How to Implement Change in the Workplace in 8 Steps

Implementing change is adopting new processes or enacting adjustments to improve the inner workings of a team or organization. Change implementation may come in many forms, including small tweaks to existing processes (like a new step in a team’s workflow), large shifts in existing frameworks (like adjustments in company culture), or entirely new processes, systems, software, or initiatives.

Change is crucial to any organization because it allows members and leaders to identify areas of improvement and make meaningful adjustments to create a better system. When an organization effectively implements positive changes, members are more unified and organized, even as their processes shift. An organization that implements adjustments effectively can adapt to changing markets and needs without major dips in productivity, profitability, or unity.

When leaders fail to implement change initiatives effectively, they run the risk of employees rejecting or ignoring changes in favor of the status quo, which can create significant rifts in processes, vision, products, and the organization as a whole.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to successful change management:

1. 1. Identify what changes you need to make. Making organizational changes is a big job, so it’s vital to identify which changes will truly improve the company and which are less valuable. All workplace changes should align with your organization’s vision, mission, and business goals and improve performance or processes. Discuss changes with your core decision-making team and senior leaders in addition to employees at the ground level to ensure the changes you’re considering are necessary to everyone involved.
2. 2. Establish clear change leaders. Successful changes have a clear leader or group of leaders heading the new initiative. Identify a key leader and several coordinators to help relay communications and answer questions about the change efforts. In many organizational structures, the change management process falls to the department closely aligned with the initiative. For example, a change to employee benefits is the responsibility of the human resources department.
3. 3. Make a change plan. The team managing changes should work together to make a game plan that includes each step of the implementation process, a timeline with milestones and an official deadline, a communication plan detailing the necessary documentation for each team, and metrics for measuring success.
4. 4. Prepare teams and individuals for the changes. Organizations need time to prepare for big changes, so spend time beforehand getting each department, team member, and stakeholder ready for the shift. In your communications, explain why you are implementing the change. Establishing a sense of urgency and necessity reduces employee resistance while increasing buy-in and employee engagement with the new processes.
5. 5. Talk about changes and timelines with your team. Clear, consistent communication will help employees embrace change. Discuss the change process with your staff, identifying the steps and timeline for implementation. Include a final deadline in the change timeline; even as things shift gradually, individual teams will feel confident that the change will be official by a specific date.
6. 6. Share documentation with your team. Offer clear documentation for the changes to avoid surprising teams when the deadline approaches. You may want to offer training programs to help employees make the shift.
7. 7. Institute the change. Stick to your schedule and roll out the change, ensuring that the entire organization has implemented the change by the final deadline. The management team should be ready to field questions and concerns that arise immediately before and after the deadline.
8. 8. Sustain momentum. After implementing the change, conduct regular follow-ups with different teams to ensure the transition went smoothly and they’re performing well under the new changes. Identify any snags in the change management strategy and document them so you can manage changes even smoother in the future.

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