The Pitfalls of Change Management: Why it Often Fails

The ITIL® (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) Change Management Practice is a widely adopted framework, aimed at helping organisations implement technical changes efficiently and to minimise disruptions.

However, despite its importance, it's comprehensive guidelines, and the fact it's been around for so long, Change Management often encounters roadblocks that lead to failure. Unfortunately we see this time and time again with many of our clients and often we end up redesigning, or at least re-establishing and re-embedding Change Management on their behalf.

I'm afraid to say that nothing written here is very exciting and not exactly bleeding edge either, in fact quite the opposite! But its such a hot topic that we come across over and over again, so in this blog we will explore the reasons why Change Management often falls short of its intended objectives.

Resistance to 'Change' (and to Change Management)

One of the most significant challenges faced when implementing Change Management is resistance from within the organisation itself. Employees, especially those who have been accustomed to existing processes (or lack of), often resist following, what on the face of it can appear to be an overly bureaucratic and time consuming process, fearing that it could disrupt their daily routines or create even more work for them. In short, unless communicated and 'marketed' correctly, the likelihood of it's success is very low.

A lack of Proper Training

A really important thing to remember, is that no matter how good a process is, the effective implementation requires well trained and knowledgeable personnel to deliver it. Insufficient training can lead to misinterpretation of ITIL® guidelines, resulting in flawed processes and mismanagement of changes. One of the main issues we see here is that organisations often underestimate the importance of continuous training and education for their delivery teams and stakeholders of the Change process, often leading to Changes flowing through the process without the right questions being asked, inevitably leading to both minor and major incidents.

Overly Complex Processes

Change Management processes can sometimes become (or at least appear to be) overly complex, involving excessive documentation, approvals, and stages. While thoroughness is essential, overly complex processes can lead to bottlenecks, delays and avoidance behaviours. Streamlining and simplifying processes by introducing 'Standard / Pre-Approved Changes', as well as aligning with DevOps related activities, can have a huge impact on the speed of the process and therefore its perception of adding value. Rather than just appearing to be an overly bureaucratic or unnecessary practice.

Insufficient Resources

Plain and simple; Change Management requires resources to deliver and govern it. Many organisations underestimate the resources needed for effective Change Management, leading to understaffing, inadequate tools, and budget constraints. Often in smaller businesses and their IT Departments, the Change Manager role often becomes just a part of someones other job, leading to limited time allocation to run it appropriately and with enough discipline, often leading to unsuccessful changes and the cause of more Incidents.

Inflexibility

While Change Management aims to standardise processes, it can sometimes become too rigid, especially in more recent years with the rise of the 'need for speed'. Organisations can become overly reliant on traditional ITIL® guidelines, leading to a lack of adaptability in responding to unique situations or urgent changes. We see the balance between following best practices and flexibility being crucial for success.

Change Management vs DevOps

Let's make no bones about it, DevOps is very powerful and where possible, should be explored and exploited. The key words there though are 'where possible'.

We often see a scattering of DevOps activity, which some then think paves the way for "We dont need Change Management anymore, we have DevOps". The problem here of course, is not all of that creaking legacy estate is going to work particularly well under a DevOps regime.

Finding the balance between DevOps and Change Management isnt easy, but they can and do work hand in hand. The mistake we see a lot is a perception that one trumps the other, when in fact the should have a harmonious relationship where they compliment each other.

No support from Senior Management

Just as employees can resist change, so can Senior Management. If senior leaders do not fully understand and support Change Management, or fail to provide the necessary resources, the implementation is often likely to fail. Often we see 'urgent projects' needing to bypass processes, or phrases like 'we need to be agile', being used as excuses for poor planning, or because those sponsoring Projects or Changes not fully understanding the implications of not following this critical practice. Leadership commitment is therefore vital for 'leading by example' and driving the process adherence, or much needed culture change across the organisation itself.

Inadequate Measurement and Feedback

ITIL emphasises the importance of measurement and feedback to continuously improve processes. However, many organisations fail to establish meaningful Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) around Change itself, or do not collect data effectively. Without proper measurement and feedback loops, it becomes challenging to identify areas for improvement and gauge the success of change management efforts.

Conclusion

ITIL® Change Management is a robust tried and tested (and in our opinion essential) framework, designed to help organisations implement changes smoothly and efficiently.

However, unless implemented in an effective way that matches the culture and risk profile of an organisation, and unless people are trained and fully empowered to govern the practice correctly, it is destined to fail (or at least the full benefits will not be realised).

By understanding and mitigating the common mistakes mentioned however, organisations can enhance their ability to adapt and thrive in an ever-evolving IT landscape, keeping unnecessary downtime at a minimum.

In addition, whilst many organisations continue to explore opportunities with DevOps (and so they should), for us, in most organisations there will always be a place for good old Change Management.

If you'd like to speak to us to understand how we help organisations improve their Change Management activities, you can reach us at hello@itsmpeople.co.uk

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Information Technology Service Management processes include a range of activities designed to deliver and support high-quality IT services for your business. These can include incident management, problem management, change management, and service-level management. Additionally, ITSM involves continuous enhancement processes to improve service delivery, increase efficiency and reduce costs. By adopting strong ITSM practices, your business can improve service quality, customer satisfaction and achieve greater alignment between IT and business objectives. This holistic approach ensures that IT services are effective and integrated with your overall business goals. As ITSM focuses on aligning IT services with your business’s needs, you can ensure that IT processes and services support and enhance business operations. This is achieved through a structured approach to managing IT services, guided by best practices and methodologies such as ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library). These models provide guidance on best practices for delivering and supporting technology and other enterprise services and can help companies align their capabilities with their business goals and strategic objectives.
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We adhere to the ITIL Framework in delivering our ITSM consultancy services. ITIL is a globally recognised set of best practices for ITSM that helps businesses provide consistent, high-quality IT services. By implementing ITIL processes and principles, we ensure that your IT operations are standardised, efficient and aligned with industry standards. ITIL4 is the latest version of ITIL, designed to help enterprises navigate the new technological era known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This version introduces a more flexible, modern approach to ITSM, emphasising its integration with other areas of business management.
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Effective ITSM revolves around a number of processes. Whilst there are 34 practice areas in ITIL4, there are often a core set of practices that many of our clients are particularly interested in optimising. As understanding and implementing these processes can significantly enhance the performance and quality of IT services within your organisation. Incident Management Restores all service operations back to normal as soon as possible, minimising to lessen the impact on your operations. This process might involve logging, categorising, prioritising, and resolving incidents, ensuring which can help mitigate disruption to users and the business. Configuration Management Keeps an updated record of IT infrastructure - hardware, software, and network components - in a centralised configuration management database (CMDB). This database provides accurate data on configuration items (CIs) and their relationships. Change Management Ensures any changes to your IT services are controlled and coordinated. This process evaluates the impact of changes, approving them through a structured workflow, and ensuring successful implementation with minimal risk. Service level Management Defines, negotiates, and monitors service level agreements (SLAs) between the service provider and the customer. This process ensures that agreed-upon service quality and performance levels are consistently met. Asset Management Tracks and manages your IT assets throughout their lifecycle to ensure efficient use and cost control. You maintain an accurate inventory of hardware, software, and other IT resources through this. Problem Management Identifies, analyses and resolves the root causes of incidents. Proactively addressing underlying issues can prevent recurring incidents. This, in turn, provides improved system stability and reduced downtime. Request Management Handles the lifecycle of user service requests, such as access to applications, software installations or information enquiries. It ensures requests are managed efficiently to provide a streamlined approach that fulfils user needs and enhances satisfaction. Knowledge Management Captures, organises and shares knowledge to improve efficiency and support decision-making. By leveraging a centralised knowledge base, your IT teams can quickly resolve incidents and problems, and end-users can find the right solutions to common issues.
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Implementing the right ITSM strategy and optimising your tooling can provide a range of benefits for your company, including: Improved Efficiency and Cost Savings By streamlining processes and automating routine tasks, ITSM can help your enterprise work more efficiently and reduce the time and resources required to deliver and support IT services. Good ITSM is a silent enabler of success across a range of organisational goals. Improved Compliance and Risk Management ITSM can help you ensure that your IT systems and processes comply with industry regulations and standards. It also ensures that you are effectively managing risks associated with your IT operations. This can help you avoid costly disruptions and legal consequences. Increased Productivity Effective ITSM practices can help your business prevent problems and fix them quickly if they do occur. This can help you lower costs—outages cost money—and increase productivity and employee satisfaction. Better Customer Satisfaction You can improve customer satisfaction and build stronger relationships by delivering high-quality IT services that meet customers' needs. Improved Service Quality ITSM ensures that IT services are delivered consistently and meet agreed-upon service levels, leading to higher customer satisfaction and better overall service quality. Business Continuity ITSM processes like incident and problem management ensure that disruptions are minimised and services are quickly restored to ensure business continuity. Strategic Alignment ITSM aligns IT services with business objectives, ensuring that technology initiatives support and drive business growth. This alignment helps you make informed decisions and prioritise projects that add the most value. Enhanced Collaboration ITSM promotes a collaborative environment where IT teams can work together more effectively, sharing knowledge and best practices to improve your delivery of services. Proactive problem-solving Through problem management and a proactive approach, ITSM helps your IT teams identify and address the root causes of incidents to prevent future issues and reduce downtime. Continuous Improvement ITSM encourages continuous monitoring and improvement of IT processes, allowing your IT teams to refine and enhance their service delivery regularly. Better Resource Management With ITSM, IT teams can manage resources more effectively, ensuring that personnel, technology, and budget are allocated optimally to support business requirements.
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