In his popular book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” author Stephen Covey tells readers to start any project with the end in mind and build a roadmap with only tasks that help create the outcome you want.
By doing this, leaders avoid reacting to circumstances or drifting from task to task and instead align all actions to reach that final goal. He regularly uses the slightly morbid example of your own funeral: What would you want people to say about your character, relationships, and contributions? That exercise helps clarify long-term values, which should guide daily priorities — not the other way around.
This is key for all leaders, but especially those inside government who must adapt to continual change.
For government organizations, introducing a new technology, system, or structure is often done to improve performance and better serve the community. However, even the most sophisticated solutions cannot function effectively without the people who use them every day. This human element is the critical component that determines whether a change initiative ultimately succeeds or fails.
To help understand how to reach that end goal successfully, it is important to see what human-centric roadblocks exist so we can navigate them in advance.
Defining success: Three key factors
How can we measure the success of a change initiative from a people-centric perspective? Prosci, a global leader in change management, identifies three essential factors that determine whether a change is truly successful.
- Speed of adoption: This measures how quickly your team members begin to use the new process or technology. Are they embracing it, or are they finding workarounds to stick with the old way of doing things? Delays in adoption can be a signal of underlying issues that need to be addressed promptly.
- Ultimate utilization: This refers to the depth of use. Are people using all the features of the new system, or are they only engaging with the bare minimum? Achieving ultimate utilization means your team is maximizing the potential of the new tool to drive efficiency and results.
- Proficiency: This is where the real value is unlocked. Proficiency measures how well people are performing with the new way of working. Success isn’t just about using the new system; it’s about excelling with it and achieving a higher level of performance than before.
Addressing change resistance
Understanding the common issues that hinder adoption, utilization, and proficiency is crucial for navigating this complex landscape. Part of leading is understanding how the changes you want fit into the larger picture and if the changes you champion need to take priority or can wait as the situation evolves.
The presence of these factors often leads to change resistance, a normal and emotionally driven reaction. Instead of fearing or ignoring resistance, effective leaders proactively seek it out and engage with it. The first step is to expect it. Denying, explaining away, or pushing back against resistance are rarely effective long-term strategies.
A more productive approach is to understand the source of the resistance. By addressing both the logical and emotional components behind it, organizations can turn a potential obstacle into an opportunity for dialogue and improvement.
Common obstacles to successful change
Change readiness
Change readiness is an organization’s or an individual’s willingness and ability to adopt and implement change effectively. It’s influenced by several elements, including leadership support, clear communication, employee engagement, and the availability of resources. Previous experiences with organizational change also play a significant role.
Several factors shape an individual’s readiness for a new initiative:
- The nature of the change: People might have an immediate, gut reaction based on personal preferences or past negative experiences.
- Understanding the change: A lack of clarity breeds uncertainty and fuels resistance. Employees need to understand the “why” behind the change.
- The messenger of the change: Resistance can sometimes be less about the change itself and more about the perception of the person leading it.
Change fatigue
Change fatigue occurs when employees feel overwhelmed by continuous, overlapping, or poorly managed change efforts. This mental and emotional exhaustion often stems from too many initiatives at once, inconsistent leadership, poor communication, or insufficient support like training and resources. Employees experiencing change fatigue can become disengaged, frustrated, or resistant, which ultimately harms productivity and morale.
Change saturation
Change saturation happens when an organization’s capacity to absorb and implement change is exceeded. This is not just about individual fatigue; it’s about the organization’s systems and processes being overwhelmed. Symptoms include diminishing returns on new initiatives, widespread resistance across teams, operational disruptions, and frustration among leaders who struggle to prioritize. To avoid this, organizations must balance the volume of change with their capacity to manage it.
Granicus: Your partner in navigating change
Change is a constant in government but managing it doesn’t have to be a challenge.
With more than 25 years of experience helping governments transform their operations, Granicus is your ideal partner for navigating change within your organization. By focusing on the human side of change, we empower your organization to not only adopt new technologies but to thrive with them. We can help you create efficiencies, improve transparency, and drive toward your strategic goals.
Whether you are implementing a new cloud solution, integrating an AI agent, or shifting how you manage public meetings and public records requests, we can help you transform these challenges into opportunities for growth.
Solutions like Operations Cloud represent a significant investment in modernizing your processes. We understand that new technology can be challenging for staff accustomed to established routines. Where your systems and processes are complex, we help neutralize it. Granicus provides expertise and experience to help you manage the transition, improve adoption, deepen usage, and increase the return on your investment. Our goal is to help you clerk smarter, not harder.
Ready to empower your organization through effective change management? Read the full change management guide “Nobody Likes Change, So How Do Governments Move Forward?” and contact Granicus today to learn how our solutions and expertise can help you succeed.
