Change Fatigue. What is it and how do I prevent it?
Life in the digitised, globally interconnected world in which we live is punctuated by change. Consider how similar your childhood was compared to your parents. In my case, my parents grew up pre-internet and pre-mobile phones. Now do the same for your grand-parents, and their parents. The point is it doesn’t take long before their way of life is completely unrecognisable to us. It’s important to recognise that wasn’t always the case, and the image below illustrates perfectly just how rapidly these changes have occurred by looking at change over the long-term.
Max Roser (2023) - “Technology over the long run: zoom out to see how dramatically the world can change within a lifetime” Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: 'https://ourworldindata.org/technology-long-run' [Online Resource]
What is change fatigue?
Change fatigue is a phenomenon experienced by people operating in a state of continuous, disruptive change. In an organisational setting, this happens in companies going through sustained periods of aggressive growth, but can also be brought about by technological change and external factors such as legislation, politics or the environment. Some interesting frames of reference for understanding change fatigue lie within both biology and engineering:
“A failure mechanism that involves the cracking of materials and structural components due to repeated stress.”
“A decline in the level of response of tissues (such as muscle), cells, etc., to nervous stimulation, which occurs after prolonged and continued stimulation of these structures.”
People impacted by change fatigue often begin to feel anxious and overwhelmed, which is compounded by the feeling that their continued hard work is irrelevant in solving the challenges they face. These feelings of anxiety and demoralisation eventually morph into apathy, which is an extremely strongly held psychological position, and one that is next to impossible to change.
Causes of change fatigue
Overload: Overloading people comes in two forms. Firstly, there is the overloading of change itself without adequate time to adjust. Secondly, and in my experience the most common version of this is overloading in terms of expected workload. Companies, often due to timing or budgetary restrictions will assign existing staff to project teams without having considered the impact that will have on their ability to fulfil the demands of their current role. This often leads to a compound effect, where people are fulfilling both roles poorly, and neither to the best of their abilities.
Perceived Irrelevance: Changes that are perceived as unnecessary or not beneficial can demotivate staff. The key word here is perceived, which may reflect more on how the company has communicated the change, and involved stakeholders in the decision making process. If a company fails to sell the benefits of an initiative to the people most impacted by it, or responsible for delivering it, feelings of irrelevance can arise.
Rapidly Changing Priorities: The lack of a structured approach to implementing change can lead to confusion and frustration. A lack of structure often leads to changes occurring without proper notice and communication, or significant changes to scope being thrown at people with unreasonable timelines.
How can we identify change fatigue?
In order to identify change fatigue leaders need to work on their emotional intelligence. With frequent communication (preferably in person), leaders can watch out for the telltale signs of fatigue in their team members. For the purpose of this post, I’ve grouped markers into 3 main areas: emotional, cognitive and behavioural markers.
Leaders should where possible observe people’s behaviour, and try to maintain an open dialogue around these issues. This is notoriously difficult to observe in an organisational setting, as people often adapt their personalities and present their ‘work self’. On occasion, I would try and open a conversation about a change initiative in a non-work setting, and see how quickly someone makes a bee-line for the nearest exit!
Emotional markers typically present themselves first, as they are largely subconscious.
Overwhelm: Individuals may feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of changes or the perceived complexity of adjustments they need to make. This can lead to a sense of drowning in responsibilities.
Anxiety and Stress: Uncertainty about the future and how changes will affect one's role, job security, or ability to perform can lead to increased anxiety and stress levels.
Frustration: Repeated changes, especially if they are seen as poorly managed or unnecessary, can lead to frustration. This frustration can be directed towards the company, leadership, colleagues, or the change initiatives themselves.
Apathy: Over time, individuals might start to feel indifferent towards new initiatives or changes. This apathy is a coping mechanism, reflecting a loss of interest or belief in the value of the changes.
These are followed by cognitive markers, which result in a measurable impact on tasks.
Decision Fatigue: Constant changes require individuals to make an ongoing stream of decisions, which can lead to decision fatigue—where making even simple decisions becomes increasingly difficult.
Lack of Focus: With attention split between managing current duties and adapting to new changes, people may find it hard to concentrate on any one task, leading to decreased productivity.
Confusion: Frequent changes, especially without adequate communication, can lead to confusion about current policies, processes, or expectations.
Finally, as the mask of professional courtesy begins to slip, behavioral markers make it abundantly clear that something is wrong
Resistance to Change: Even those who are typically adaptable may start to resist further changes, showing skepticism or negativity towards new initiatives.
Decreased Performance: As a result of emotional and cognitive symptoms, overall performance can decline. This might be seen in missed deadlines, lower quality work, or reduced output.
Increased Turnover: In some cases, the cumulative effect of change fatigue can lead individuals to seek employment elsewhere, preferring the certainty of a new start over ongoing instability. The ‘quiet quitting’ of apathy has morphed into actual quitting, which clearly can have a demonstrable impact on not only the project, but the business as a whole.
How to prevent change fatigue
Effective Communication: Regularly communicate the reasons behind changes, the expected benefits, and the progress being made. Make this communication two-way to allow feedback and concerns to be raised and addressed. Ensure you allow adequate lead times before commencing work on a project. This allows for managers to backfill roles or adapt to temporarily reduced resource availability, and allows employees the breathing room to talk amongst themselves and form considered opinions before providing feedback.
Resource Management: Ensure you have considered how the additional workload required to deliver the project will be met by the business. If employees are at full capacity already, consider bringing in additional resource in the form of programme / project management, change specialists and additional technical resource.
Phased Implementation: Where possible, implement changes in phases to allow individuals, teams, or the business as a whole time to adjust. This should take place in the planning phase of any project, as the go-live plan will form a key component of the project communications. Phased approaches can be split in a number of ways, such as by user group, by feature, by department or geographically. Proper process documentation during the scoping phase should allow you to make a more educated decision about how to best phase the implementation.
Support Structures: Provide training, resources, and support to help stakeholders adapt to new changes. This can include mentorship programs, training sessions, and accessible resources for self-help. Consider the fact that a high proportion of employees in any business will already be operating at full capacity, and simply making training available without a follow up will not be sufficient. Take time out of diaries and allocate it specifically to training.
Recognition and Rewards: Acknowledge and reward efforts and achievements related to adapting to change. This can help maintain morale and motivation. Consider gamification strategies to reward users during training, or even provide staff with the opportunity to up-skill and seek out certifications for personal development.
Maintain Stability Where Possible: While change is necessary, maintaining some areas of stability within the organization can provide a sense of security and continuity for employees.
Conclusion
As the popular phrase ‘change or die’ would suggest, there is no hiding from change if a business is going to have continued success over the long term. That means employees are expected to become increasingly comfortable with working in a constant stage of change, which is perhaps unfair to expect.
From past experience, apathy is incredibly toxic in an organisational context, as it leads to a breakdown in communication (i.e. the company stops speaking, and the staff stop listening) which can lead to a ‘them and us’ culture.
Mitigation involves trying to tackle change fatigue as early as possible, which means being on the constant lookout for emotional and cognitive markers, and implementing strategies from the very beginning of a project to ease the burden of change.