Organizational Agility, Project management and Healthcare Reorganization: A case study in organizational change

Abstract

Canada’s healthcare system, like those of other countries, needs to make organizational changes to keep up with our growing understanding of the environment and needs of an aging population. The number, frequency, pace, and kinds of changes are challenging the capacity of decision-makers to deliver effective solutions in which the reorganization of work plays a critical role. The effectiveness of change hinges largely on its psychological acceptance by the people it targets, acceptance that is furthered by their role in defining said change and by the recognition they are given for their contributions at each stage of its implementation. It is therefore reasonable to assert that change implementation can be facilitated through an agile type project approach insofar as its iterative development, validation, and adjustment process enable stakeholders to systematically consider the required adjustments. The use of an agile project management approach that systematically integrates stakeholder concerns and takes into consideration the inherent complexity of the healthcare system when defining and introducing new solutions appears more likely to result in successful organizational change when the focus is on managing the capacity of actors to change, rather than on managing an imposed change. Unlike traditional top-down approaches to organizational change, this kind of approach can come up against a certain resistance to change strategy by managers themselves. This case study will be of value to project sponsors, project managers as well as change managers by inviting them to clearly identify their various responsibilities, to consider a more inclusive and agile project management approach, and by taking account of the psychological acceptance of change by those it impacts.