Change Management - Still the Top Problem Facing End Users in 2021?

The new year always brings with it a handful of important questions around the AIIM Community.

What are the key trends in information management?

What are the top challenges to overcome?

More importantly, what are the best practices and strategies to overcome them?

Each year, AIIM conducts extensive user-research throughout the community to address these questions and more. This research not only fuels AIIM's educational and developmental releases for all of 2021, it also gives the community a voice.

We kicked off our 2021 research study late last week, and the responses so far are rich in their candor and in the recommendations and suggestions that members of the AIIM community have to help others on their Information Management journeys.

In fact, some of it was just too good not to share. So, here are five ideas from survey participants you can use right now to help address change management challenges — still shaping up to be one of the number one problems facing end users.

• “Higher management is too focused on next step targets before the organization has had a chance to digest the changes that have already been made. Organizations need to make proper follow-up and make room for changes to settle.”
  
  
• “Engage with senior management and build a tangible plan for dealing with change, communication, coaching, and resistance. Give middle managers incentives to drive the change.”
  
  
• “Driving change in older organizations requires a more concerted effort to show value added before AND after projects/enhancements are implemented.”
  
  
• “We have had great success with a dedicated cross-functional team that meets about change management.”
  
  
• “Bring enterprise-wide initiatives to the C-level BEFORE investing any time in implementation. Give them a countdown of activities expected so there are no surprises. State explicitly: This is what we need from you.”