Change management is a multi-faceted discipline, and change managers draw on many kinds of data to inform their strategies. However, people are the true driving force behind change, so change management efforts need to harness the data that people within an organization generate.
People-centered data itself can come in several forms. Everything from detailed surveys to opportunistic observations of how employees react to unexpected change, such as the rapid shift to telework that many federal agencies experienced at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic can inform the change management strategies.
It is the employees who use the systems, who operate according to established processes, that modernization initiatives will affect first and most directly. It is the employees who determine whether an initiative succeeds or fails, based on their willingness and ability to accept it. And therefore, it is incumbent upon change managers to understand employee mindsets before, during and after the execution of the project.
This is data-driven change management, necessary in order to effectively manage transitions from legacy systems, processes and practices to new ones. Download the white paper for more on how organizations can gather, analyze and use people-centered data.
