Summary
When you want change to stick, it’s not enough to just make tweaks—you need a plan that lasts. In 5 tips to Ensure That Process changes survive long-term,” the blog walks you through five practical steps to make change more than a one-time effort.
You’ll see how clear communication, tackling employee pain points, avoiding overly complex systems, aligning resources and reporting, and getting leadership on board all help make sure change isn’t just temporary, but truly lasting.
Introduction
Implementing change can be difficult. Many people are naturally skeptical and can be fearful about the prospect of a new environment or way of working. People can maintain both progressive and pessimistic attitudes towards change and it’s important that both viewpoints are respected.
Resistance to change can negatively affect buy-in from team members at the early stages of an implementation and make it very difficult to achieve success. Clear and open communication is the key to reducing resistance and is essential to get as many people as possible on board with the new approach.
Once resistance to change has been overcome and the new system has been introduced there are still multiple obstacles standing in the way of success. Very often new processes fade out and begin achieving diminishing returns. There are multiple reasons why a new process can fade away. Sporadic communication, unclear timelines and lack of success metrics are some of the most common reasons for failure. Another pitfall when it comes to achieving success with process changes is ‘initiative fatigue’ – this occurs when managers jump too quickly from one idea to another and don’t properly implement process change.
There are numerous variables that can define the success of a process change. Here are five tips that can help you get ideas over the line, achieve buy-in from your colleagues and produce successful results long term!
1. Clear communication, open feedback
People often resist change when they don’t understand the reason behind it. Leaders can reduce resistance by having clear and transparent conversations with team members. When employees—especially those whose jobs will be affected—take part in the process, they feel motivated to engage and play an active role in the change initiative. Creating an open environment where they have a voice and some degree of power to initiate change is a positive approach that is participative, inclusive and a useful source of innovation.
2. Tackle employee pain points
You can ease resistance to change and improve employee buy-in by tackling the pain points raised during feedback. Leaders need to show benefits that matter to the people who will implement the initiative. What feels like progress to leadership may not feel useful to junior managers and staff. Clearly communicate the benefits of the change in language that resonates with each distinct audience. If employees are going to benefit from the change then they will be much more willing to engage!
3. Don’t over-engineer
When implementing a new process there can be a tendency to incorporate all input into the new ways of working. Ultimately, processes work and get exercised when they are simple to follow, so make sure you distill feedback to the ‘core’ and start from there. You can always advance new processes as they mature but beginning with an overly complex process tends to kill change management at an early stage.
4. Resourcing and reporting
As part of the change management process, resourcing and finance should be crucial elements. You need to choose the tools that will effectively educate and train staff to follow the new way of working. This can involve developing or procuring new infrastructure, equipment, and software systems. Many change management models identify data collection and analysis as a forgotten element of the procedure but clear reporting on progress allows for better communication and more effective measuring of successes and milestones.
5. Leadership support throughout
Leaders often make the mistake of assuming if they communicate a strong message of change at the start of an initiative, people will understand what to do and commit. Impactful and sustainable change requires constant communication and support from leaders, not only throughout the roll-out but after the major elements of the plan are in place. Employees feel reassured when they see management supporting their efforts, but this comfort can diminish if leaders’ interest or participation decreases. Ideally, leaders should act as coaches, supporting visible improvements to increase employees’ motivation and engagement.
Screendragon
Screendragon is an AI-powered workflow automation software that can assist change management at every stage of the cycle. Use our creative briefs to outline your vision and requirements, gather feedback with our collaboration tools, recruit the resources you need, set timelines, and track success every step of the way.