TL;DR
Most change stalls for people reasons, not technical ones. The three most common barriers are planning the structure but not the culture, leaving the people affected out of the design, and communicating by announcement instead of conversation. Sponsorship is the strongest counter to all three: in Prosci's research, projects with excellent change management were about seven times more likely to meet their objectives than those with poor change management, and effective sponsorship was the biggest contributor. The CEO's job is to make the case, stay visible through the messy middle, protect the change from premature pressure for results, and listen.
A new CRM, a move to Atlassian Cloud, an AI rollout or a restructure can all be delivered on time and still fail. The system goes live, the org chart changes, and six months later people are working the old way with new tools. The project succeeded; the change didn't.
This article combines our earlier pieces on the barriers to organisational change and the CEO's role in change management, updated for the platform and AI changes most organisations are now running.
Why the people side decides the outcome
Prosci, which has studied change management for more than two decades, reports a steep link between the quality of change management and results. In its Best Practices in Change Management research, 88% of projects with excellent change management met or exceeded their objectives, against 13% of those with poor change management. Prosci names effective sponsorship as the biggest single contributor to success. (Prosci sells change management training, and its figures are self-reported, but the pattern matches what we see on platform projects.)
The three greatest barriers to organisational change
1. Planning the structure, not the culture
Organisations are good at planning the visible parts of change: new reporting lines, new systems, new processes, timelines and go-live dates. They're much worse at planning the change in how people work day to day. A new CRM changes how pipeline is reviewed, who sees what, and what "good" looks like for a salesperson. An AI rollout changes what people spend their time on. If nobody plans for those shifts, the old culture quietly wins.
What helps: describe, for each affected group, what their week will look like after the change, and what will stop. Then align the things that shape behaviour, such as performance measures, incentives, meeting rhythms and reports, to that picture.
2. Leaving the people affected out of the design
People resist change in proportion to the threat they perceive from it. The greater the change someone is asked to make, the greater the uncertainty, and uncertainty fills with the worst assumptions. Being told a decision is very different from helping shape it.
What helps: involve representatives of each affected group early, in design workshops, pilots and testing. Give them real influence over how the change works, even when the decision to change isn't up for debate. They become your most credible advocates.
3. Communicating by announcement
Many leaders believe that once they've explained the change clearly, people will understand and accept it. But communication isn't a broadcast. It has to cover the message, the channel, the timing and the messenger, and it has to run both ways.
What helps: senior leaders explain why the change is happening; direct managers explain what it means for each person. Repeat the core message many times through different channels. And build in ways to hear concerns, because employees often raise problems the project team hasn't seen.
What makes the barriers worse
- Too much change at once. When several initiatives land on the same teams, people prioritise survival over adoption. Sequencing change across the portfolio is one reason organisations set up an enterprise PMO.
- Tools that add work. A new platform that means entering data twice will be resisted however good the communication. Connecting systems removes a lot of resistance before it starts.
- Unspoken job fears. With AI especially, people want to know what happens to their role. Silence is read as bad news.
Using the ADKAR model to find where change is stuck
The barriers above work at the level of the organisation. Prosci's ADKAR Model looks at the same problem one person at a time: it describes five outcomes each individual has to reach before a change sticks. Prosci is clear that ADKAR is a model for individual change, not a complete change management method, so use it alongside the roles and sponsorship below.
| Element | What the person needs | What usually works | Barrier it answers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Awareness | To understand why the change is needed | The sponsor explains the business reason; each manager explains what it means for their team | Communicating by announcement |
| Desire | To choose to take part and support it | Involve people in design and pilots; be specific about what happens to roles, especially with AI | Leaving people out of the design |
| Knowledge | To know how to work the new way and what good looks like | Role-based training on the new process, not only the new screens | Planning the structure, not the culture |
| Ability | To apply the new skills day to day | Practice on realistic scenarios, floor support after go-live, and no double data entry | Tools that add work |
| Reinforcement | Reasons to keep going and not slide back | Update measures, reports and incentives, and retire the old spreadsheet | Planning the structure, not the culture |
Prosci describes the elements as sequential but not linear. The practical rule is to find the earliest element a group hasn't reached, its barrier point, and work there first: more training (Knowledge) won't help a team that still doesn't see why the change is happening (Awareness). On a CRM, ITSM or AI rollout, a short ADKAR check with each affected group a few weeks before go-live usually shows where adoption will stall, while there is still time to act.
The roles in a change
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Executive sponsor | Owns the outcome, makes the case, secures resources, removes obstacles and stays visible throughout. Usually the CEO or an executive who reports to them. |
| Change lead | Plans and runs the people side: impact assessment, communication, training and reinforcement. Can be internal or external. |
| Steering group | Senior leaders from affected areas who make trade-offs and keep the change aligned with other priorities. |
| People managers | Translate the change for their teams, coach, and model the new way of working. The most influential role after the sponsor. |
| Champions | Respected peers who test early, help colleagues and feed back what isn't working. |
The CEO's role in change management
Not every change needs the CEO as sponsor. But for changes that cut across the organisation, such as a new operating model, a core platform replacement or an AI program, nobody else has the authority or visibility. Five things only the CEO can do:
- Make the case for change. Explain why now, what happens if nothing changes, and what success looks like, in business terms rather than project terms.
- Stay visible through the transition. Launches get attention; the difficult months after go-live, when productivity dips and old habits pull, often don't. That is when visible sponsorship matters most.
- Protect the change from premature pressure. Boards understandably want to see a return quickly. Change usually gets harder before it gets better, and pulling support during the dip is how investments are wasted. Set realistic expectations with the board early.
- Stay connected to middle management. For the CEO, a change often feels finished when the strategic decision is made. For middle managers and their teams, it's only starting. That gap can make the CEO feel more connected than they are. Spend time with the managers carrying the change.
- Listen, and act on what you hear. The simplest and most often skipped part of leading change. Concerns from the front line often point to real problems. Fixing one visibly does more for trust than any announcement.
Above all, the CEO has to model the change. If the executive team keeps asking for reports from the old spreadsheet, nobody else will use the new platform.
A sponsor's checklist
- Can you explain the case for change in two minutes, without slides?
- Does every affected group have someone involved in the design?
- Have performance measures and incentives been updated to match the new way of working?
- Do managers have what they need to explain the change to their teams?
- Is there a way for concerns to reach you, and evidence that you've acted on some?
- Have you set the board's expectations for the transition dip?
How Great Minds helps
We implement and connect platforms such as Salesforce, Atlassian and Microsoft Dynamics 365, and build the people side into every project: impact assessment, involvement of the people affected, role-based training and adoption measures. For organisations running several changes at once, our ePMO consulting helps sequence them.
Frequently asked questions
What are the biggest barriers to organisational change?
Failing to plan for the change in culture and ways of working, not involving the people affected, and one-way communication. Too many simultaneous changes and tools that add work make all three worse.
What is the role of the CEO in change management?
For organisation-wide change, the CEO is usually the executive sponsor: making the case, staying visible through the transition, protecting the change from premature pressure, staying connected to middle management and listening to concerns.
What is the ADKAR model?
Prosci's ADKAR Model describes five outcomes a person needs to reach for a change to stick: Awareness of why it's needed, Desire to take part, Knowledge of how to change, Ability to do it day to day, and Reinforcement to sustain it. Find the earliest element a group hasn't reached and focus there.
Why do technology projects fail to deliver change?
Because a system going live isn't the same as people working differently. Without attention to roles, measures, training and reinforcement, people keep their old habits with new tools.
How long does organisational change take?
Longer than the project. Expect a dip in productivity after go-live and several months before new ways of working are the norm. Plan sponsorship and reinforcement for that whole period.
Where to start
Pick the change you're most worried about. List each group it affects and write one sentence on what their week looks like afterwards. Where you can't write that sentence, you've found your biggest risk. We're happy to help you work through it.