Unit 6 - Project & Change Mgt

Range:

Drivers - Human resources, changes in customer’s needs, changes in business focus/organisational priorities, competitors, Key Performance Indicators, business growth and globalisation.

SWOT - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.

PESTLE - Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Environmental.

1. The reasons why change is important to organisations and potential impacts that not responding to change could have on the organisation.

2. The different drivers/factors that influence or drive change within an organisation, and how to carry out and use SWOT analysis to support change.

3. How to carry out a PESTLE analysis.

4. How the results of a PESTLE analysis can be used to make informed business decisions regarding direction and changes. Examples of businesses that have continued to evolve and change.

5. How different factors increase the urgency of change required.

6. To recognise that the only constant is change and that businesses need to continually develop and evolve in order to be sustainable and remain competitive and relevant.

Range:

Reasons - Company strategy, competition, global marketplace, informed consumers, dynamic environments.

1. The purpose of organisations undertaking continuous improvements and innovation in response to changing factors (to stay relevant, to open up new opportunities, to develop staff, to create a diverse workplace, to target new markets).

2. The benefits of continuous improvement cultures and innovation to an organisation (e.g., has been shown to boost employee engagement and reduce turnover rates, employees who actively engage in the company gain a sense of pride leading to a greater sense of belonging).

3. How organisations can implement continuous improvement and innovations e.g., using Kaizen, TQM.

Range:

Theories - Kotter's change management theory, Nudge Theory.

Models - Lewin's Change Management Model, McKinsey 7 S Model, ADKAR model, Kubler- Ross.

1. How organisations can implement and use a range of change management theories and models to ensure change is successfully embedded within an organisation. (e.g., to increase staff buy-in, use an appropriate method of delivering change, and ensure the change is successfully implemented).

2. The features of models available and the differences between them. The advantages and disadvantages of different models. The main characteristics of a model, such as the plan, deliverables, and initiatives.

3. The reason why individuals and organisations may be resistant to change. 

4. Approaches used to overcome resistance.

Range:

Methodologies - Six Sigma, PRINCE, Agile, SCRUM.

1. The use of project management approaches by organisations to support:

- Successful outcomes that use tested and proven best practice

-Effective management of risk.

2. The basic purpose and approach of different project management methodologies.

3. The different approaches used by different project management methodologies e.g., guiding principles, standardised structure, organised work methods.

4. The similarities and differences between different project management methodologies.

5. The types of projects that would use a project management approach, and why different approaches would be used.

6. The importance of using a suitable approach for different types of project/working. The consequences to an organisation of not following a project management approach.

Range:

Tools and approaches - Dashboards, planning and scheduling, collaboration, storing documentation, reporting, generating diagrams (Gantt charts, Critical flow analysis, flowcharts, PERT, Pareto), resource management (including utilisation), managing the overall project budget, project initiation documents, plan-on-a-page.

1. How project management methodologies can be used to define projects.

2. The structure of projects to include roles and accountability, deliverables and timelines.

3. The format of a project structure including small and large projects. The deliverables of a project and how these are tracked and reported on.

4. The methods of measuring a project and the indicators such as cost against budget, work completed against work scheduled.

5. The features and benefits of technology-based project management tools, and how these tools can support the use of different project management methodologies.

6. The level of detail for reporting a project and how this information can be structured through the use of project plan generating diagrams and other visualisations.

Range:

Research - Primary, secondary, quantitative, qualitative, case study, group discussion, survey, observations, field trials/test runs.

Evidence - Statements, testimonies, logs, reports, data.

Evaluation - Validity, reliability, analysis, feedback, surveys, project post-mortem, judgements, conclusions, justifications, lessons learned.

1. The purpose of research e.g., marketing research, product development, service development, product testing, customer opinions, web analytics, future strategic planning.

2. The methods used to research the need for a project and how methods could vary depending on the nature of the project. The reasons for using different methods and approaches to reflect the purpose of the research.

3. How different evidence methods can be used to support the development of projects, to help justify any decisions that are made in relation to the project and to provide backup evidence to justify the overall need for the project. The importance of providing evidence for each decision made.

4. The evaluative methods used to analyse the validity and reliability of methods, form judgements and draw conclusions.

5. The need for completing a project evaluation and how this evaluation can help the organisation and staff learn valuable lessons which could be used in future projects.