Unlocking the Power of Change Management Tools for Your Business in 2023
Like it or not, change is a constant. But getting your team to adopt new changes can be difficult and frustrating — for you and them both! Ever roll out a new process in Salesforce that no one follows? Yeah, us too. Change management is an important part of any successful organization, but it requires careful planning to implement changes in a way that minimizes disruption, risk, and cost.
While many organizations have tried to manage change manually, the use of change management tools can help streamline the process and make it more efficient. In this blog, we’ll explore how change management tools can help organizations manage changes more effectively.
What is change management and why is it important?
Change management is an essential practice for organizations looking to successfully implement new systems, processes, and technologies. Change management tools provide your organization with the ability to manage the risks associated with change, plan and track progress, and create strategies for handling resistance.
By utilizing these tools, you can better manage the costs associated with change and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. Additionally, change management tools help you to measure the success of changes and identify areas for improvement. But maybe most importantly, change management tools help you to effectively and efficiently implement changes without disrupting day-to-day operations.
The importance of overcoming resistance to change
Change management is an essential process for successfully rolling out new initiatives — from a small initiative like updating your sales stages to a large-scale digital transformation project like launching a new instance of Salesforce. But we’ve all seen changes roll out and fail despite our best efforts. That’s why putting effort into the process of change management can be incredibly worth it.
It provides a structured approach and helps to ensure that all stakeholders are prepared, willing, and able to embrace and adopt the new initiatives. It helps to reduce resistance to change by addressing the fears and concerns of those affected by it. Change management can also increase the likelihood of success for new initiatives by minimizing the disruption caused by the change and creating a shared understanding of the need for change and the benefits it will bring.
Perhaps most important, change management can help you create a positive environment for the change you are rolling out by providing a well-planned and properly executed process to follow that helps to identify and address any potential issues and risks associated with the change so that they can be addressed in a timely and effective manner. This can help you build trust and make it much easier for your users to adopt the change. Happy users = happy you!
What are the types of change management?
When it comes to change management, one size doesn’t fit all. You need to determine the kind of change you are hoping to make and then the type of change management process you should adhere to.
- Organizational change management focuses on managing the people side of change, such as communicating the change to stakeholders and building support for the change.
- Process change management looks at the process or procedural side of changes, such as updating the workflows necessary to support the change changes, such as updating processes or systems to support change.
- Technical change management looks at the technical aspects of the change, such as implementing the new technology or system that supports the change.
- Strategic change management focuses on the long-term requirements and implications of the change, such as setting defined implementation phases and success metrics.
- Finally, operational change management focuses on the day-to-day operations of the change, such as ensuring that the change is implemented correctly and efficiently.
It is important to have the right change management tools in place to ensure a successful transition. With the right tools, you can effectively and efficiently manage the people, processes, technologies, strategies, and operations that are involved with the change. With the right change management tools, you can foster a culture of change and ensure that the change is successfully implemented.
What are the steps in change management?
The ability to manage change is an essential skill. The success of your project (or even your job — no pressure!) can depend on it. But change management doesn’t have to be hard. Next, we’ll cover the steps in managing change.
- Evaluate the need for change and assess its impact on the organization. This will help you identify the best course of action to take and ensure that the organization is prepared for any potential changes.
- Create a detailed plan for implementing the desired changes. This plan should include a timeline, resources, and any potential risks. It should also take into account the views of all stakeholders, as well as any potential legal implications.
- Communicate the change to everyone in the organization. This will ensure that everyone is aware of the change and how it will affect them. It is also important to provide employees with the resources and support they need to make the transition as smooth as possible.
- Manage the transition. This includes ensuring that all stakeholders are on board with the changes and that the transition is going as planned. It is also important to monitor the change process and make necessary adjustments.
- Celebrate the organization’s successful implementation of the change. Celebrating success is a great way to boost morale and foster a positive work environment.
By following these steps, you can ensure that your transition will be adopted successfully. A good change management tool can be your partner in each of these steps along the way.
What is a change management tool?
Now you know the steps of managing change in your organization, but what is a change management tool?
Change management tools can be an essential part of your success. They can help you plan, manage, and track changes to your products, processes, services, and systems. They also allow you to communicate changes to stakeholders, track progress, and provide feedback and reports.
By tracking progress, you can identify potential areas for improvement and make necessary adjustments to ensure that changes are successful. Change management tools can also be used to report on the success of changes and to identify potential areas of improvement.
So in what ways do change management tools help make your rollout a smashing success?
They help plan the change
The first step in implementing a change management tool is to analyze the current state of your organization and identify areas of improvement. This can include evaluating your organization’s structure, communication, and operational processes. Once the areas needing improvement are identified, a plan can be developed to implement the changes.
The change management process should also include monitoring progress and providing feedback to ensure that the change is successful. This helps to identify any potential obstacles or challenges that may arise and plan for how to overcome them. Additionally, developing communication strategies to keep stakeholders informed of progress is essential to ensure that everyone is on board and understands the changes.
To further encourage the adoption of the change, it helps to make it easy for your employees. Many teams will consider designing incentives for employees to ensure adoption rather than resistance. These incentives could include bonuses, promotions, or other forms of recognition. Finally, the success of the change should be tracked and measured to ensure that it is making a positive difference in the organization.
They help with the technical side of the change
Change management tools offer an effective way to streamline the technical aspects of change, such as software updates, hardware changes, and system configurations. They also provide visibility into the impact of the change, helping to identify potential areas of improvement.
Change management tools can also help your company to ensure that changes are implemented swiftly and in accordance with policy and industry standards. By taking the complexity out of change management, you can focus your efforts on the future, rather than worrying about the present. As technology continues to evolve and your company continues to lean into digital transformation, change management tools will become increasingly important to help your company stay ahead.
They help with the employee side of the change
Getting your employees to adopt change is maybe the most difficult aspect of managing it. The success of any change management process relies heavily on the tools used to execute it. In order to ensure that employees are informed and consulted about upcoming changes, effective communication plans must be developed to keep them updated throughout the process. The plans should also provide resources for employees to understand the change and how it affects them.
Consider how your employees look for information and learn about changes. Are they likely to sit through an 80-slide training and retain that information? Meh, probably not. For your team to adopt the change, it’s important to provide what they need to know when they need to know it. It’s a fact — adults learn by doing. We are much less likely to retain information in a classroom-like setting. This is why, at Spekit, we believe the future is just-in-time learning. When you are planning your communication, training, and enablement, structure it to be in the flow of work for the highest likelihood of success.
It is also important to allow employees to provide feedback and help shape the change process. This will help create an atmosphere of trust and support for employees during the change process. Additionally, by checking in on employee retention and engagement, you can easily and quickly identify any potential issues that could arise.
With the right tools, you can ensure that employees are at the center of the change process and are supported throughout the journey. Doing so will create a more successful and smoother transition for the entire organization. You’ll be the hero instead of the bad guy who is forcing everyone to learn something new.
Overall, change management tools provide you with the ability to effectively manage changes and ensure that they are implemented in a timely and efficient manner. By utilizing these tools, you can promote a culture of change and innovation, allowing your company to remain competitive and successful.
Choosing a change management tool
When it comes to selecting a change management tool, there are many factors to consider. Cost is an important factor, and it is important to make sure that the tool fits into your budget. User experience is also important, so you should look for a tool that is easy to operate. If you have a small team, you’re likely not going to want to manage a tool that requires heavy coding in order to make it work for your needs.
As your business needs change, it is important to choose a tool that can scale with those changing needs. Integration is an important part of the equation, so make sure that the tool can integrate with existing systems and databases. If your users are working in Slack and Salesforce all day, finding a tool that has integrations where they are working is going to be hugely valuable.
A change management tool that provides backend analytics is also helpful. You’ll want to know if the change is being adopted or if the rollout is stalling. Is more training needed? Are there unanswered questions? A change management tool with robust analytics should be able to provide visibility into these questions so you can make informed decisions.
Finally, make sure that the company offering the tool provides timely and reliable customer support.
How Spekit helps you become a successful change-maker in your organization
Let’s face it. Your employees make frequent mistakes that leave lots of messy data in their wake. They don’t follow new processes — either because they simply don’t know how or they don’t understand why those processes matter. So you may find yourself in an awkward spot where your team is resistant to the changes that must be rolled out to drive the business’s success. The more adoption suffers, the more your investments in the change are called into question, killing employee efficiency and productivity.
At Spekit, we believe the secret to unlocking the full value of change management is adoption + enablement. When you make it easy for your team to learn the change without disrupting their flow of work, you drive strong adoption and process understanding from the get-go. Spekit reduces friction and barriers to adopting change, learning new processes, or finding critical information by delivering bite-sized training directly into the apps your team spends their time in — like Salesforce, Slack, and more. Spekit is a simple, yet SPEKtacular way to train your team, roll out changes, improve the efficiency and productivity of your revenue teams, and drastically improve your data quality so you can drive real business outcomes.
To learn how Spekit can help you manage change in your organization, schedule a demo today.
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About the Author
Mandy Schnirel
Mandy is a Marketing leader with over a decade of experience leading high-performing teams and building incredible B2B SaaS brands by creating meaningful connections with customers and prospects. Follow her on LinkedIn here ->
