Change is hard; but organizational change is harder! Why? The sheer inertia that is created by an organization to implement and adopt new systems, tools, and processes is often fraught with an unbelievable amount challenge. Identifying and overcoming barriers in response to these challenges is crucial for ensuring the effective adoption of new technologies, optimizing business processes, and fostering positive human-social collaboration during times of change. Conversely, ignoring barriers invariably result in failure to achieve change objectives, resulting in waste, reduced productivity, and ultimately, a decline in employee trust in leadership to pursue and achieve meaningful change.

But why is organizational change hard? Organizational change is a complex process that impacts every facet of an enterprise. Whether it’s integrating a new technology, streamlining business processes, or enhancing team dynamics, the success of any change initiative relies on the careful management of multiple technical, procedural, and human elements that must all work together in pursuit of a cohesive goal. This is true, not only for commercial enterprises, but for State and Federal government entities that spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year implementing major IT development projects.  These entities quickly realize that effective technology adoption requires more than just installing new software or hardware; it involves preparing all stakeholder groups that are impacted by the change with the requisite competencies needed to embrace and utilize deployed systems to their fullest potential.

In his 1996 article “Just what is a competency? And why should you care?” Parry defines competencies as a cluster of related knowledge, attitudes, and skills that affect a major part of one’s job, correlate with performance, can be measured, and can be improved”. Therefore, according to this definition, competencies require stakeholders to gather pertinent knowledge about areas of responsibility, exude attitudes that inspire continual personal and professional development, and take the necessary steps to develop the skills needed to master tasks and activities to which they are assigned. Whether this includes refining business processes that require a clear understanding of current and future workflows, or intersecting human-social collaboration where concerns, motivations, and behaviors of individuals are reconciled within the organization, failure to identify obstacles will threaten your change effort, and undermine any chance for change permanence to occur. To avert this from happening, here are 5 steps you can take to identify and overcome barriers to your change initiative:

Step 1: Assess and Plan

• Conduct a Thorough Assessment of the current state of your organization, including the assessment of existing processes, technologies, and organizational dynamics. Get to know your stakeholders and the levers of influence they can exert on your change effort. Interact with your stakeholders and gather data, from which you can extract valuable information to shape your change strategy.
• Review and revise your change strategy, first by developing a clear vision for the change initiative followed by an outline the strategic steps that will be needed to achieve it. Ensure stakeholder inputs are accounted for as a precursor to communicating a unified vision across the organization. Use this vision as the roadmap to guide all decisions, actions, and outcomes, while keeping your stakeholders focused towards the attainment of mutually-desired end goals.

Step 2: Engage and Communicate

• Engage your stakeholders early and often, since their insights and support are crucial for the success of the change initiative. Ensure to provide frequent and timely communications, solicit their involvement, and celebrate actions that aligning with the attainment of change goals.
• In addition to providing frequent and timely communication, also foster a culture of open dialog and honest communication. This helps to broker trust and foster an environment where inputs are valued. Do this by creating feedback channels where stakeholders can voice their opinions, ask questions, and provide feedback.

Step 3: Train and Support

• Build stakeholder competencies by providing adequate opportunities for training and development. Competencies, the cluster of related knowledge, attitudes, and skills, will allow stakeholders to successfully adopt new technologies and processes, and prepare them to fully utilize the capabilities and outcomes of the change initiative. Don’t stop there, however, continue to offer continuous training programs and support structures, celebrate conforming behaviors that align with the change vision, while proactively getting ahead of behaviors that undermine progress or threaten the change initiative.
• While resistance is a natural response to change, you also need to carefully identify and address sources of resistance that are impeding your chances of success. Do this by actively and reflectively listening to stakeholder concerns and understanding their perspectives. Address these concerns with transparency, and take the requisite steps toward crafting solutions that are harmonious with your stakeholders’ interests.

Step 4: Monitor and Adapt

• Implement processes to track and monitor progress of the change initiative. Define critical success factors (CSF), and use key performance indicators (KPIs) to regularly review the effectiveness of the effort. Adopt feedback mechanisms to inform where changes are needed, and be prepared to make data-driven adjustments.
• Use data to inform decisions, as this promotes a continuous improvement mindset. Invest in a culture where stakeholders can see, believe in, and trust that change is not just seen as a one-time event, but as an ongoing process of continuous improvement. Motivate your team towards excellence, while regularly encouraging them to suggest areas where improvements can be made.

Step 5: Celebrate and Commit

• Celebrate your wins as a team! Remember effective human-social collaboration strengthens team performance, so go the extra mile to celebrate milestones and successes throughout the change process. Celebrating team successes go a long way to boost morale, reinforces the value of the change initiative at an individual level, and motivates individuals toward the long-term adoption of change goals.
• Finally, ensure your leaders remain visible, engaged, and supportive of the change effort all through the process, and to its conclusion. This deliberate and visible commitment sets the tone for the rest of the organization and demonstrates the importance of the change initiative.

To successfully navigate and thrive in a dynamic environment, organizations must identify and overcome barriers to change. This involves conducting thorough assessments, engaging stakeholders, addressing resistance, fostering open communication, and providing adequate training. Monitoring progress, celebrating milestones, securing leadership commitment, and promoting continuous improvement further help organizations manage the complexities of change, ensuring they achieve their desired outcomes.

If you found this article helpful, or you are interested in unlocking the full potential of your organization with expert insights and tailored change management strategies, connect with Dr. Donnell Josiah at ChangeDynamix by calling (855) 987-6900. Also, elevate your change management toolkit by following Dr. Josiah on LinkedIn for more powerful, actionable advice on navigating and leading successful organizational change.