1.docx

ACMP Statement of Change Management Introduction The Association of Change Management Professionals® (ACMP) is a global membership organization whose purpose is to advance the discipline of change management. ACMP provides: A structured environment to facilitate change management as a professiona...

ACMP Statement of Change Management Introduction The Association of Change Management Professionals® (ACMP) is a global membership organization whose purpose is to advance the discipline of change management. ACMP provides: A structured environment to facilitate change management as a professional discipline. A professional recognition and certification program for change management practitioners. Opportunities for professional growth, networking, and learning. A globally recognized standard of generally accepted and effective change management norms, practices, and processes. Identification of new trends, needs, and opportunities to advance the field. In order to fulfill its purposes, ACMP develops and promotes a common definition and understanding of the discipline of change management. This includes a common lexicon; the knowledge, skills, and abilities expected of a professional change management practitioner; and the processes and practices that apply to most change managementimplementations. This document provides the boundary conditions for ACMP’s Change Management Certification programs and serves as a guiding framework for the development of a change management standard. ACMP recognizes change management as a professional discipline and provides standards and certification to support professionals in thisfield. Change Management Definition ACMP defines change management as the application of knowledge, skills, abilities, methodologies, processes, tools, and techniques to transition an individual or group from a current state to a future state to achieve expected benefits and organizational objectives. Change management processes, when properly applied, ensure individuals within an organization efficiently and effectively transition through change so that the organization’s goals are realized. Change management is an integral part of the overall change process and ideally begins at the onset of change. ACMP’s definition assumes that the organization has agreed upon the need for change and has identified the nature of the change. Scope and Boundaries ACMP’s change management standard will overlap with other professional disciplines that may have their own standards and certification. Effective change agents will need strong leadership skills, interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, and excellentverbal and written communication skills. They will need to navigate complex political environments, operate within various geographic and organizational cultures, work at multiple levels within an organization, and engagemany different types of personalities in the workplace. Change management professionals need a broad set of knowledge and skills to enable them to be effective change managers and change consultants. However, anyattempt to create a standard and certification program that addresses all of these knowledge and skills areas would be problematic in scope and subjective in implementation. Therefore, ACMP will create an objective and measurable standard for the application of change management as a professional discipline but will not certify the relative effectiveness of a “person” as a change manager or change consultant. This distinction enables the creation of a change management standard and certification program with the following characteristics: ACMP’s change management standard will have defined boundaries. ACMP’s change management standard will not overlap with other professional disciplines, which may have their own standards and certification. ACMP’s change management standard will have objective and measurable performance criteria.