Intranets and Change Management
By Susan Ingram, 11 October, 2007
With the implementation of a new or re-designed intranet, attention should always be paid to managing the introduction of the system across the organisation. Some organisations do not understand or value change management and expect employees to accept changes with a willing and altruistic attitude. However, most people dislike change. Even if the change involves something that is undisputedly better, change is still uncomfortable and often resisted. Change management should be considered at the outset of all intranet design and development phases. Change management should be run concurrently to design and development rather than as an add-on obligation at the end of the phase, just prior to the change being released.
Change management
The change management and communications process can be broken into the following stages. Change is not always a linear process and it is possible to move back a stage at any time. Planning and knowledge of these stages should enable the intranet team to see what obstacles may be encountered and how to navigate through to a successful implementation. The stages of change management are:
- Change awareness - intranet users are made aware of upcoming changes to the intranet.
- Change resistance - change is resisted by some and this change is anticipated by the intranet team. Resistance is discussed and issues resolved.
- Change acceptance - the change is accepted and managers and staff begin to work with the change.
Change awareness
Staff must be made aware of impending intranet changes and how the change will impact them individually and how it will impact the organisation. The more significant the change, the more important it will be to ensure that full awareness of this change is communicated. Top-level information architecture changes, search interface changes, visual design changes and homepage changes are considered more significant for intranet users than changes to low-level information architecture categories, content pages and "backend" changes. Many organisations utilise email, the intranet or a newsletter to inform intranet users of an upcoming change. For significant changes and those changes which affect the way that people work, this will not be enough (introduction of collaboration work tools is an example of a change that will affect the way that people work). There must be a commitment within the organisation to ensuring that staff fully appreciate the nature of a change and that they then have opportunities to address the inevitable resistance and questioning that is likely to occur. Awareness campaigns can include not only email or intranet updates, but also information sessions, poster drops, and presentations at divisional staff meetings. User-centred design can be an early part of a change awareness campaign. User-centred activities involve staff by asking for their contribution in the analysis and design of an intranet feature or tool. Change awareness will not only be important for intranet users, but also intranet content managers and authors. If changes are being made to the publishing workflow used to publish content on the intranet this will affect current intranet authors and content managers. This will change the way that content managers and content authors work and will, in some instances, result in current content managers no longer having content management permissions in the Content Management System (CMS). Change awareness with these individuals must be carried out to help the transition to change. This is could include learning sessions, guidelines and possibly even one-on-one discussions.
Change resistance
Resistance can happen when individuals and groups perceive that a change is a threat to them. Intranet teams should listen, empathise and respond openly and authentically to resistance. Strategies for managing resistance are:
- Involvement - one of the best methods for getting people to support the change is to get them involved. Again, user-centred activities can certainly help to make people to feel involved, heard and valued.
- Facilitation - a good approach to dealing with resistance is to openly engage with people who display resistance and help them achieve goals that also reach the goals of the changing intranet.
- Education - once people understand a rationale for the change, they may decide to support the change realising why the change is needed and what is needed of them.
- Negotiation - when a resisting person or group cannot easily be persuaded, then negotiating may be the best solution. Discuss what they are seeking and what they want and find out what they will never accept. Work out a mutually agreeable solution that works for them and for you.
Intranet teams should prepare themselves to recognise signs of resistance. Gossip, grumbling and complaints are early signs of resistance. Others include failure to co-operate at meetings, failure for people to follow through on tasks assigned to them, and open arguments and attack. This stage can be lengthy, intense and exhaustive but if there isn't adequate consideration of the resistance issues raised and thought given to potential modifications to the proposed solution, it can forecast the failure of the ultimate implementation. Ignoring or failing to recognise any resistance may pose a risk for the success of the change. Resources and time must be allocated to address concerns and realistically look at some of the impacts and issues that may have been overlooked.
Change acceptance
With careful management, resistance will gradually dissipate and acceptance that the change is going to occur will increase. Some staff may still not like or agree with the change, but they accept that the change is going to happen. If the solution is strong and awareness and resistance are effectively managed, intranet users should come to accept the change. Acceptance is typically visible by people taking ownership for both themselves and their responsibilities. They will appear increasingly happier and more content as they find their way forward using the new intranet. People may need support or training to help establish themselves permanently in their new position. Congratulate people and groups on getting through the change and celebrate the successful transition.
