Managing change with a smile

Managing changes is not always an easy task particularly in organizations with a long history in their way of working. As a result, performing project and program or change management in such organizations requires many skills, one of which is perseverance. An associated Dutch saying thereto is "de aanhouder wint," meaning the person that perseveres will win in the end, with the English equivalent being "persistence pays off." Any language and the Dutch language too have many thousands of proverbs and sayings. These are truths or wisdom learned from experience that is described in a brief or vigorous manner. Some of this practice-based wisdom within the Dutch Government is certainly also applicable to change management and program and project management, which we wish to share with the readers of the Technology Managers Notebook section. The current paper is based on the practice of Gateway Reviews and its findings, which are described in the current paper through a proposed ideal-type model of "Managing change with a smile." This paper concludes with some recommendations for practice.