by Dawn-Marie Turner, PhD

Change fatigue may be one of the biggest challenges organizations face. And in my opinion, it may be more detrimental to an organization's ability to implement change than some of the currently held views on "resistance".

Research estimates that 46 per cent of organizations are attempting to implement three or more major changes simultaneously. This number may actually be too low. I have talked with many organizations that tell me they have at least five—and a few that say they have more than 20—changes underway. It is no wonder that with this much change people are feeling a little tired.

Change is not going away. Now more than ever, change has become a part of the business landscape. To survive and preferably, to thrive, organizations must change. The great irony for organizations is that the very thing they need—change—also creates the greatest risk for the organization. In this era of constant change, identifying and preventing change fatigue is critical.

I define change fatigue as passive resignation. It is not the acceptance or rejection of change. Instead it is a general sense of apathy towards the organizational change(s). Individuals with change fatigue have neither the energy to defend the status quo nor enough interest to move through the change process.

Change fatigue concerns me because of the way it drains the organizational energy. However, I believe change fatigue could be reduced, and even prevented, in many organizations.

Here are five actions you can take to help reduce and prevent change fatigue:

1. Shift your thinking away from a project-based approach to a whole system-based approach. Leaders that adopt a systems approach to change recognize that each change is connected and will affect the whole organization.
2. Document your organization's change map. The change map gives you detailed knowledge about all of your current change initiatives. This sounds simple, but some organizations have so many changes occurring simultaneously leaders have either forgotten the goals of the change initiative, don't know it is being implemented or believe the change has already been completed.
   A change map provides a visual representation of your organization’s change initiatives. It can identify the changes currently in progress, and the people affected. It can also identify opportunities to consolidate and reduce the number of change initiatives.
3. Ensure each change initiative has a detailed and documented intended outcome. Many change initiatives are started without a well defined outcome. Without a clear understanding of the outcome, the full scope of the transition cannot be understood or managed.
4. Allocate time and support for the transition as well as the change event. Change has two dimensions -- the event and the transition (white space). The event is finite and occurs much quicker than the transition. The transition is the process people need to move through to enable the success of the event. Leaders begin the transition before the people most affected. Too often support for the transition ends when the leader nears the end of her/his transition. Unfortunately, this is often when the people most affected are either just beginning or in the middle of their transition. Regular monitoring of the people’s progress through the transition process and ensuring organizational alignment can help reduce change fatigue.
5. Engage the people most affected. As William Bridges said in his book Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change, “People will help build what they create”. The people affected by the change can be your organization’s greatest asset or its greatest barrier. Involving them in the planning and facilitation of their transition helps them build their change fitness and reduce change fatigue.

Related information:

• Change Mapping - a simple technique to help you see how current and planned changes affect each other