Results of the Change Factor Survey which may change your view on change

Results of the Change Factor Survey (from Roger Kastner)

One of the key points of the Why Change Management Projects Succeed presentation is that no single list of success factors will guarantee repeatable success—instead, the inherent value in the Change Success Checklist is the ability to modify the list based on the objectives of the initiative, the expectations of the stakeholders, and the needs of the target audience.

Even though I’m about to share the results of this particular survey, there is no guarantee that this list of factors will produce successful change for your next change project.

Here are the results of the Change Factor Survey:

Question 1: Please select what you believe are the top 5 factors that contribute to successful change initiatives.

Success Factor	Responses	%
Active & Engaged Sponsorship: committed, consistent, and positively supporting and impacting progress	145	71.8%
Change Leadership: the ability of the sponsor and leaders to effectively lead the target audience through and reinforce the change	95	47.0%
Employee Engagement: engaging a representative group of the target audience to help develop and implement the solution	90	44.6%
Clear Business Objectives: vision for the change tied to ROI and tangible, measureable goals	90	44.6%
Change Communications: frequent and open communications about the change	80	39.6%
Stakeholder Engagement: engaging and leveraging the leaders who lead people through the change	76	37.6%
Clearly Identified “What’s in it for me” (WIIFM): articulating the reasons why the change is beneficial to the individual	52	25.7%
Change Dialogue with Manager: open dialogue between manager and employee about the change, the impacts the employee can expect, the support the employee will receive, and any potential areas of resistance the employee might experience	50	24.8%
Dedicated and Skilled Change Managers: experienced and talented change managers who can coach and support the sponsor and leaders, and know how to adjust plans when necessary	47	23.3%
Influencer Engagement: identification and deployment of key well-networked individuals to positively influence others to embrace and adopt the change	40	19.8%
Reinforcement: the activities that support and measure active engagement with the change after the moment of impact	38	18.8%
Project Management: utilizing PM best practices and approaches to set, manage, and deliver on expectations of the change effort’s scope, schedule, and budget	37	18.3%
Resistance Management: identifying and creating activities to address the areas of resistance to the change	31	15.4%
Positive Environment: able to take on challenges with positive outlook and planning for success rather than looking for failure	29	14.4%
Active Governance Structure: design a model for how teams will operate to ensure effective teamwork and problem resolution among leaders	28	13.9%
Project to Organization Vision Alignment: project vision aligns well with mission and purpose of the organization	25	12.4%
Stakeholder Expectations: identified expectations of all stakeholders for project interactions and outcomes	17	8.4%
Minimize Scope & Requirements: minimizing the amount of change and/or the amount of change transition to only require the minimum amount of change necessary to achieve outcomes	17	8.4%
Formal Change Methodology: adhering to a formal process such as ADKAR, LaMarsh, Kotter, etc.	16	7.9%
Organizational Change Track Record: proven successful organizational change has occurred previously and has been sustainable	7	3.5%

Question 2: Which of the following best describes your role?

Role	Responses	%
Change Management Professional—Consultant	134	66.7%
Change Management Professional—Internal/Employee	44	21.9%
Manager/Director of CM Function	15	7.5%
Stakeholder of CM Function (no change management responsibilities)	8	4.0%

Question 3: How many change initiatives have you lead or had some degree of responsibility for the successful implementation of change?

Number of Initiatives	Responses	%
0	2	1.0%
1-4	45	22.3%
5-9	66	32.7%
10+	89	44.1%

Definitely some unexpected responses in the ranking of the Change Success Factors. In fact, two of the bottom three are on my Change Success Checklist. Yet with over 70% of respondents having significant experience with change, definitely some experience amongst the crowd.