IT Systems and Change Management in Organizations

Change management involves planning, implementing, and overseeing organizational changes,

particularly when adopting or upgrading IT systems. IT systems play a critical role in driving
organizational transformation, but their success depends on how well change is managed.

Key Concepts in IT and Change Management

1. The Role of IT in Change:

o IT systems can lead to operational efficiency, better decision-making, and

innovation.

o Examples: Transitioning to cloud computing, implementing ERP systems, or

adopting AI for business insights.

2. Challenges in IT-Driven Change:

o Resistance to Change: Employees may resist new systems due to fear of job loss,
lack of skills, or discomfort with new processes.

o Cultural Barriers: Organizational culture may clash with the need for change.

o Technical Challenges: Poor system integration or inadequate training can derail

IT projects.

3. Change Management and IT Alignment:

o Aligning IT changes with organizational goals ensures that the technology

supports business strategies.

o Communication and stakeholder engagement are critical to minimizing

disruptions.
Models for Managing Change

1. Kotter’s 8-Step Process for Leading Change

John Kotter’s Eight Step Change Model

John Kotter (1996), a Harvard Business School Professor and a renowned change expert, in his
book “Leading Change”, introduced an 8 Step Model of Change which he developed on the basis
of research of 100 organizations which were going through a process of change. The 8 steps in
the process of change include: creating a sense of urgency, forming powerful guiding coalitions,
developing a vision and a strategy, communicating the vision, removing obstacles and
empowering employees for action, creating short-term wins, consolidating gains and
strengthening change by anchoring change in the culture. Kotter’s 8 step model can be explained
with the help of the illustration given below:

(Source: Adapted from Kotter 1996)

1. Creating an Urgency: This can be done in the following ways:

 Identifying and highlighting the potential threats and the repercussions which might crop up in
the future.

 Examining the opportunities which can be tapped through effective interventions.

 Initiate honest dialogues and discussions to make people think over the prevalent issues and
give convincing reasons to them.
 Request the involvement and support of the industry people, key stakeholders and customers
on the issue of change.

2. Forming Powerful Guiding Coalitions

This can be achieved in the following ways:

 Identifying the effective change leaders in your organizations and also the key stakeholders,
requesting their involvement and commitment towards the entire process.

 Form a powerful change coalition who would be working as a team.

 Identify the weak areas in the coalition teams and ensure that the team involves many
influential people from various cross functional departments and working in different levels in
the company.

3. Developing a Vision and a Strategy

This can be achieved by:

 Determining the core values, defining the ultimate vision and the strategies for realizing a
change in an organization.

 Ensure that the change leaders can describe the vision effectively and in a manner that people
can easily understand and follow.

4. Communicating the Vision

 Communicate the change in the vision very often powerfully and convincingly. Connect the
vision with all the crucial aspects like performance reviews, training, etc.

 Handle the concerns and issues of people honestly and with involvement.

5. Removing Obstacles

 Ensure that the organizational processes and structure are in place and aligned with the overall
organizational vision.

 Continuously check for barriers or people who are resisting change. Implement proactive
actions to remove the obstacles involved in the process of change.
 Reward people for endorsing change and supporting in the process.

6. Creating Short-Term Wins

 By creating short term wins early in the change process, you can give a feel of victory in the
early stages of change.

 Create many short term targets instead of one long-term goal, which are achievable and less
expensive and have lesser possibilities of failure.

 Reward the contributions of people who are involved in meeting the targets.

7. Consolidating Gains

 Achieve continuous improvement by analysing the success stories individually and improving
from those individual experiences.

8. Anchoring Change in the Corporate Culture

 Discuss the successful stories related to change initiatives on every given opportunity.

 Ensure that the change becomes an integral part in your organizational culture and is visible in
every organizational aspect.

 Ensure that the support of the existing company leaders as well as the new leaders continue to
extend their support towards the change.

Advantages of Kotter’s Model

 It is an easy step by step model which provides a clear description and guidance on the entire
process of change and is relatively easy for being implemented.

 Emphasis is on the involvement and acceptability of the employees for the success in the
overall process.

 Major emphasis is on preparing and building acceptability for change instead of the actual
change process.
 2. Lewin’s Change Management Model

Lewin’s Change Management Model is a comprehensive change model aiming to understand

why change occurs and what must be done to deliver change in the most seamless way possible.
Lewin developed the change model as a way to illustrate how people react when facing changes
in their lives. A simpler model with three stages:

1. Unfreeze:

o Prepare the organization for change by challenging the status quo.

2. Change:

o Implement the IT system while addressing resistance.

3. Refreeze:

o Solidify changes by embedding them into organizational culture.

The 3 Stages of Change

We look at how Lewin’s three-step model describes the nature of change, its implementation,
and common challenges:

Step 1: Unfreeze

Lewin identifies human behavior, with respect to change, as a quasi-stationary equilibrium state.
This state is a mindset, a mental and physical capacity that can be almost absolutely reached, but
it is initially situated so that the mind can evolve without actually attaining that capacity. For
example, a contagious disease can spread rapidly in a population and resist initial measures to
contain the escalation. Eventually, through medical advancement, the disease can be treated and
virtually disappear from the population.
Lewin argues that change follows similar resistance, but group forces (the field) prevent
individuals from embracing this change. Therefore, we must agitate the equilibrium state in order
to instigate a behavior that is open to change. Lewin suggests that an emotional stir-up may
disturb the group dynamics and forces associated with self-righteousness among the individual
group members. Certainly, there are a variety of ways to shake up the present status-quo, and
you’ll want to consider whether you need change in an individual or, as in a company, amongst a
group of people.

Let’s consider the process of preparing a meal. The first change, before anything else can
happen, is to “unfreeze” foods—preparing them for change, whether they’re frozen and require
thawing, or raw food requiring washing. Lewin’s 3 Step Model believes that human change
follows a similar philosophy, so you must first unfreeze the status-quo before you may
implement organizational change.

Though not formally part of Lewin’s model, actions within this Unfreeze stage may include:

 Determining what needs to change.

o Survey your company.

o Understand why change is necessary.

 Ensuring support from management and the C-suite.

o Talk with stakeholders to obtain support.

o Frame your issue as one that positively impacts the entire company.

 Creating the need for change.

o Market a compelling message about why change is best.

o Communicate the change using your long-term vision.

Step 2: Change

Once you’ve “unfrozen” the status quo, you may begin to implement your change.
Organizational change in particular is notoriously complex, so executing a well-planned change
process does not guarantee predictable results. Therefore, you must prepare a variety of change
options, from the planned change process to trial-and-error. With each attempt at change,
examine what worked, what didn’t, what parts were resistant, etc.

During this evaluation process, there are two important drivers of successful and long-term
effectiveness of the change implementation process: information flow and leadership.
  Information flow refers to sharing information across multiple levels of the
organizational hierarchy, making available a variety of skills and expertise, and
coordinating problem solving across the company.

 Leadership is defined as the influence of certain individuals in the group to achieve

common goals. A well-planned change process requires defining a vision and motivation.

The iterative approach is also necessary to sustain a change. According to Lewin, a change left
without adequate reinforcement may be short-lived and therefore fail to meet the objectives of a
change process.

During the Change phase, companies should:

 Communicate widely and clearly about the planned implementation, benefits, and who
is affected. Answer questions, clarify misunderstandings, and dispel rumors.

 Promote and empower action. Encourage employees to get involved proactively with
the change, and support managers in providing daily and weekly direction to staff.

 Involve others as much as possible. These easy wins can accumulate into larger wins,
and working with more people can help you navigate various stakeholders.

Step 3: Refreeze

The purpose of the final step—refreezing—is to sustain the change you’ve enacted. The goal is
for the people involved to consider this new state as the new status-quo, so they no longer resist
forces that are trying to implement the change. The group norms, activities, strategies, and
processes are transformed per the new state.

Without appropriate steps that sustain and reinforce the change, the previously dominant
behavior tends to reassert itself. You’ll need to consider both formal and informal mechanisms to
implement and freeze these new changes. Consider one or more steps or actions that can be
strong enough to counter the cumulative effect of all resistive forces to the change—these
stronger steps help ensure the new change will prevail and become “the new normal”.

In the Refreeze phase, companies should do the following:

 Tie the new changes into the culture by identifying change supports and change
barriers.

 Develop and promote ways to sustain the change long-term. Consider:

o Ensuring leadership and management support and adapting organizational

structure when necessary.

o Establishing feedback processes.

 o Creating a rewards system.

 Offer training, support, and communication for both the short- and long-term.
Promote both formal and informal methods, and remember the various ways that
employees learn.

 Celebrate success!

Lewin’s 3 Stage Model of Change provides an intuitive and fundamental understanding of how
changes occur, in context of the social behaviors observed at an individual and collective level
within a group. Since the theory was first introduced in 1951, change management has taken
both supportive and opposing directions. This is a vital reminder: when modern-day change
management frameworks are not working for specific use cases and business needs, consider
these fundamentals of understanding social behavior in light of change.

Lewin's change management model can be applied to a wide range of scenarios.

For instance, it helps you understand why some people and organizations are more motivated by
the need for social approval than by financial incentives, and it teaches you how to go
about engaging employees in important organizational changes.

4. ADKAR Model (by Prosci)

The ADKAR model of change management is an established and recognized outcome-

oriented method that aims to limit resistance to organizational change. It was created by
Jeffrey Hiatt, the founder of Prosci, and is considered the Prosci change management
methodology.

ADKAR is not the only model of change management model or approach that can be utilized
as part of sustainability and impact initiatives; in fact, it is one of many as our
recent Insights on 'theory of change' describes. Well-trained facilitators and good change
management practitioners understand the need to implement and integrate approaches that
are tailored to the organization.

This includes not only attentiveness to an organization's goals and articulated roadmaps, but
also the structure, climate, and culture of an organization, as well as contextual intelligence
about the broader often global landscape in which the company operates (i.e., supply and
value chains).

We are highlighting the ADKAR Model of Change Management not only as an option
among many approaches, but also because the model is widely used as part of USAID
missions and partnership initiatives.
 To understand the ADKAR methodology, let’s start with the acronym and what each letter
stands for as depicted below.

In model form, below, we can see how ADKAR is about change management over three
phases, the first, in which awareness and desire aim to move you out of the “Current State,”
where change is needed but not yet begun. The second, Transition State, is marked by a focus
on knowledge and ability; the third, the Future State, is realized by focusing on
reinforcement.

Focuses on individual change through five elements:

1. Awareness: Employees must understand why the change is necessary.

2. Desire: Foster a desire to support and participate in the change.

3. Knowledge: Provide training and resources.

4. Ability: Ensure employees can apply the knowledge.

5. Reinforcement: Sustain change through recognition and feedback.

How To Apply The ADKAR Model Of Change Management in Support of Sustainable

Impact

The ADKAR Model is outcome-oriented; thus, it can be used to facilitate change by setting clear
milestones to be reached throughout the process to help drive sustainable impact.

Every person involved in a delineated change must reach each goal, though it is important to
understand that different people may reach different goals at different times.

Sustainability leaders report that some people within their organizations already have the desire
to change and are thus aligned with goals and more accepting of targets and proposed initiatives.
Others may be slow to understanding that a challenge or problem even exists, and therefore do
not necessarily see the links between the challenge and requisite need for change, yet.

In this way, the phase view of the ADKAR Change Management model demonstrates the ways
in which different people may be working through different phases simultaneously. This model
can be helpful then in mapping priorities that should be emphasized for change to become
operationalized.

In addition, one of the most helpful benefits of the ADKAR Model is that its five sequential
goals can identify areas of resistance. For instance, is someone unable to adopt and adapt to
change because they do not understand why it needs to happen (Awareness), or do they
recognize a need for the proposed change, but do not understand how to make it (Knowledge)?

Organizational change agents will be better prepared to guide team members and stakeholders
through a stage once it becomes clear exactly where in the sequence they are stuck.

Taking one element at a time, let’s consider how sustainability leaders and organizational
changemakers can put the ADKAR model into practice:

Goal 1: Create AWARENESS by Communicating a Compelling Need for Change

Change management requires ongoing communication, and not just one-way, top-down
communication, but established processes that encourage two-way communication and
engagement across ADKAR stages.

At the onset, communicating the need for change is foundational to sustainability efforts;
however, creating awareness goes beyond simply announcing it. For team members and
stakeholders to be truly aware of the necessity for change, they must understand not only the
reasoning behind it, but they must also find agreement with that reasoning. And they need to
care.

To meet those aims, your communication must be compelling.

Begin by providing clear explanations of why the change is needed. This speaks to developing
simple, core messaging and a cohesive, relatable backstory. Simple doesn’t mean dumbing it
down. It means getting to the core of the message and stripping away what is unnecessary,
including technical jargon.

If you want people to care enough to pay attention, focus not only on the reasons for the change,
but also the benefits of the change as they apply to the people impacted.

GOAL 2: Foster DESIRE by engaging and empowering employees and stakeholders to

make the change
Just because employees are aware of the need for change and understand why a change should be
made doesn’t mean they want that change.

For employees and stakeholders to adopt the change, they must desire it. And that can be a tall
order for people who are uneasy during periods of upheaval, or for those who are content with
things as they are.

There are processes you can implement that will help you foster the desire to make a specified
change. Start by designating change leaders across the organization who will both show public
support for the proposed change and will most naturally connect with those who will be
impacted by it.

Change leaders don’t necessarily have to be departmental or organizational leaders. Cultivating

those who can relate to how daily routines will be affected, and those who demonstrate the
ability to provide support and guidance, may be the best suited for the task.

To foster desire and encourage empowerment, change leaders need to get specific about the
benefits of the change as they apply to individuals and teams. Avoid touting advantages for the
company.

When facilitating desire, some resistance should be anticipated, although it might turn up in the
most expected places. It is critical that you understand the core reason for trepidations. Are
people worried about how it will affect their day-to-day roles and duties? Are they afraid they
don’t possess the skills to make the change? Are employees frustrated they don’t have the
bandwidth to learn something new?

We have outlined an effective change management tool, the Ladder of Abstraction (“Why,
What’s Stopping You?”), that may prove helpful in working to unearth the root cause of
resistance. With understanding, leaders should address opposition and challenge head-on and if
necessary, with processes for problem solving, adjusting implementation plans as necessary.

Goal 3: Provide KNOWLEDGE on how to change with an emphasis on Continuous

Learning

The knowledge milestone in the ADKAR Model is primarily about education and training. In
global development, this goal is aligned with the “L” in the acronym processes of Monitoring,
Evaluation, and Learning (MEL). To transition as part of this phase, sustainability leadership will
need to understand how individual and team responsibilities, skills, and processes will be
impacted.

Knowledge-building is crucial to change management and should be specifically tailored to

recognize that everyone in the organization will reach each milestone individually, and quite
possibly, and different times.
Take time to develop knowledge approaches that apply directly to individual or team
responsibilities during and after change is rooted. This means evaluating requirements for
additional tools, skills, and duties that the change will require. Availability of time and resources
for employees to acquire and master new skills or implement new processes is paramount to this
goal. If scarce, implement the change gradually.

Sustainability leaders should consider partnering internally or externally to provide employee

training including formal training, mentoring, online education (synchronous/asynchronous) and
other opportunities.

Of course, knowledge-building should ideally go beyond facilitating specified change. It is

equally important to provide knowledge that allows your team to see the change through to the
end.

Goal 4: Ensure employees have the ABILITY to make the change by addressing obstacles

Regardless of how effective employees may be at performing a task, having confidence in their
own competencies often determines whether they can or even will do something.

This is considered a gap between knowledge and ability.

To bridge this chasm, consider putting change agents and leaders in charge of coaching teams
and individuals. In addition to mentoring and offering guidance, this process can support interval
testing of change before the full roll-out, helping employees and stakeholders build confidence
while simultaneously collecting feedback and assessing potential obstacles and roadblocks.

For large-scale changes, consider implementation in stages so you can identify issues early on
and adjust your plans accordingly with effective solutions.

Goal 5: REINFORCE the change by keeping your eye on the ball

Managing change means attentiveness long after new processes and approaches are adopted and
in place. Leaders need to both build and maintain enthusiasm and reinforce the change to ensure
employees are on the right track and not slipping back into old practices and habits.

That’s why reinforcement should be a well-supported and critical phase in your change
management plan.

Considerations important for maintaining momentum long-term include a balance of celebration

of change implementers and their efforts to achieve milestones, and processes of correction that
uplift rather than squash growing support.
In the meantime, continue to collect feedback and be receptive to active listening. The change
process may be “complete,” but feedback is still valuable in identifying both pain and pivot
points where support and readjustment might be required to ensure long-term success.

The ADKAR Model Of Change Management is a Widely-Used Approach

There are many approaches, models, and creative tools designed to help organizations lead and
manage the kinds of change necessary to address the many pressing economic, environmental,
and social challenges we are facing today.

The ADKAR model of change management is a widely-used approach that has been around for
many years and is extensively field-tested. It guides leaders in developing and implementing
effective change plans that will help organizations address these problems, while still delivering
positive sustainable impact.

Best Practices for IT-Driven Change

1. Engage Stakeholders: Involve all affected departments and users early in the process.

2. Provide Training and Support: Offer resources to help employees adapt to the new
system.

3. Monitor Progress: Use metrics and feedback to assess the success of the change
initiative.

4. Be Flexible: Adapt the approach based on feedback and unexpected challenges.

Best practices for change

No matter the change management model or approach used, there are some key principles and
best practices that organizations should follow to increase their chances of success. These
include:

 Clearly defining the need for change and the desired outcomes.
 Building a coalition of influential change agents to lead the effort.
 Communicating the vision for change widely and frequently.
 Empowering employees to act on the vision and providing them with the necessary
resources and support.
 Creating short-term wins to build momentum and motivation.
 Measuring and monitoring progress towards the desired outcomes.
 Adjusting the change effort as needed based on feedback and results.

Ultimately, the key to successful organizational change is a combination of a clear vision,

effective leadership, and active engagement of employees and stakeholders.
While the Kotter 8 step process is a widely recognized and effective framework for achieving
change, organizations can still achieve success by following other change management models
or by adopting their own custom approach, as long as they adhere to these fundamental
principles.