Change management takes multiple forms to prepare and support teams and organizations in making change. Change management may mean supporting infrastructure updates, determining processes for installing a new application, supporting scope changes, and making changes to an operating environment. What they all have in common is the human side of change in organizational contexts. From an organizational perspective, change management is about people and reducing the risk that the enterprise will reject the change. 

Changes are inevitable for any company. According to Gartner, in the past three years, the average organization has undergone five enterprise changes, and 73 % of them expect more change initiatives in the next few years. However, many organizations fail to implement change effectively with only one-third of change efforts yielding clear successes. 

With more and more companies taking on digital transformation and its ensuing changes, disruption to daily operations isn’t avoidable—but it can be mediated with a clear change management strategy on your side. While your organization may be gung-ho for the transformation, they may be struggling to see the value in putting even more money behind change management for that transformation. Here are five benefits of change management (CM) to sell the cost of funding CM in your organization to your project stakeholders.

CM reduces the chances of failure

According to Gartner, 50% of change efforts are clear failures. Organizations can reduce the likelihood of change failure by investing in a clear change management strategy. When organizations implement change management, they have to plan the change effort carefully. With carefully planned changes, it’s more difficult for issues to crop up. This is mainly because when the change effort is organized in detail, the potential for risks have been analyzed, and strategies for overcoming them have been outlined. Make sure your project stakeholders understand how your change management efforts will be planned to reduce failure and provide real ROI for your organization.

CM minimizes stress and resistance

Human beings are creatures of habit who are inherently inclined to resist change. This is because when their expectations are disrupted, people feel uncomfortable. Even positive changes – marriage, the birth of a child – can cause discomfort. Change, no matter how inconsequential or significant, creates some level of stress in those impacted by the change. But with change management, organizations can be better equipped for change. Planning out the change reduces factors relating to the unknown, thereby reducing stress and resistance to change. Organizations that invest in change management are more likely to get employees on board with change efforts, which means greater adoption of and success with digital transformation efforts.

CM makes change happen faster

Change management helps organizations plan and prepare better. It reduces the chaos that, without planning, can make change efforts take longer to implement. And now that employees are less stressed and onboard, change management increases the likelihood of change efforts being accepted and adopted faster. Faster implementation and faster adoption of change efforts lead to quicker returns on investment.

CM provides easy analysis of change

Change management plans enable organizations to monitor and control every stage of the change process. Impact analysis is an essential step in any change management plan. It facilitates measuring impacts of the change effort. Unplanned changes can and often do lead to chaos and make analyzing impacts difficult as it is tougher to identify the consequences of potential changes. Only through change management can organizations easily identify how change efforts will impact other aspects of a project or the company.

CM reinforces change efforts

Change is an ongoing process. Change management is about ensuring desired behaviors work toward the desired goal of the change effort. However, people don’t always behave how others want them to. A change management strategy regularly revisits these goals and makes updates to achieve the desired behavioral outcomes better. By regularly communicating connections between desired behaviors and change objectives, organizations can build a culture of belief strong enough to replace old habits.  

Change is inevitable, and change management makes it less difficult. With 73% of organizations expecting more changes in the next few years and 50% of change efforts clear failures, organizations simply can’t afford to not invest in change management. Good change management strategies are the difference between success and failure. At Simplus, our team of change management experts will work with you to develop a strategy that is right for your organization. Our approach elevates and accelerates your change efforts as well as makes change for your employees easier through Simplus’ proven methodologies and processes.