Tips for Avoiding Change Saturation

Time to Read: 3 Min

Managing Change Saturation: Strategies and Approaches

Change saturation, the overwhelming presence of numerous ongoing changes in an organization, can pose significant challenges for Change Management professionals and project leaders. To effectively address this issue, a focused approach is required. 

Understanding Change Saturation

Change saturation arises when an organization experiences an excess of simultaneous changes, negatively impacting both individuals and the organization as a whole. This often occurs due to a lack of oversight and a failure to maintain a holistic view of all ongoing change efforts. While Project Management Offices (PMOs) have made progress in project portfolio management, they often focus solely on inventorying projects and technical details, overlooking the collective impact of these changes.

Change saturation is influenced by two primary variables: change capacity and change disruption. It's essentially a matter of supply and demand. Change capacity represents an organization's ability to handle change, shaped by its culture, history, structure, perceived need for change, and Change Management competency. On the other hand, change disruption is determined by the number of ongoing changes and their disruptive effects. When change disruption exceeds change capacity, organizations find themselves saturated with change.

The Prosci Change Saturation Model dissects change saturation into two essential components: change capacity and change disruption. Change capacity depends on the organization's readiness and capability to manage change, while change disruption measures the intensity and volume of changes underway.

Organizations Grappling with Saturation

Many organizations are currently grappling with change saturation. In addition to pandemic-related changes, industries are evolving rapidly, economic uncertainty prevails, and companies face growing pressure to adapt to survive. According to Prosci's Best Practices in Change Management research, 73% of respondents in a recent study reported being near or beyond the point of saturation.

Tactics for Neutralizing Change Saturation

Change saturation can have far-reaching consequences on organizations, affecting individuals, projects, and the overall work environment. To counteract change saturation, consider these tactics:

1. Raise awareness about the consequences: Change saturation has wide-ranging consequences, which should not be overlooked. These consequences include:

   • Individuals: Employees experiencing change saturation may exhibit disengagement, apathy, frustration, increased stress, fatigue, resistance to change, confusion, cynicism, and skepticism.

   • Projects: In a change-saturated environment, projects may suffer from inadequate budgets, insufficient human resources, and a lack of attention. This leads to unmet objectives and unrealized benefits.

   • Organization: At the organizational level, change saturation can lead to higher turnover, declining productivity, increased absenteeism, a loss of focus on core business functions, and low morale.

   It's imperative to create awareness among senior leaders about these consequences, emphasizing the importance of managing the change portfolio effectively.

2. Map your current portfolio of change: Managing the change portfolio involves evaluating all ongoing change efforts and understanding their cumulative impact on employees and workgroups. This requires taking a step back to assess the entire portfolio. Prosci has developed a Change Portfolio Management Process consisting of several phases:

   • Phase 1: Identify
     Define the boundaries of the analysis and create an inventory of ongoing change efforts, including non-project changes.

   • Phase 2: Investigate
     Gather data about each change effort, including size, impact, disruptive nature, risks, and its effects on different groups within the organization.

   • Phase 3: Analyze
     Create a portfolio perspective, including heat maps and graphs to visualize the cumulative impact of all changes. Identify areas of change saturation and associated risks.

   • Phase 4: Act
     Present the portfolio to senior leaders and take actions to alleviate change saturation and its consequences.

   • Phase 5: Monitor, Manage and Control
     Continuously evaluate new change efforts and assess the impact of changes exiting the portfolio.

3. Manage your changing portfolio: Recognize that the change portfolio is dynamic and constantly evolving with new changes being introduced and old ones retiring. Implement a portfolio management system to evaluate new changes based on their impact on the entire portfolio. When changes exit the portfolio, assess their impact, and gather lessons for future efforts. A well-managed change portfolio system ensures continuous improvement and feedback loops.

Applying Effective Change Management

In addressing change saturation, the effectiveness of Change Management practices plays a critical role. While some aspects of a change effort are beyond control, such as the nature of the change itself, the people side of change can be managed effectively. Initiatives introduced without Change Management can be highly disruptive, resulting in resistance, confusion, and inefficiency.

Effective Change Management involves engaging senior leaders, developing comprehensive communication plans, equipping people managers to support employees through change, and proactively addressing resistance. By applying a structured approach to managing the human aspects of change, organizations can significantly reduce disruption and successfully navigate change saturation.

Change doesn't have to be overwhelming. With proactive Change Management strategies and a holistic approach to the change portfolio, organizations can optimize their capacity for change and drive successful transformations.