IT management of change is an important process in lots of organizations. It structures how an organization handles change and the impact it has. Managing these changes is key in running an effective QHSE system because it allows the organization to measure the impact of the change on quality and safety. This way, the organization can take the necessary actions to make sure the quality and safety are up to the mark in this new situation.
Impact assessment
An essential part of the management of the change process is the impact assessment. In order to classify the importance and the impact on the organization, it is crucial to do this assessment. Having a proper assessment methodology makes the most sense. We see some form of Fine and Kinney applied regularly, which gives an excellent way to structure this. It is important to have some kind of common understanding of what the numbers in the analysis represent. More often than not, there is great confusion on when the impact should be classified as 4 or 5. This makes sure everybody is on the same page when it comes to the classification.
Mitigation
After the impact has been assessed, mitigating this impact is the logical next step. The mitigation of the impact allows the organization to prevent these things from happening. Defining these actions has to be done with the QHSE team together with a couple of people from within the operations. Combining these forces will give great insight into what actions can be done to mitigate the defined risks. After defining the action, it is necessary to manage these actions consistently. There has to be a proper follow-up plan that checks on the progress of the actions taken by the different stakeholders. Managing the corrective and preventive actions this way will make the management of change roll so much faster to the next stage, which leads to a significant speed in the implementation of the change within the organization.
Automate it
Automating the management of change procedure will speed up the process and give great structure to how the organization manages the change. Obviously, it will clarify the status of the different projects and show how the organization handles the changes. It also provides people with timely notifications when they need to add something to the process. This way, it is pretty much streamlined throughout the organization with the right approval moments within the process. You will never lose any feedback in the process again.
