Digital transformation involves more than just implementing new tools and technology. It involves process changes, cultural changes, and shifts in employee roles and responsibilities.
Sometimes, your whole business model could change.
Successfully managing organizational change of this nature requires careful planning. In fact, a comprehensive organizational change management (OCM) plan is essential for ensuring digital transformation success.
The Role of Organizational Change Management in Digital Transformation
Let’s say a manufacturing company is planning to implement a new supply chain management system. The project team – eager to capitalize on the artificial intelligence benefits promised by the software – underestimates the impact of the change on employees. The team allocates minimal budget and resources to preparing employees for the change, and as a result, the company struggles with employee resistance and low user adoption.
Ultimately, an ERP project recovery consultant comes in, discovers mistakes made by both the ERP vendor and the client, and concludes that litigation may be necessary. Meanwhile, the project moves to the backburner as the ERP failure case takes center stage.
This is a situation where an OCM plan could have helped the project team avoid many headaches. We use OCM plans to structure our clients’ approach to employee communication and training, while building a culture that embraces change.
More specifically, our OCM plans focus on success factors such as:
- Pre-emptive Assessments: Change management assessments can identify potential resistance points based on existing skillsets and past experiences with organizational change.
- Tailored Training: A training strategy can guide organizations in customizing training sessions to different departments and individual needs.
- Regular Communication: Keeping employees informed with regular updates and promptly addressing concerns can mitigate employee resistance.
ERP Training Plan Success Story
We helped this manufacturer implement an ERP training strategy to increase user adoption of its new ERP system.
7 Tips for Managing Organizational Change
1. Assess the Terrain
Change management assessments can help you understand the impact the digital transformation will have on your team, assess your organizational readiness, and identify key stakeholders.
2. Map Your Route
A communication plan is essential for keeping stakeholders informed and engaged. This plan outlines how you’ll communicate the reason for the change, its impact, and the intended outcomes.
It also details personalized messaging based on stakeholder group and assigns roles to team members who’ll be responsible for this communication.
Another topic to address in your communication plan is how you’ll monitor and respond to employee feedback.
3. Find Your Champions
Change sponsors (or champions) rally support for the change and advocate for the project goals. You need these fearless leaders on your team.
However, you need to first guide their quest. It’s important to build a roadmap to enable change champions to navigate internal politics and build a network of allies.
4. Sharpen Their Skills
We recommend providing end-user training that caters to each department’s and each individual’s needs, concerns, and roles and responsibilities. This ensures everyone feels confident and prepared to embrace the new processes and technology.
5. Anticipate the Boulders
Don’t be surprised by resistance – it’s a natural part of change. It’s important to develop strategies to address resistance, such as open communication and proactive support.
Additionally, you should take the time to understand the different root causes of resistance. Potential root causes might include fear of the unknown, perceived loss of control, or lack of trust in leadership.
Then, use data and feedback to identify individuals or groups most likely to resist, so you can develop a resistance management plan.
6. Plant the Flags
Recognize and celebrate milestones, even the small ones! Positive reinforcement encourages continued engagement. Every victory fuels the journey forward, like planting flags to mark your progress.
7. Fine-Tune Your Map
Regularly assess the effectiveness of your change management efforts, so you can continuously refine your approach.
One way to tackle this is to gather data through surveys, interviews, and performance metrics to assess the effectiveness of your change management efforts.
Whatever monitoring approach you use, remember to embrace continuous improvement, incorporating learnings from each iteration.
End-Users Shouldn’t Have to Use Their Imagination
Managing organizational change may sound like an unnecessary burden when you’re already managing an enterprise software implementation, but it ensures that your project team focuses on the humans and not just the technology.
With the right organizational change management approach, your employees will begin to view the change as something not quite as frightening as they first imagined.
Contact our change management consultants below for a free consultation.
