Change management: overcoming resistance to change

Introducing a new innovation can be a really exciting time, especially for those spearheading the change. It’s easy to get caught up in this excitement and forget that there might be some challenges along the way. Those on the receiving end of the change usually fall into a few different camps. Let’s say you're introducing a new IT system, you’ve got:

• The really excited! Eager and willing to embrace this new step forwards
• The indifferent. No preference for the old or new system.  Just looking to follow the path of least resistance (as they know the old system well, they will lean in this direction)
• Actively against the system. They use the old system every single day and it will be a nightmare to change all the processes now.

It’s important to be aware of, and adapt to these individual responses. If you ignore one camp, your whole innovation drive can fall apart.

You can run a smooth change management strategy by using these learning principals to your advantage:

• Give your team the knowledge and the confidence they need to successfully apply the new system or process in the very beginning stages. This removes some of the anxiety and emotional responses to withdrawing from change.
• Use gamification to create positive associations with the change and motivate your team to embrace it.
• A huge advantage of introducing a brand new concept is that everyone is starting from the same place, a knowledge level of zero! Monitor knowledge growth over time, create leaderboards and use knowledge increases as a basis to reward individuals.
• Demonstrate the real business impact this new innovation is having. Give your employees easy access to this information so that they can see the positive change that is happening.

All of these techniques should help to shift the mindset of the employee from a negative or anxious place, to a positive, excited one. Having the right the technology platform in place to support change management can make all the difference. Giving your people access to the information they need, when they need it will help them to feel confident in understanding and applying the new innovation. Axonify has successfully been used to guide large scale organisations through complex periods of change.

Do you need a hand managing change? Contact us to find out how we can help