Is There a Doctor in the House? How to Diagnose and Treat Change Fatigue

​Are you exhausted?  What about your team?  Most organizations have various strategic and operational projects they are undertaking in addition to the day to day activities that are required to keep the lights on and the business running.  With new business objectives emerging and new technologies being added to the long list of priorities, the relentless pace of change in the organization may be starting to wear on everyone.  You and your team may be suffering from Change Fatigue. 
 
Change fatigue is often experienced when people feel overwhelmed for an extended period of time.  Dealing with a small number of changes is often difficult for people as they feel the need to protect themselves and the status quo.  They want to maintain the current way of doing things as they feel comfortable with doing their job and meeting the expectation.  They can usually manage a small amount of change without too much difficulty.  In today’s world though, it is normal to have big changes taking place for extended periods of time due to technology, new or changing business objectives, and ongoing departmental efforts to become more efficient and effective.  Add to the mix large long term initiatives like digital transformation or an enterprise resource planning implementation (ERP) and the stage is set for IT leaders and staff as well as business partners to be exhausted.
 
How do you diagnose change fatigue? 
 
Change fatigue manifests itself in many different ways.  Most people don’t recognize the symptoms.  They are unable to see that change is affecting them or that they are change resistant.  Unfortunately, individuals and teams rarely self- diagnose the issue.
 
Visible symptoms of change fatigue often include:

• project delays becoming the new normal rather than the exception
• a lack of enthusiasm for anything that is out of the ordinary
• small issues creating an unusual amount of complaining or finger pointing
• key resources or leaders are absent during meetings
• a rise in customer complaints
• a decline in customer and employee satisfaction
• an increase in attrition.

 
Individuals experiencing change fatigue may feel like every day work and projects are completely out of their control and that their voice isn’t heard when they provide input.  Their productivity will decline as small tasks start to feel like they take a lot of energy to complete.
 
Treatment for Change Fatigue
 
To avoid change fatigue, organizations should first understand the level of change required based on their strategic and operational project portfolio.  While organizational change management is often addressed at the project level, it is imperative that organizations continuously evaluate change at the portfolio level as well.  Evaluating the entire scope of change associated with the current portfolio will enable the organization to identify themes relating to change and possibly streamline some organizational change management activities.   It may also uncover significant concerns relating to the volume of change the staff and customers must adapt to in a specific time period to be successful.
If the organization is suffering from change fatigue, there are steps you can take to reduce the impact and slowly get back on track.  It will take some time to recover as a magic pill does not exist.  Consider the following actions to start the recovery process: 

• Leaders in the organization need to be more visible with their presence and their show of support for the change and those that are impacted.  They need to show their excitement relating to the change and rally the troops.
• Take the time to honor the work that has been done to date and celebrate the success even if there is still a long way to go.
• Train leaders on how to help their employees adapt to change.  Middle management and frontline staff are often the teams that are most impacted by change.  Be sure to help middle managers as they are largely responsible for the individuals affected.
• Adjust timelines for some initiatives to reduce the amount of change required during a given time period.  Engage the employees that are experiencing the most amount of change in discussions around adjusting the schedule.
• Add information to every communication about how the work that is being done contributes to achieving the organization’s purpose.
• Revitalize individuals in the organization by allowing them to significantly determine the course of action for any new initiatives.  Engage them in determining the strategy as well as the implementation details associated with new initiatives.  It is okay to give them some boundaries but giving them some control over anything new in the environment will help them to begin to feel as though their input matters. 

 
Change fatigue didn’t happen overnight.  The organization experienced a gradual decline in productivity.  It probably started with a handful of staff and spread to infect teams and divisions.  Even with aggressive steps, it is a long road to recovery.  Professional help is most likely needed to assess the recovery plan and help the organization take preventative measures to reduce the likelihood of future outbreaks.  

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At AdOPT, we are transformation consultants focused on strategy, innovation, culture, and process to improve efficiency and effectiveness while optimizing costs.  Contact us to discover how you can maximize the value of your IT investments