By Elizabeth Long, Prosci, CSM

Most people don’t resist change just to resist change. Most people resist change because of fear.

Fear of:

• No longer being the knowledge holder or subject matter expert (SME)
• Not being capable of performing the new work
• Not being comfortable with or slow to learn the new job/technology
• Having to do things differently—maybe they have been performing the same function the same way for a long period of time and they want to keep the status quo
• Losing their job—in some cases, people choose to leave on their own; the truth is, sometimes jobs may need to be altered to keep up with changing technology

If your organization is going through a period of change—whether an update in technology or a corporate reorganization—it’s important to know how to address the fears and help users transition smoothly.

Here are a few actions you can take to make this happen:

1. Get users involved by leveraging them to help document as-is business processes and create to-be business processes.
2. Provide opportunities for people to have hands-on practice with the new system. If testing a new software system, consider which users are appropriate to participate in User Acceptance Testing.
3. Address concerns about job loss—are they really losing their job or are they just going to perform a new job function?
4. Empower SMEs to provide input on communications to the larger group.
5. Leverage SMEs to help develop and review training material and assist with/support training.
6. Provide honest and direct communication regarding job impacts and information about the project.

If you need help in managing a large change in your organization, we can help! Our change management experts can help you determine who your users and SMEs are, conduct a stakeholder analysis, determine the best approach for engagement, and more!

About the Author: Elizabeth Long is a professional Organization Development Consultant and Curriculum Developer/Trainer. She received her Certification in Organizational Change Management from Prosci and is certified in e-learning development from Langevine Learning Center. Elizabeth has worked in many industries: High tech, healthcare, and state and local government. Currently, Elizabeth works as an Executive Consultant with KAI Partners, Inc. as a contractor working in a variety of California State Departments. Elizabeth has lived in Sacramento for the past 20 years and appreciates the history of Sacramento as well as its convenience to many well-known destinations like San Francisco, Tahoe, and Reno.

At the heart of any project is people. If you want to make sure your project is implemented successfully, you should have a complimentary OCM initiative that focuses on the people (users!) and setting them up for success.

One way to do this is by following KAI Partners’ user adoption approach. Take a look at this infographic for tips to help ensure user adoption on your next project!