Home > Change Management Article
Change Management
It has been said that “to resist change is human.” This is undoubtedly true with respect to technology changes within an organization.
In fact, the single greatest challenge with any major technology uplift is often dealing effectively with workers reaction to the change.
That is why change management is absolutely essential for a successful technology implementation and must be part of every IT project.
The Psychology of Change
It is important to understand “why” people generally resist change. There are many reasons why people have a natural aversion to change. So much so that there is an entire branch of psychology devoted strictly to “dealing with change.” Here are some common reasons why people may resist change:
- The old routine is comfortable
- The “unknown” is frightening
- Change is often taken personally
- Not knowing what to expect
- Failing to understand the reason for the change
- Not knowing how to change
- Fear of getting hurt by the change
No two people are the same because every individual has different life experiences that form their perception of the world. Consequently, it is nearly impossible to address every concern or fear in the organization. However, the goal of IT should be to address as many of the common concerns, such as those listed above, to make the transition to new technology as painless as possible by minimizing the resistance to the change.
Dealing Effectively with Change
There are some strategies that an organization can perform to mitigate adverse reaction to change related to a new project. Those include:
- Involve all staff from the beginning
- Communicate the reason for the change often
- Address concerns as they arise
- Explain the benefits of the change
- Reassure staff that they will not lose their jobs
- Explain that training will be provided to ensure that everyone can perform their new work successfully
- Reassure that staff that there will be support after the “go live” date to help with problems
- Explain that management recognizes that there is a learning curve for the staff and expectations from management will be tempered accordingly
Incorporating the above recommendations into your project strategy can make a world of difference in the success of the implementation. Unfortunately, many organizations fail to anticipate the extent of change and do not incorporate change management in their project plan. This leads to disastrous results and often spells doom for the project.
Ineffective Strategies for Dealing with Change
I worked for a company that undertook the monumental task of implementing SAP to run the core functions of the business. Prior to SAP, the workers were used to the black and green screens of the mainframe. They understood the system well and navigated the system with a great deal of agility. With SAP, the previous way of life for nearly every staff member changed radically. The Windows based client-server application was absolutely nothing like the familiarity of the green screens. What used to require one or two screens on average for business functionality, increased to more than six. What is more, business processes changed significantly as well. This was a big change.
Senior Management underestimated the reaction and apprehension of the staff to this significant change. It was almost as if management simply expected the staff to embrace the change with wild-eyed optimism and glee. They failed to communicate the change and operated in a vacuum.
Meanwhile, the buzz on the floor was that people were going to lose their jobs or take on a completely different role. This perception escalated to rampant paranoia. People updated their résumé’s and started looking for a new job. Others simply became despondent and grew to resent management.
By the time the company addressed the concerns of the workers, much of the damage was done. The failure of the implementation was due in part to the failure of properly anticipating and dealing with the workers resistance to change.
Here are some things you don't want to do in dealing with organizational change:
- Using threats
- Discounting the resistance
- Applying pressure to conform
- Failing to recognize people's concerns
- Not communicating
Final Thoughts
IT success can be directly correlated with the company’s acceptance, or willingness to accept, the proposed change. IT projects may fail because the organization did not adequately address the workers concerns and fears. Change can be very stressful. That is why every IT project must include change management practices to ensure success.
We would love to hear from you. If you have any questions, please send us an email to info@qualitydm.com and visit the QDM home page for a list of articles and resources to help your organization.