizing and understanding stakeholders’ expectations and values, having the
vision, co-creating plans and actions, communicating effectively, empowering employees, and anchoring a
new cultural approach.
OCM contributes to every part of the service value system (SVS). It incorporates three premises:
● The practice is integrated into value streams and ensures that changes are effective, safe, and meet
stakeholders’ expectations.
● The practice does not aim to unify all the changes planned and carried out in an organization into one
big picture: this is neither possible or required.
● The practice should focus on balancing effectiveness, agility, compliance, and risk control for all
changes in the defined scope.
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2.2 TERMS AND CONCEPTS
2.2.1 Change, transformation, evolution
Change is a different way of executing tasks. Doing it as it has previously been done, but in a more
efficient and productive way. Change uses external impact to modify actions.
Transformation is a different way of working. It involves changes in beliefs, values, and wishes.
Transformation results shift in the organizational system and as a result, in personal and organizational
behaviour. The transformation is based on learning from previous mistakes.
Evolution is a state of continual improvement through transformation and change. The foundation of
evolution is constant adjustments in values, beliefs, and behaviour, with the use of internal and
external feedback.
There is an important distinction between organizational change and transformation. Before any
organizational change is executed, stakeholders should consider the actions mentioned, as it will change
the attitude and may impact the result.
Defining an initiative as a change or a transformation, helps to select appropriate methods for its
management. It is also important to identify whether a specific change contributes to the organization’s
evolution.
To understand the evolutionary context and every change or transformation contribution to the
organization’s development, a high level of system intelligence from the stakeholders is required. System
intelligence enables organizations to move from personal growth to team growth and from managed
groups to creative and mature teams.
2.2.2 Emotional, social, and system intelligence

When people are involved in situations, the level of complexity increases, and it is important to be
ready to deal with unpredictable and unknown circumstances. Even though the OCM practice is
concerned with the people side of change, it is recommended to use the concepts and tools provided by
the change enablement practice. More information about complexity-based approach to changes can be
found there.
Dealing with changes related to people requires a high level of presence, consciousness, self-leadership,
and responsibility from all stakeholders. Through the whole organizational change lifecycle, it is
important to focus on all three dimensions: individuals involved in change, relationships between them,
and systems in general.
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To create flexible, resilient, and fulfilled individuals, teams, and systems, organizations should aim
to support the development of three forms of intelligence1:
Emotional Intelligence is the ability to access, express, and use one’s emotions in an efficient way. It
describes having emotional self-awareness and the capacity to manage feelings by directing them toward
goals. It also ensures the ability to self-motivate, suppress impulsive actions, and delay immediate
satisfaction in order to achieve the goals.
Social intelligence builds on emotional intelligence. It is the capability to identify emotions of other
people by not making assumptions, being empathetic, and open to co-creative actions and new ways of
working in order to achieve common goals and build positive relationships. It also includes knowing and
using social roles and rules, effective listening, and conversational skills.
Systems intelligence is the ability to understand, reflect upon, express, and incorporate the wider
context of the system(s) a human interacts within into actions. It combines sensitivity about the
environment with system thinking. In regards to the ITIL guiding principles, it is based on the ability to
think and work holistically, while focusing on value, in the context of adaptive complex systems. It is the
capability to see oneself as a part of a system, identify system characteristics, be aware of system rules
and patterns, and be able to contribute to a system development consciously.
2.2.3 Values-based organizational change

Values are deeply held principles, ideas, and beliefs that people use when displaying behaviour. It is an
important foundation for decision-making and any potential changes.
If the culture of an organization is supported with personal values, it encourages people to bring their
best effort and commitment to work. If personal and organizational values are aligned, any resistance to
change will be viewed as an additional source of information and resource for improvement. Managing
resistance will not be needed.
Organizational culture can be described as a set of values that are shared by a group of people, including
ideas, beliefs, practices and expectations about how people should behave. More information can be
found in ITIL® 4: Direct, Plan and Improve.
Recognizing the distribution of values through the levels and identifying those that enable or limit the
organization’s evolution, will generate sources of information for organizational change, planning, and
execution.
1
Based on articles and methods https://www.teamcoachingzone.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/01/RSI-White-Paper.pdf and https://www.crrglobal.com/relationship-systems-
intelligence.html [Accessed 25th October 2019]
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Figure 2.1 Value based organizational change
“Organizations that focus exclusively on the satisfaction of the lower needs, are not adaptable and do not
empower employees. Consequently, there is little enthusiasm within the workforce, and there is little
innovation and creativity. These organizations are often ruled by fear and are not healthy places to work.
Employees often feel frustrated and complain about stress.” Organizational changes are usually not
successful in this type of organizations.
“Organizations that focus exclusively on the satisfaction of the higher needs lack the basic business skills
and capabilities necessary to operate effectively. They are ineffectual and impractical when it comes to
financial matters. They are not customer oriented, and they lack the systems and processes necessary for
high-performance.”
“The most successful organizations are those that have mastered both their “deficiency” needs and their
“growth” needs. They create a climate of trust, have the ability to manage complexity, and can respond
or rapidly adapt to all situations.” These organizations present environment for transformation and
evolution.2
2
Quotations from https://www.valuescentre.com/wp-
content/uploads/PDF_Resources/Additional_Articles/Article_Importance_of_Values.pdf [Accessed 25th
October 2019]
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2.2.4 Organizational change principles3

Due to the latest findings in neuroscience, technologies (such as artificial intelligence, big data, robotics,
and so on), and human emotional evolution, there has been a big shift in management, leadership, and
motivation approaches. These changes enable organizations to reconsider the ways organizational changes
are implemented. Many of the conventional models of change management are based on obsolete ideas
about human motivation and behaviour.
The OCM practice should include approaches to situations of different complexity. Organizations
define the changes, the level of control, and the principles that should be addressed by the
practice. Change definition considerations can be found in the change enablement practice.
An example of a set of principles that can help guide the organizational changes to be successful through
designing an adaptive environment is shown below. Leaders in an organization must translate these
principles to suit the specific requirements of their business if they are to achieve the target of their
change.
● Clear and relevant objectives

The objectives of the change must be based on the vision and values of the organization, and
clear for the stakeholders. The change must be of real value.
● Strong and committed leadership

A well-designed process uses leadership capabilities anywhere within the organization. Anyone can
contribute or lead a change initiative at any stage. The potentially complex and dynamic nature of
a transformation or change should be considered, and leadership should be flexible and open
rather than fixed.
This practice should aim to create an environment where people may participate in change
leadership as a shared practice.
● Willing and prepared participants

The employee’s strengths should be the focus. Organizations should shift from overcoming
employees’ resistance towards encouraging and supporting human intellectual capital for the
purpose of organizational improvement.
• Change stakeholders are valuable change agents: they can make vital contribution to an
organizational transformation. People are naturally problem solvers with a unique capacity to
adapt to a continually developing environment.
• Human-centred design of the OCM process. The needs and values of stakeholders should be
understood.
• Map stakeholders’ and organizational values.
3
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carstentams/2019/09/10/metamorphle-nine-principles-for- good-
design-of-organizational-change/#2a1851283d31 [Accessed 25th October 2019]
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• Base a change on intrinsic motivation, rather than extrinsic reinforcement. Autonomy,

competence, and relatedness4.
● Sustained improvement
• Keep co-creation as the centre approach for organizational change. Therefore, every area
of an organization is open for feedback and improvement. Co-creation is a choice that
joins different parties to produce a mutually valued outcome.
• To maintain the achieved good result for organizational change, systems should continually
evolve depending on organizational needs and vision.
2.3 SCOPE
The scope of the OCM practice includes:
● designing, implementing, and continually improving an adaptive approach for a developing

environment in an organization
● planning and improving organizational change approaches and methods
● scheduling and coordinating all ongoing changes through the whole lifecycle
● communicating change plans and progress to relevant stakeholders
● assessing change success, including outputs, outcomes, efficiency, risks, and costs.
This practice supports all value streams and can be used with any other practice as they can all initiate
organizational changes. However, organizations usually limit the application of the OCM practice to a
finite number of changes, where behaviour, capabilities, responsibilities and/or roles are to be
changed.
Other practices may significantly contribute to the organizational changes in the four dimensions of
service management. These are listed in Table 2.1.
4
Self-Determination Theory, the leading motivational theory developed by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan.
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Table 2.1 Organizational changes in the four dimensions of service management
Dimension of service management Areas subject to potential Scoping considerations

organizational change
Information and technology Hardware and software Usually addressed by the change
Service architecture enablement practice in
Service design conjunction with the project
Technical and user documentation management, service design, and
architecture management
practices. Some OCM activities may
be used to support training,
design, and so on
Organizations and people
Organizational structure Usually addressed by the OCM in
Roles and responsibilities conjunction with the project
Culture and rules of work management, workforce and talent
behaviour management, and relationship
management practices
Personal competencies
Value streams and processes Value streams architecture May be addressed by the change
enablement together with the OCM
Work processes and procedures
practice and/or other practices
Process documentation
Partners and suppliers Service dependencies on third May be addressed by the change
parties at the architecture level enablement practice in
conjunction with the supplier
Contractual arrangements with
management, OCM and/or other
third parties (new suppliers,
practices
change of responsibilities, and so
on.)
Contract and other documents

(version changes, prolongation, and
so on.)
There are several activities and areas of responsibility that are not included in the OCM practice, although
they are still closely related to change. These are listed in Table 2.2, with references to the practice
guides in which they can be found. It is important to remember that the ITIL practices are collections of
tools to use in the context of value streams; they should be combined as necessary, depending on the
situation.
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Table 2.2 Activities related to the OCM practice that are described in other practice guides
Activity Practice guide
Organizational change initiation All other practices
Organizational change plan and adaptive Relationship management

environment design and realization
Workforce and talent management
Strategy management
Continual improvement
Change of IT infrastructure related to the Change enablement

organizational change
Release management
Business analysis
Deployment management
Software development and management
Service validation and testing
Portfolio management
Service catalogue management
Change risks assessment and control Risk management
Costs control, financial evaluation of changes Service financial management
Management of projects Project management
Definition of vision and strategic objectives Strategy management
Continual improvement in all four dimensions of Continual improvement

service management
2.4 PRACTICE SUCCESS FACTORS
Practice success factor
A complex functional component of a practice that is required for the practice to fulfil its purpose.
A practice success factor (PSF) is more than a task or activity, as it includes components from all four
dimensions of service management. The nature of the activities and resources of PSFs within a practice
may differ, but together they ensure that the practice is effective.
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The OCM practice includes the following PSFs:
● creating and maintaining a change-enabling culture across the organization

● establishing and maintaining a holistic approach and continual improvement for organizational change
management
● ensuring organizational changes are realized in an effective manner, leading to stakeholders’
satisfaction and meeting compliance requirements.
2.4.1 Creating and maintaining a change-enabling culture across the

organization
A change-enabling culture is a set of beliefs, attitudes, values, common knowledge, and expectations
about change shared by people within an organization. It determines whether people can identify,
understand, openly discuss, and act on change in a way that leads to organizational evolution.
Additionally, it differs between organizations and may become a competitive advantage, if implemented
wisely.
OCM technics and instruments can only be effective when they are used in the right way and moment, and
with commitment from change stakeholders.
An organization that adapts changes can be established by creating an atmosphere where people are
encouraged to speak up, challenge the way things are done, and listen and communicate effectively.
Adaptive environments stimulate discussions and input for changes, considers agile vision, and new ways
of operation. This culture may not only impact internal communication within an organization, but also
cooperation with partners and suppliers.
To assist OCM practice with creating and maintaining an efficient change-enabling culture, it is important
to use the following practices:
● workforce and talent management

● relationship management
● strategy management
● continual improvement management.
2.4.2 Establishing and maintaining a holistic approach and continual improvement for
organizational change management
Identifying opportunities to improve organizational changes, principles, and methods are important.
Improvements can also be initiated in areas such as the practice’s processes, tools, or other resources;
and should aim to improve the practice and the experience of the stakeholders.
It is important to ensure that service improvements are not only initiated, but also effectively
implemented. An approach to implementing improvements is described in the continual improvement
practice guide. Also, it is vital to use multiple practices in the context of value streams, to maintain the
progress of the continual improvement of services.
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2.4.3 Ensuring organizational changes are realized in effective manner,

leading to stakeholders’ satisfaction and meeting compliance requirements
Organizations should specify and execute a process to manage organizational changes. The OCM practice
ensures that the most suitable process for organization’s values and vision is in use. Many stakeholders
have an interest in organizational changes. This includes:
● service provider teams

● users
● customers
● sponsors of service provision
● sponsors of service consumption
● suppliers and partners.
This practice ensures that stakeholders are identified and that their values and expectations are
captured, considered, and met as appropriate. This is done in combination with the relationship
management, risk management, and business analysis practices.
Organizations should focus on the continual monitoring of stakeholder engagement and satisfaction during
change planning, realization, and after the change is complete. Ongoing communication, status updates,
and feedback collection are important components of managing satisfaction and the workforce and talent
management practice.
Many change-related governance and compliance requirements affect the OCM practice. It is important
that organizations capture them, understand them, and ensure that they are met. The practice supports
this by:
● including required controls in change plans, processes, and procedures

● providing required information
● initiating improvement to prevent or correct non-compliance.
As the IT world is constantly changing, many organizations do not have a static end state of the change it
requires. Therefore, it should maintain flexibility in structures to support constant improvement according
to recent needs; this will lead to a change adaptive environment and enable capacity to fulfil them in the
most beneficial way.
2.5 KEY METRICS

The effectiveness and performance of the ITIL practices should be assessed within the context of the
value streams to which each practice contributes. As with the performance of any tool, the practice’s
performance can only be assessed within the context of its application. However, tools can differ greatly
in design and quality, and these differences define a tool’s potential or capability to be effective when
used according to its purpose. Further guidance on metrics, key performance indicators (KPIs), and other
techniques that can help with this can be found in the measurement and reporting practice guide.
Key metrics for the OCM practice are mapped to its PSFs. They can be used as KPIs in the context of value
streams in order to assess the contribution of the practice to the effectiveness and efficiency of those
value streams. Some examples of key metrics are given in Table 2.3.
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Table 2.3 Key metrics for the OCM practice
Practice success factors Key metrics
Creating and maintaining a change- Awareness of the organizational change, principles, and methods across
enabling culture across the the organization
organization
Attitude towards organizational changes across the organization
Level of resistance to changes
Alignment in attitude to changes at different levels of the organization
Establishing and maintaining a Stakeholder satisfaction with the procedures and communications
holistic approach and continual
Amount of improvements initiated by the OCM practice
improvement for organizational
change management Stakeholders satisfaction with knowledge about up to date
transformational methods and tools
Ensuring organizational changes are Change initiators’ satisfaction with change outcomes
realized in an effective manner,
Change success/acceptance rate over period
leading to stakeholders’ satisfaction
and meeting compliance requirements Compliance with formally stated requirements, according to audit reports
Change initiators’ satisfaction with change timeliness
Stakeholder satisfaction with realization of individual changes
The correct combination of metrics into complex indicators will make it easier to use the data for the
ongoing management of value streams, and for the periodic assessment and continual improvement of the
OCM practice. There is no single best solution. Metrics will be based on the overall service strategy and
priorities of an organization, as well as on the goals of the value streams to which the practice
contributes.
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Value streams and processes

3.1 VALUE STREAM CONTRIBUTION
Like any other ITIL practice, the OCM practice contributes to multiple value streams. It is important to
remember that a value stream is never formed from a single practice. This practice combines with other
practices to provide high-quality services to consumers. The main value chain activities to which the
practice contributes are:
● design and transition
● engage
● improve
● plan.
The contribution of the OCM practice to the service value chain is shown in Figure 3.1.
Figure 3.1 The contribution of the OCM practice to the service value chain
For more detailed description of OCM’s contribution to value streams, see ITIL® 4: Direct, Plan and
Improve, section 7.3.1.6.
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3.2 PROCESSES
Each practice may include one or more processes and activities that may be necessary to fulfil the
purpose of that practice.
Process
A set of interrelated or interacting activities that transform inputs into outputs. A process takes one or
more defined inputs and turns them into defined outputs. Processes define the sequence of actions and
their dependencies.
OCM activities form two processes:
● organizational change lifecycle management

● management of change adaptive environment.
3.2.1 Organizational change lifecycle management

This process includes the activities listed in Table 3.1 and transforms the inputs into outputs.
Table 3.1 Inputs, activities, and outputs of the organizational change lifecycle management
process
Key inputs Activities Key outputs
Change request Understand need and scope New organizational structure
Organization vision and strategy Create change team New behaviour in a system
Financial guidelines and constraints Create change vision, plan, New roles
quick wins
Risk information New capabilities
Communicate change
Policies and regulatory requirements Role descriptions
Lead to change, enable
Guidance materials
operation
Change review reports
Anchor new state of the system
Sustain system Lessons learnt
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Figure 3.2 shows the workflow for organizational change lifecycle management.
Figure 3.2 Workflow for organizational change lifecycle management
The process may vary depending on the change type and scope. Table 3.2 provides examples of the
activities in two different scopes of change5.
Organizations should embrace the diversity of architectures and approaches to management to ensure the
flexibility of services and meet stakeholder expectations.
Table 3.2 Organizational change lifecycle management process activities
Activity Merge two IT teams Implement a new role of business

analyst in a small start-up
Understand need The program manager of an IT project Service owner introduces the need for a
and scope identifies the need to change organizational new role.
structure and the change lead is nominated by
Relevant Service Stakeholders discuss
management team (change sponsor).
and decide:
Change lead together with management team ● Why this change is needed?
answers the following questions: ● Is it aligned with the company vision
and targets?
● Is the change needed? ● What are the opportunities and
● Is it needed right now? threats?
● Is it aligned with the vision and targets?
● What problem(s) will it help solve?
● What are the opportunities and threats it
may bring to the system?
5
https://rework.withgoogle.com/blog/changing-the-change-rules-at-google [Accessed 25th October 2019]
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● Which inputs are needed before a final ● How will successful implementation or
decision is made? failure look like?
● Who is responsible for the inputs? ● What are the alternatives to the
● Will it impact the strategy? change?
● Are new priorities emerging? ● How it will impact the system?
● What is the desired future state of the
system?
● What are the risks of obtaining the future
state?
● How will success or failure look like?
● What are the alternatives to this change?
Create Change Change lead and management team answer Relevant service stakeholders discuss
team the questions: and decide:
● Who is responsible for the final decision? ● Who is responsible for the final
decision?
● Who can make decisions if there are doubts
or disputes through the change?
● Who will design and create the role
description?
● Who are all the stakeholders?
● Who will play the role?
● Who is impacted by change?
● Who else will be impacted by a new
● Who may resist the change and how can role?
they be heard and supported?
● Who will contribute the most to change?
The change team is nominated, created and

announced on the basis of the answers.
Create change Change team creates change vision and a Relevant service stakeholders discuss
vision, plan, quick plan: and decide:
wins
● What actions need to be done How change will be executed?
● How will all four dimensions of service
management be covered in a change? How will all four dimensions of service
● How will change be communicated? management be covered in a change:
● How can change be absolute?
● How can the change be managed through ● Is there a need for new technologies
the journey? for the role?
● What are the possible quick wins? ● How will the person learn to take a
● How can any positive or negative progress role?
be identified? ● Are processes or instruction updates
● How will change be measured? needed?
● How can the role be introduced to the
Employees who will be impacted by changes partners?
are involved in the discussion and plan review
as early as possible. Their ideas, fears, and
resistance are heard and considered.
Lead to change Time is invested to present and discuss the Change executed as planned before.
answers to the questions above to change
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leaders. Use different channels to

Plans and approaches of trainings and
communicate change (in person, corporate
communication can be agile and be
and social networks, newsletters, and so on.)
adjusted through the ongoing change.
The planned actions are executed with the
project management actions.
Progress iteratively with feedback.
Anchor new state The change progress and results are All service stakeholders, including the
of the system measured: person who plays a new role, observe
the operation and share their feelings
● organizational health metrics (employee
and feedbacks about a change.
survey, new capabilities review)
● business performance metrics (related
service quality, customer satisfaction)
Data is analysed and presented to all

stakeholders to map results to feedback.
The change team celebrates the change with
all the stakeholders and the management
team acknowledges all achievements.
Sustain system Management and change team ensures that Corrective action plans are implemented
prioritization of tasks is set up and clear for if required, lessons learned are captured
all stakeholders to be able to distinguish time and knowledge is shared within the
between ongoing operation and change organization.
actions.
For some time, after the project is over,

change lead still uses monthly pulse to check
feedbacks from the new department team and
consolidates information about opportunities
to correct/improve system.
Corrective action plans are implemented if

required, lessons learned are captured and
knowledge is shared within an organization.
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Communicate The communication strategy is executed and All other roles who are in
change maintained to sustain ongoing awareness. communication with business analyst are
open for any questions. Joined quick
Leaders refocus operation to connection with
improvement discussions are held
the change once or twice a day: constantly in a formal and informal way.
How can it work in a planned future? How the

change will help solve this issue?
3.2.2 Management of change adaptive environment

In adaptive organizations, change is not a forced event, but rather a part of organizational culture.
This process includes the activities listed in Table 3.3 and transforms the inputs into outputs.
Table 3.3 Management of change adaptive environment process activities
Key inputs Activities Key outputs
Individuals and organization’s values Understand internal Adaptability improvement plan

assessment organizational system
Change requests
Organizational changes Identify external factors and
Updated instructions and guidance
implementation reports influences
for organizational change lifecycle
Previous improvement results Optimize response management
Policies and regulatory requirements Create adaptability improvement Requirements and information for
plan and initiate improvement knowledge management,
Financial guidelines and constraints within OCM workforce and talent management,
relationship management
Employees surveys
Improvements proposals from

relationship, workforce and talent
management practices
Recent trainings and capability

development reports and results
Risk information
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Figure 3.3 shows a workflow diagram of the process.
Figure 3.3 Workflow for management of change adaptive environment
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Table 3.4 provides examples of the process activities.
Table 3.4 Activities of the change adaptive environment
Activity Example
Understand internal OCM includes leading together with the management team, service owners
organizational system and other relevant stakeholders review and analyse:
Factors, influences and ● The current organizational values and the way they are precepted by
challenges employees. As well as analysing the individual values of people.
● Results and progress of recent organizational changes and requests for
organizational structure improvement from other practices.
● Employees and customers surveys.
● Other data that may help to understand if the organization is flexible and
competitive enough to meet the vision and strategy.
This is done regularly, for example once a year, or as a response to a

significant change of the external factor.
Identify external factors and OCM includes leading together with the management team, service owners
influences continually review and analyse:
● external factors that impact organizational system by using the PESTLE

model or other relevant frameworks
● world best and latest practices for emotional, social, and system
intelligence development
● requirements and recommendations for organizational structure in related
industries
● change handling technics and methods
● other valuable information for supporting the adaptable environment.
Optimize response OCM includes leading together with the management team and service
owners on the foundation of two previous steps to identify the optimal
response of change adaptability level to organizational strategy. The OCM
leader uses knowledge management tools to share the most valuable
information within the organization.
The OCM team recognizes that not all best practices and new approaches
should be implemented and used. Even though the fear of missing out may
cause desire to use all the best approaches for improvement, organizations
should only use those that are best for its interests and suits the vision.
Create adaptability The change leader registers everything required, initiates improvements, and
improvement plan and run processes it with the involvement of continual improvement practice.
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improvement actions within

For example, to improve diffusion of changes in the future, an organization
the OCM practice
decided to implement and develop the organization social network as a tool
for communication.
Successful change depends of the time and quality of information shared

within change stakeholders. Diffusion of information (ideas, values,
practices, and so on.) benefits from intense networks.
This will be implemented and part of the improvement plan combined with
knowledge management, relationship management, change enablement, and
continual improvement practice.
The OCM practice activities are performed by the service provider, as described in Tables 3.2 and 3.4.
They may involve customers, suppliers, and partners. These activities are also supported and sometimes
partially automated by tools and technologies which are described in the following sections.
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Organization and people

4.1 ROLES, COMPETENCIES, AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The practice guides do not describe the roles of practice owners or managers that should exist for all
practices. They focus instead on specialist roles specific to each practice. The structure and naming of
each role may differ from organization to organization, so any roles defined in ITIL should not be treated
as mandatory, or even recommended. It is also important to remember that roles are not job titles, and
that one person can take on multiple roles and one role can be assigned to multiple people.
Roles are described in the context of processes and activities. Each role is characterized with a
competence profile based on the following model shown in Table 4.1.
Table 4.1 Competency codes and profiles
Competence Description
code
L Leader Decision-making, delegating, overseeing other activities, providing

incentives and motivation, and evaluating outcomes
А Administrator Assigning and prioritizing tasks, record-keeping, ongoing reporting,

and initiating basic improvements
C Coordinator/Communicator Coordinating multiple parties, maintaining

communication between stakeholders, and running awareness
campaigns
М Methods and techniques expert Designing and implementing work techniques,

documenting procedures, consulting on processes, work analysis, and continual
improvement
Т Technical expert Providing technical (IT) expertise and conducting expertise-based

assignments
Examples of the roles that can be involved in OCM activities, the associated competency profiles, and
required skills are listed in Table 4.2.
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Table 4.2 The roles involved in OCM activities
Activity Responsible roles Competency profile Special skills
Organizational change lifecycle management
Understand need and Change leader LAM Knowledge and

scope understanding of
Management team
organization’s strategy
representative
and structure
HR specialist
Decision making
Service owner
Analytical skills
Product owner
Risk analysis
Create change team Change leader LAM Knowledge of

communicational
Management team
intelligence and
representative
nonviolent
HR specialist communicational methods
Workforce and talent Decision making

management specialist
Risk analysis
Create change vision, Change leader LAM Knowledge of

plan, quick wins organizational structure
Change team
and strategy
Project manager Knowledge of products
Service owner and services impacted by

a change
Product owner
Risk management
Business impact analysis
Project management
technics
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Communicate Change Change leader ACM Knowledge of

communicational
Change team member
intelligence and effective
communicational methods
Knowledge management
specialist Understanding emotional,
social, and system
HR team
intelligence
Management team
Knowledge of social
representative
networks communication
Project manager methods
Presentational skills
Mentoring, consultancy,
and coaching
Lead to change, enable Change leader ACT Understanding of change

operation vision
Change team member
Knowledge of
Project manager organization’s strategy
Service owner Knowledge of products

and services impacted by
Product owner
a change
Management team
representative
Anchor new state of the Change leader LCM Decision making

system
Change team Analytical skills
Management team
representative
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Understanding emotional,
social, and system
intelligence
Sustain system Change leader LCM Usage of activities

prioritization methods
Change team
Decision making
Management team
representative Analytical skills
Mentoring, consultancy,
and coaching
Management of change adaptive environment.
Understand internal Change leader CMT Analytical skills

organizational system
Management team Knowledge of
representative organization’s strategy
HR specialist Knowledge of values

review and system
Service owner
assessment methods
Product owner
Knowledge of the services
and products
Identify external factors Change leader TMC Analytical skills

and influences
Change team
Management team
representative
HR specialist
Risk and compliance expert
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Service owner
Product owner
Optimize response Change leader LM Knowledge of

organization’s strategy
Management team
and goals
representative
Understanding emotional,
social, and system
intelligence
Understanding
organizational structure
Knowledge of the services

and products
Create adaptability Change leader ACM Knowledge of

improvement plan and organization’s strategy
Management team
initiate improvement and goals
representative
within OCM
Service owner
Knowledge of continual
Product owner
improvement method
HR specialist
Continual improvement
manager
4.1.1 Change Leader role

A change leader role is also known as change lead or change coach in different organizations. It is
common practice to assign the role to management, HR, or project management teams; but it can also
be successfully taken by a representative of any other team, who is capable of coordinating actions
around the change scope and requirements in the most efficient way.
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The role of a change leader should focus less on pushing through a change project, and more on creating
the change-enabling environment, where stakeholders can choose to adapt for the new required state of
the organizational system.
This role is typically responsible for:
● The initial processing and verification of a change request by coordinating an action of understanding
the change need and scope.
● Coordinating the identification, nomination, and creation of a change team.
● Empowering, mentoring, and leading a change team through the whole change lifecycle.
● Formally communicating decisions made through the change lifecycle to the stakeholders and affected
parties.
● Monitoring and reviewing the activities of the teams that are involved in a change.
● Conducting regular ad hoc practice analyses, and initiating improvements to the practice, procedures,
used methods, and tools.
● Developing the organization’s expertise in the methods and approaches for the OCM practice.
● Creating an environment that embraces psychological safety, mutual respect, and trust; where
employees can realize potential as self-initiating change agents.
● Reinforcing conformity with the change mandate by holding the change team accountable.
The competency profile for these roles is LACM, though the importance of each of these competencies
varies from activity to activity.
4.1.2 Change team member role

Any organizational change methods and tools are flawed unless it acknowledges people’s capacity for
agency and co-creation. Today’s knowledge-based environment, often requires complex problem solving
and depends on the collaboration between multi-specialized contributors.
Shared leadership models support organization’s evolution by shifting from top-down one-hero leadership
to interdependent, coordinative leadership by a change team. A change team is a team of people with
different capabilities and skills who work together and lead change to achieve mutually desired outcomes.
The shared leadership is a set of shared practices that should be executed by people at all levels of an
organizational structure.
A change team and a change lead are responsible for defining, communicating, and executing the change
vision and plan. It is expected that the change team will apply its ingenuity and contribute ideas and
efforts to change.
When organizational change is a part of a big project or program, it is also supported by a project
management team.
A change team member should demonstrate the following types of behaviour to support change processes:
● taking risks
● eager to learn new ways of working
● unlearning old methods
● assuming new responsibilities and letting go obsolete ones
● gathering feedback
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● discussing errors
● celebrating and acknowledging small and big wins.
4.2 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES AND TEAMS

It is unusual to see dedicated organizational structures for the OCM practice, although the change leader
role may be associated with a formal job title. This is typical for organizations with a complex
bureaucracy or when a very high level of change-adaptive environment is required for organizational
success.
Many organizations may include a change team and temporary teams assigned for a specific change,
especially if the change is treated as a project. For more details on project teams, please see the
management practice guide.
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Service Desk
Information and technology

5.1 INFORMATION EXCHANGE
The effectiveness of the OCM practice is based on the quality of the information used. This
includes, but is not limited to, information about:
● organizational strategy and values

● organizational structure
● reflection of employees’ values to organizational values
● services and their architecture and design
● partners and suppliers
● policies and requirements which regulate organizational structure
● methods and technics to run organizational changes
● proposed changes, including:
• expected benefits for the employees and the organization as whole

• estimated time and cost of change realization
• regulations affecting the change
● lessons learned from similar changes in the past

● past and ongoing changes
● stakeholder satisfaction with the practice.
This information may take various forms. The key inputs and outputs of the OCM practice are listed
in section 3.2.
One important success factor of any change is an efficient distribution of accurate, timely, and up-
to-date information. The distribution of information and ideas relies on the employees’ network
density. The more links between social-network modes, the more likely that information will
spread.
In bigger networks, people can benefit from the diversity of information channels, and the amount
of perspectives to see one change. Network density makes it more likely that change
understanding and acceptance will be achieved faster6.
6
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carstentams/2018/04/23/it-takes-a-village-change-
management-as-community-building/#d1c52f85683e [Accessed 25th October 2019]
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5.2 AUTOMATION AND TOOLING

In most cases, the OCM practice can significantly benefit from automation and using tools. Where
this is possible and effective, it may involve the solutions outlined in Table 5.1.
Table 5.1 Automation solutions for OCM activities
Process activity Means of automation Key functionality Impact on the

effectiveness of the
practice
Organizational change lifecycle management
Understand need and Workflow systems, Enabling and controlling Medium, more impact
scope backlog management workflow for changes; on organizations with
tools, and Kanban prioritization of backlog large volumes of
boards and workflow changes
management; workflow
visualization
Create change team Workflow systems, Formalization and Medium to high,

collaboration tools, and structuring of the especially for large
human resource assessment, providing organizations with
planning tools more accurate and solid complex structure
data about change
stakeholders and
organizational structure
Create change vision, Workflow systems, Formalization and Very high, especially for
plan, quick wins backlog management structuring of plans and large volumes of
tools, Kanban boards, required actions. Quick changes
project management and traceable remote
tools, ideation platforms control
Communicate Change Knowledge management Enabling information Very high

tools, internal and and distributing ideas
external social network through the
tools, tools needed to organization. Providing
master the new skills easy access to new skills
and capabilities and knowledge.
Lead to change, enable Workflow management Visualization and Very high, especially
operation tools, collaboration and reporting for up-to-date when many changes are
reporting tools, Kanban views on the ongoing realized simultaneously
boards, and project changes
management tools
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Service Desk
Anchor new state of the Reporting tools, Analysing, summarizing Medium to high,
system presentational tools, and and presenting results to especially when
knowledge management stakeholders regulations require
tools traceable records
Sustain system Social network tools, Providing easily Medium to high,

different accessible, timely and especially in a big size
communicational relevant support, organization with a
channels, and mentoring, consultancy complex structure
presentational tools through the change
Management of change adaptive environment
Understand internal Social network tools, Data analysis, Medium to high,

organizational system analytical and reporting information especially in a big size
tools, talent presentation and sharing organization with a
management and HR complex structure
tools
Identify external factors Knowledge management Collecting best High

and influences tools, external analytical practices, new
information portals and approaches, and other
libraries information outside the
organization
External professional
social networks
Legal information
portals
Platforms for experience
exchange between
organizations
Optimize response Analytical and solution Data analysis, decision Medium

modelling tools, making and presentation
presentational tools, to stakeholders
and knowledge
management tools
Create adaptability Project management Communicating and Medium to high,

improvement plan and tools, communicational initiating improvement especially in a big size
initiate improvement systems, and actions organization with a
within OCM collaboration systems complex structure
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Partners and suppliers

Very few services are delivered using only an organization’s own resources. Most, if not all, depend
on other services. These are often provided by third parties (see section 2.4 of ITIL® Foundation:
ITIL 4 Edition for a model of a service relationship). Organizational change may impact agreements
that are already finalized and working patterns with partners and suppliers. Therefore, these
relationships should be considered while creating and performing a change vision and plan.
Relationships between organizations may involve various levels of integration and formality. (see
Table 3.1 of ITIL® Foundation: ITIL 4 Edition for more information about relationships between
organizations). The decision to involve partner representatives to change activities, present
change results or request input information to change, depends on forms of cooperation.
Where organizations aim to ensure fast and effective OCM, they usually try to agree close
cooperation with their partners and suppliers, removing formal bureaucratic barriers in
communication, collaboration, and decision-making (see the supplier management practice
guide for more information).
Some organizational change activities may be outsourced to the third parties such as training,
workshops facilitating, coaching, analysis, audits, and so on. The ownership and accountability for
OCM actions are usually not transferred to an external resource.
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Service Desk
Important reminder
Most of the content of the practice guides should be taken as a suggestion of areas that an
organization might consider when establishing and nurturing their own practices. The practice
guides are catalogues of topics that organizations might think about, not a list of answers. When
using the practice guides, organizations should always follow the ITIL guiding principles:
● focus on value
● start where you are
● progress iteratively with feedback
● collaborate and promote visibility
● think and work holistically
● keep it simple and practical
● optimize and automate.
More information on the guiding principles and their application can be found in section 4.3 of
ITIL® Foundation: ITIL 4 Edition.
35
Acknowledgments
AXELOS Ltd is grateful to everyone who has contributed to the development of this guidance. These practice
guides incorporate an unprecedented level of enthusiasm and feedback from across the ITIL community. In
particular, AXELOS would like to thank the following people.
8.1 AUTHORS
Antonina Klentsova.
8.2 REVIEWERS
Roman Jouravlev.
36

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Practice Organizational Change Management

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Organizational change

ITIL®4 Practice Guide

1 About this document

● general information about the practice

1.1 ITIL 4 QUALIFICATION SCHEME

● ITIL Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support

2.2 TERMS AND CONCEPTS

2.2.1 Change, transformation, evolution

2.2.2 Emotional, social, and system intelligence

2.2.3 Values-based organizational change

Figure 2.1 Value based organizational change

2.2.4 Organizational change principles3

● Clear and relevant objectives

● Strong and committed leadership

● Willing and prepared participants

• Base a change on intrinsic motivation, rather than extrinsic reinforcement. Autonomy,

● designing, implementing, and continually improving an adaptive approach for a developing

Dimension of service management Areas subject to potential Scoping considerations

Contract and other documents

Activity Practice guide

Organizational change initiation All other practices

Organizational change plan and adaptive Relationship management

Change of IT infrastructure related to the Change enablement

Software development and management

Service validation and testing

Service catalogue management

Change risks assessment and control Risk management

Costs control, financial evaluation of changes Service financial management

Management of projects Project management

Definition of vision and strategic objectives Strategy management

Continual improvement in all four dimensions of Continual improvement

2.4 PRACTICE SUCCESS FACTORS

Practice success factor

The OCM practice includes the following PSFs:

● creating and maintaining a change-enabling culture across the organization

2.4.1 Creating and maintaining a change-enabling culture across the

● workforce and talent management

2.4.3 Ensuring organizational changes are realized in effective manner,

● service provider teams

● including required controls in change plans, processes, and procedures

2.5 KEY METRICS

Table 2.3 Key metrics for the OCM practice

Practice success factors Key metrics

Level of resistance to changes

Alignment in attitude to changes at different levels of the organization

Change initiators’ satisfaction with change timeliness

Stakeholder satisfaction with realization of individual changes

Value streams and processes

OCM activities form two processes:

● organizational change lifecycle management

3.2.1 Organizational change lifecycle management

Key inputs Activities Key outputs

Change request Understand need and scope New organizational structure

Sustain system Lessons learnt

Figure 3.2 Workflow for organizational change lifecycle management

Table 3.2 Organizational change lifecycle management process activities

Activity Merge two IT teams Implement a new role of business

The change team is nominated, created and

leaders. Use different channels to

Progress iteratively with feedback.

Data is analysed and presented to all

For some time, after the project is over,

Corrective action plans are implemented if