Learn how to swim and not drown

The unfortunate events from two years ago have forced many of us to do a 180-degree switch to the ways we work. Enabling the ability to work remotely and implementation of digital collaboration spaces have become number one priority for a lot of companies.

Usage of solutions like Microsoft Teams for collaboration have skyrocketed – and as good as it might sound especially in times where most of us were forced to stay inside and work from home it does raise a question. How did we as end-users experience the change? How many implementations and digital transformation have been successful?

It doesn’t take much digging in the internet to find cases where end-users were thrown into a deep sea of new ways of working without much guidance or support and were expected to learn how to swim and not drown. If you were one of the unfortunate ones – you know exactly how it feels!

The life vest

“But COVID is nearly over – most companies already went digital, there is no need for stirring the pot more!” – if that is what you’re thinking let me tell you that it is not only about the digital transformations that happened during COVID but all changes that involve end-users. And if you’re reading this blog, you probably search for that one life vest that could help your employees learn how to swim.

You’re about to learn the importance of Change Management (CM) aka. The life vest that will keep your employees from drowning. I will tell you why it is so crucial to have change management from the beginning of your project to the end and the benefits of CM. We will skip the negative sides of not implementing CM in your project because probably you’re already aware of those.

Swimming with a life vest

Change management is about managing the change. Simple, right? Yeah – I’d wish it was so simple too. Change management has many different definitions, but the one I like very much is: “Change management is a systemic governance of a change that affects people”. When we decide to transform our ways of working by implementing a new collaboration platform like Microsoft Teams or any other system/application it is very easy to get the system to do what we want. The challenge lies in getting people to work with the technology. It is where the change management comes into play – it is the bridge between people and technology. CM makes sure that change is delivered smoothly, without issues and most importantly – that the change is there to stay. It all is done by few simple-sounding yet complex steps/phases: planning, communication, implementation, and monitoring. Change is the only constant in life, and when facing change, we tend to feel anxious, stressed and overall be against it. We like being in our comfort zone and rarely seek discomfort. When forcing change on your end-users you will most likely be greeted with a lot of negativity and resistance. Having CM from the start of your project helps preparing your users for the change which results in less resistance.

The benefits of using life vests Now that you understand some of the reasons why CM is important let’s take a look on how you will benefit from it.

• Understanding the need for change: By communicating you help users understand that there is a need for the change to occur

• More commitment across employees: The more users understand the more they will be committed to the change – which at the end will result in less resistance

• Increase the likelihood of project success: Data from research done by Prosci shows that projects with excellent change management are six times more likely to meet the project objectives

• Avoid reoccurring costs: Planned and executed adoption and training will secure that no further costs will need to be used for additional training.

• Help ensure success of future changes: By giving end-users good experience with a change – they will be much more positive to other changes

• Lasting use of the system/application: Monitoring the change and adapting accordingly will result in the change being embedded deeply.

Keep your employees from drowning

Don’t be that company that sends a mail on Monday about a training that is happening on Tuesday and implements the solution on Wednesday. We often say that our employees are our most valuable asset, yet we don’t treat them as such. Have your employees in the centre of the change and make the journey pleasant for them.

Lifeguards from Infotechtion can assist you with the life vest called change management. We have broad knowledge and experience in the field of change management and from our earlier customers We also have deep understanding of Microsoft’s solutions. Don’t be shy to contact us!