Organizations busy with making changes often forget that they may spend hours on resources and technology, but the human side of the change has to be managed as well. There are internal and external forces at play that can hinder the success of implementation. Let’s explore these barriers and what it takes to overcome them.
Lack of clarity, poor communication, and haphazard prioritization are some internal barriers to change. External barriers to change include market changes and technological evolution etc. How an organization responds to these barriers determines the initiative’s success.
Internal and external barriers can cause issues for an organization when implementing change. Fortunately, most of them can be overcome through a proactive management process.
What are internal barriers to change?
There are several internal barriers to change that managers should be aware of. Change management is driven by people and so most internal barriers within an organization are related to the workforce.
The first is resistance from employees. Employees may resist change for a variety of reasons, including fear of the unknown, loss of job security, and feeling comfortable with the status quo. See: The Fear of Change: Why Is It So Hard For People And Companies To Accept Change?
Second, there may be organizational structures or processes in place that make it difficult to implement new changes. For example, decision-making authority may be centralized within a small group of people, making it hard to get buy-in from others in the organization.
Finally, limited resources can also impede change efforts; if a company doesn’t have enough money or manpower to support a new initiative, it will likely fail.
Poor Communication Management
Communication is at the core of successful change implementation. From the very first stage of the process to the last, effective communication can make the journey so much easier.
Lack of communication happens to be the leading barrier to change. Employees who don’t understand why the change is needed fall prey to resistant behavior. After all, why would anyone change the way they do things if they see no benefit?
You can’t tell people how to feel, but you must create a desire for change within the organization. Good communication at every stage of the process can help you achieve that.
Ensure you’re utilizing all available communication channels to reinforce the message in different ways at different stages.
Create a strategic communication plan before implementation to manage the transition effectively.
Ambiguity
Lack of clarity and ambiguous requirements are change killers. You need to have a full grip on the organization’s current state so you can envision what the future state will look like. Without a clear vision of what needs to be achieved, you will only be shooting in the dark, and the initiative is bound to fail.
You need to have a crystal clear change scope and what is needed to achieve success to make the transition smoother and more accessible for your employees. To start, you should have clear answers to the following questions:
- What is the change?
- Why is the change needed?
- What is required to implement the change?
- What is the tentative timeline for the implementation of change?
Organizational Culture
A change-resistant culture is probably the biggest barrier to change. People don’t appreciate being asked to change. The status quo is comfortable, and employees like to stick with it.
When change is imminent, other cultural issues like internal politics, individual change-resistant behavior, and poor attitudes also start surfacing and amalgamating to create a threat to the change initiative.
Change managers must actively work to create a conducive environment for change. They must realize the importance of focusing on individuals and their perception building along with the organizational shift.
Line managers can prove to be invaluable in this process as they understand their teams on a personal level. They can root out the cause of the resistant culture and work with their employees one-on-one to minimize the resistant behavior.
Lack of Prioritization
Change management is a journey. You have to be in it for the long haul. You need to slow down and prioritize changes according to the organization’s needs. One change will lead to another, and this can cause issues.
Implementing many changes together can leave your workforce frustrated, and your resources depleted sooner than you think. Implement changes in small increments to be able to see viable results and to be able to pivot if and when required.
Lack of Buy-in
If your stakeholders and employees aren’t on board with the change and are convinced that it’s unnecessary, it would be foolish to go ahead with the implementation. Everyone from top management to low-level employees must realize the importance of change and why it is needed.
Buy-in is the only thing that will keep employees from reverting to the old way of doing things and ensuring the change initiative’s success.
Low Employee Morale
When employees aren’t happy with the decision to change and have low buy-in, their morale dips. A workforce with low morale results in the delayed achievement of milestones and issues in quality.
The best way to overcome this is to engage employees and let them share their frustrations with the line managers, so their valid feedback can be incorporated into the plan.
Lack of Knowledge
Inexperienced management can cause immense damage to the process. Change is a complex process. It has so many human and non-human aspects that need to be addressed. Line managers must be equipped with the necessary knowledge and training to assume the following five roles:
- Communication
- Support
- Training
- Resistance management
- Coordination
There are some training and certifications available both offline and online to help your managers learn the tactics to make change adoption easier for the employees.
Lack of Active Participation
Change may begin at the top, but it happens at the bottom. This cannot be far from the truth. In the same way, if the management is simply directing change without any active participation from the managers and employees, you have a problem at hand.
You may expect the employees to accept change no matter what, but they’re human. They will have their own reservations, feedback, and concerns about the change. If they aren’t involved in the creation of the implementation plan or if their concerns go unaddressed, resistance is inevitable.
Bilateral meetings and brainstorming sessions should be an essential part of your communication plan. Frequently involve line managers and ask them to engage teams for feedback.
Cultural Barriers
We have already explored organizational culture but can’t ignore the fact that our workforce is from different backgrounds, and our employees fall into different cultural groups based on their preferences and heritage.
Due to cultural differences, the way employees approach change will be quite diverse. Overcoming this barrier and catering to every employee’s cultural preferences can be an uphill battle for change managers.
The strategy to overcome this barrier will require an in-depth analysis of all the stakeholders and their cultural dispositions. You will need to conduct interviews with different cultural group representatives to understand their reactions and feelings about the change.
All this data will then become the driving force behind your communication plan for the change. Along with the strategy, you will also need to ensure communication frequency and diversity.
Utilize all available channels like email, videos, memos, meetings, training, etc, to get the message home!
Lack of Resources
Change is an exhaustive process. It requires manpower and tools to achieve success on a determined timeline. You will need dedicated resources to manage the transition and some time from employees’ workday to achieve milestones.
Resources also include the availability of funds to implement the change. Make sure you do an adequate assessment of the resources you require to achieve success, so you can arrange these proactively.
Running out of resources and realizing that implementation wasn’t such a great idea at all can be the death of your initiative.
Lack of Planning
Change management is dependent on strong planning. Planning teams may make extensive plans but can easily ignore the feelings and emotions of the individuals implementing the plan. What happens next is obvious; employees downright reject the change and show active resistance.
The planning team needs to take a step back, evaluate how employees will react to the initiative, and then introduce the change accordingly.
Lack of Governance
The transitioning process requires management at both the micro and macro levels. The lack of the right roles and responsibilities assigned to these roles can thwart the success of the initiative. Decision-making is an important part of the process, so there is a proper structure in place to review and take these decisions in time.
Fear of the Unknown
Lastly, one of the biggest barriers is the fear of the unknown. Change is new and brings new concepts to employees’ work life. It is natural for employees to feel threatened by it.
Especially if it’s to do with introducing new technology or process automation, which is a direct threat to their job security, this is why they avoid the unknown and stick with the familiar.
Change needs to be handled step by step; it needs to be introduced slowly, so employees aren’t overwhelmed by the transition.
Lack of Proper Goals
The initiative will fail if there are no structured milestones or goals defined for each stage. The lack of milestones is a potential barrier to change.
Employees need to have set expectations of what they’re required to achieve and what success looks like. This gives them a proper timeline and a clear understanding of the implementation plan.
What Are the External Barriers to Change
The list of external barriers is considerably shorter. However, it merits a discussion because, more often than not, organizations have limited control over overcoming these.
Technological Advancements
Technology advancements help organizations grow, but a good amount of time is required for employees and teams to adjust to it. Change is a long process; sometimes, there may come certain updates to the technology that the organization will not be prepared for.
Overcoming this barrier is a challenging process in which you will have to train your employees constantly to make them familiar with the new way of doing things. You also need to constantly communicate the benefits of the new technology, so employees stay motivated.
Natural Disasters
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that natural disasters can significantly impact the way we do business, and they don’t really give us any time to respond. Again, change is a long-drawn process that natural disasters like a pandemic can thwart.
Unfortunately, the only way to battle a natural disaster is to have a disaster response plan ready for the organization as a whole.
What are some measures your workforce can take immediately in the face of a disaster to ensure business continuity? This and other important considerations need to be a part of the plan.
Reputation
It takes courage to take the risk of implementing change. Many organizations avoid implementing changes and advancing their processes due to the fear of failure. Organizations often enjoy a stable brand reputation with their customers and clients due to the current processes they have. This is why a brand reputation is an external barrier to change. Organizations may not want to change at the risk of receiving bad customer or client feedback.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the biggest barrier to change?
Employee resistance is one of the biggest hindrances to change. Employees need to give their full buy-in to stay motivated and implement the change effectively. Resistance can be minimized through proper communication and employee engagement.
What are some challenges faced by change agents?
Document updates, managing multiple teams, juggling different changes at once are some challenges faced by change agents and managers. Effective management strategies can help change managers navigate this problem.
Why do organizations fail at change management?
The biggest reason for change management failure is the lack of buy-in and support. The apparent result of this is resistance and an aversion to change. Effective communication is the only proper tactic to battle this barrier.
How can change management help your business?
Change management can help your business by improving morale and productivity, and creating a positive perception of change for staff and customers.
– What Role Do Internal and External Barriers Play in Evaluating Change Management Skills?
Internal and external barriers can significantly impact the ability to effectively evaluate change management skills. Internal resistance from employees or leadership can hinder objective assessment, while external factors like market volatility can make it challenging to accurately measure and improve evaluate change management skills.
Final Thoughts
Change is inevitable for organizations that want to compete in today’s market. Change initiatives face a number of barriers due to both internal and external factors.
There are a few things that can be done to overcome barriers to change. The first is to educate yourself on the topic of change and resistance. It is important to understand why people resist change, what their fears may be, and how they can be addressed.
Secondly, build relationships with key stakeholders who will need to support the proposed changes. These individuals can help champion the cause and provide valuable feedback along the way.
Lastly, create a sense of urgency for the proposed changes by communicating effectively about what is at stake if nothing is done.
Proper planning and proactiveness can help change teams overcome these barriers in time. We hope the strategies we’ve listed above will help you navigate these barriers effectively.
