How to Create Process for Process-Averse Teams

All companies, at some point, will need to introduce a new process, or a process change. While management might be excited to get the ball rolling on a required change, you might face resistance from your employees.

There are many reasons for this, and in general people tend to be change-averse. This is why it’s key to introduce change in the workplace with careful consideration. In other words, you’ll need a process for process change. The steps for introducing a process include:

1. Collecting employee opinions and feedback on what the process should look like
2. Clearly and openly communicating why a process change is needed
3. Providing the right training
4. Providing a clear and realistic timeline for when the change should be followed by everyone
5. Measuring the process and impact

Why might workplace teams be averse to process?

It’s not that people dislike process changes; it’s more likely that they’ll resist process changes they feel are not in their best interest or are coming from the top down without any employee input. Other reasons teams and employees might oppose change include:

• Mistrust in the person making the process change: If your people don’t trust the person making the change, you’ll likely struggle to have buy-in.
• Fear of failure: Without proper training, people might be worried about failing.
• Poor communication when introducing change: As with all change management, communication is key.
• Unrealistic timelines: It’s important that changes have a well-thought-out timeline.

Below we explore how to introduce new process or process changes, and get employee support and buy-in.

What part of your process has to change?

Before jumping into an entire process revamp, managers must first determine the areas that actually need new process, or process refinement. While some changes might be necessary for managers (vacation policies, for example), other processes are required so employees can perform their jobs better.

So where should you begin? Some places you can first gather insight from include engagement and pulse surveys, and 1-on-1 discussions.

Engagement and pulse surveys

Employee engagement surveys could include questions about how your employees feel about their jobs, the areas they feel require process changes, and what’s working well for them. Some engagement survey questions you can ask include:

• Are you provided with the proper tools, resources, and time to do your job well?
• What areas of your job do you find the most tedious or become a time sink?
• What tasks drain you and which tasks energize you?

Take stock of the tasks that employees report as draining, tedious, or time-intensive.

One-on-one meetings

Another (more informal) way of gathering feedback is simply by asking during your 1-on-1 meetings with your employees. It’s been proven time and time again that when employees speak up, companies benefit, making it critical to encourage employees to share honest feedback. Some ways to do this include:

• Inviting consistent employee feedback (both in writing and verbally)
• Displaying respect, trust, and active listening skills
• Fostering workplace belonging with community and inclusion

How to create and introduce process and process changes

After you’ve determined where the process needs to be introduced or tweaked, there are concrete steps you can take to ensure teams follow and buy into them.

1. Collect employee feedback on what the process should look like

After collecting feedback on any areas that require process, management should solicit the opinions of the people who will be following and implementing it. This is perhaps the most important step when making any changes to how someone’s tasks might change.

Moreover, when change is simply introduced by higher-ups or management, without soliciting the input of the employees doing the work, it can create an environment of mistrust.

Your employees are the ones who know the tools and pain points in and out. They may have useful and practical ideas on how to help improve the process.

Your employees are the ones who know the tools and pain points in and out. They may have useful and practical ideas on how to help improve the process.

If you have an open discussion about why the change is needed, and ask for their feedback, it communicates that you trust them to be part of it. This is heavily tied to the importance of communicating a process change.

For example, many companies have client reports as key deliverables (e.g. monthly or quarterly reports). If your company decides that these deliverables need to be standardized across teams, it’s important to include the employees who create these reports in your decision-making.

As the people executing the work, their first-hand knowledge is incredibly valuable.

2. Clearly and openly communicate why a process change is needed

When a new process is required, there should be a concrete reason that can be communicated to your employees.

For example, many companies require employees to do daily time logs. It’s not uncommon for processes to change around time logging so companies have better data to see how employees are spending their time.

If a process change is needed here, it’s key to communicate the “why.” Simply introducing a change in this case might create mistrust (e.g. “does management not trust that I’m accurately logging my time?”)

A process change can be communicated in the following ways:

1. In meetings (team, company, or department)
2. Via emails
3. On Slack
4. In company-wide documentation

3. Provide the right training

Even if management believes the process change is straightforward, it’s important to provide your people with training. This should be in the form of:

1. A meeting, walking your people through the change.
2. Documentation outlining the change. The documentation can even include a recording of the meeting.

4. Provide a clear and realistic timeline for when a process should be adopted

Change doesn’t happen overnight. As with anything, people need time to adapt, adjust, and make a few mistakes. It’s key to strike the right balance between what your business needs to operate, and what your employees need to get used to a new process.

For example, as your company grows, you might need to change your vacation request policy. In smaller companies, people can typically make informal requests, and vacation lead time can vary.

You might later decide that it makes more sense for everyone to begin following a standardized process for vacation requests. After management determines the most sensible process, your communication plan should also include when this new process will kick in (e.g. “starting January 1st” or “starting at the beginning of the next quarter”).

5. Measure the process change performance and impact

After the process has been implemented, managers should follow up with employees to see if any tweaks are needed, and if the process is working. Some questions to consider include:

1. Does the process accomplish what it was intended to?
2. Are employees facing any friction with this process?
3. Does this process make your people’s lives easier or harder?

Once you’ve gathered feedback, as a team, you can make any necessary adjustments.

Change is hard, but you can work through it!

Even though change is hard, it’s not impossible! There are ways to introduce change, and ensure it has the right impact.

The most important step is including and getting buy-in from the people on the ground. This will help give them the confidence that the process is necessary, and understand why it’s being introduced in the first place. Without gathering their input, it’s likely they’ll feel threatened by this change, and resist it entirely.

By including your employees in the process and its inception, you’ll be more likely to get their buy-in, and more enthusiastic cooperation.