No Time for Impacts: What to Do When No One Wants to Talk About Change Impact

Picture this: There's a new system implementation. Initial thoughts suggest it needs to be delivered in about six months. So far there's no Project Manager, but a Business Analyst is dedicating 50% of their time to the business case. You've been hired to manage the people side of change. However, the impacted staff are too busy to talk. The project sponsor has delegated everything to the Project Manager, who they plan to hire next week.

Change management plays a crucial role in ensuring smooth transitions and successful outcomes. However, what happens when there's simply no time or willingness to address the impact of changes? How can professionals navigate through difficult territory where discussions about tried and tested project processes, including change impact, are put on the back burner?

Understanding the Challenge

Change management often involves thorough impact assessments and detailed change analyses to identify potential risks, anticipate challenges, and develop effective mitigation strategies. These steps are essential for minimising disruptions, managing resistance, and fostering employee engagement during times of change. Understanding detailed impacts also enables the type of precision communications that win over sceptics and build trust and understanding in projects.

However, in some scenarios, the urgency to implement changes may overshadow the need for in-depth impact discussions, leaving the team grappling with uncertainty and unaddressed concerns.

Strategies for Moving Forward

1. Focus on Communication

Even in time-constrained situations, effective communication remains key. Clearly articulating the reasons for change, outlining expected outcomes, and providing regular updates helps instil a sense of transparency and trust among stakeholders. When there's no time for anything else, prioritising trust is crucial.

2. Prioritise Flexibility

While detailed impact assessments are valuable, flexibility in adapting to unforeseen consequences is equally important. Encouraging an agile mindset and fostering a culture of experimentation can help teams clarify the uncertainties.

3. Empower Teams

In the absence of extensive impact discussions, empowering teams to voice their concerns, suggest solutions, and actively participate in the change process can increase ownership and drive positive outcomes.

4. Seek Quick Wins

Identifying and implementing quick wins—small, tangible changes that yield immediate benefits—can help demonstrate the positive impact of larger transformations, even without comprehensive impact assessments

5. Articulate the Risk

Ensure key decision-makers understand the amount of missing information and the key assumptions you'll need to make as a result. Lay this out in a risk assessment and ask for a response, or a decision on how to proceed.

6. Do the Next Best Thing

Understand the true owner. Ultimately, change management is about creating an environment that can accept and adopt a change, which can be tantamount to asking someone to adopt a solution they never asked for. The decision to move ahead—without having detailed change impacts upfront—is one that needs to be 'owned' by the leader making that call.

Embracing Change Without Full Impact Analysis

While it's ideal to undertake thorough impact assessments and change analyses, the reality is that time constraints or organisational priorities may sometimes limit the extent to which these discussions can take place. When faced with such challenges, change practitioners can adopt a proactive approach that focuses on effective communication, adaptability, empowerment, and the pursuit of quick wins to navigate through change successfully.

Working in the profession of change management isn't solely about predicting and preparing for impacts; it's also about how adeptly we respond to unforeseen circumstances, rally teams, and drive positive change, even under time constraints.

No Time for Impacts

Increasingly in agile environments, the ability to adapt quickly and lead change without exhaustive impact analyses is a valuable skill. By finding alternative approaches, change practitioners can continue to clarify the uncertainty and drive successful change initiatives. While impact assessments are crucial, the resilience and agility to address change head-on when time is limited can set practitioners apart.

When there seems to be 'no time for impacts,' there's always room for innovative strategies, building trust, engaging in proactive communication, and a resilient team spirit.

Talk to Agencia Change about Elevate: our unique change communications methodology. We'll get you moving with or without a change impact analysis in place. Book a free introduction by clicking below.

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