If you buy a fancy kitchen gadget but aren’t really sure how to use it, chances are high that that bread maker is going to end up in a dusty cabinet. If you buy a gym membership but are too intimidated to attempt the unfamiliar machines or sign up for a spin class, you probably will end up never stepping foot in the gym.

That’s not unlike new technology in the office. We all know the saying, “Change is good.” But when it comes to having to learn a new IT system or feature, you’d think the saying was “Change is hard – I don’t want to do it!”

So as a leader, how do you get your team to not only adopt change, but embrace it?

Technology Drives Innovation, People Make It a Success

I’ve encountered many organizations looking to upgrade their IT systems, like moving to Office 365 or cloud-based applications. While updating technology is a priority, oftentimes what’s overlooked is the user enablement and adoption piece of that solution. Many leaders don’t necessarily understand what organizational change management entails. Additionally, mid-market organizations may not have the time or in-house expertise to consider, plan, develop, and execute a change management strategy. And most commonly, business and IT leaders believe that change management can be addressed with a few emails and the new technology will be figured out while on the job.

True user adoption is not accomplished with some basic training, it’s achieved by gaining buy-in and commitment from a diverse workforce where tech savviness and willingness to embrace change vary greatly from person to person. This will require organizations to make the people a priority in their plans to innovate with new technology.

Three Essentials of Successful Change Management

Organizational change management, or OCM, addresses the people-side of change. With the numerous technology updates and options that are available for mid-market organizations, OCM is a crucial component to the successful implementation of business process and technological innovations.

To help employees better understand the changes that are coming and to more easily adopt those changes into their work processes, every mid-market change management plan should have three key components:

• Assessing Change and End-User Impacts
• Defining the Change Management Approach
• Designing, Developing, and Executing the Change Management Plans

Every mid-market organization faces different challenges. But one common thread that’s helping organization address and develop a well-rounded strategy is enabling them to adopt and adapt to change.

Change Management for Mid-Market Organizations is the solution. OCM is made up of:

• Strategic communications planning
• Stakeholder management
• End user training
• Steps to help plan and analyze, design and develop, and of course, implement and execute change

As the pace of innovation increases, today’s organizations are experiencing tremendous amounts of change from emerging technologies. We’ve said it before, complacency is no longer an option in today’s market, and remaining relevant requires constant change. While new technology may be what’s driving rapid innovation, it’s the people that make it a success.