Change management is a powerful tool that every organization has in their toolbox, if they choose to use it. When you put change management principles to work at your organization, every major transition will be easier and faster. You will also build a great foundation for adapting to future changes. 

When it comes to technology, change management is one of the best ways to create user buy-in, prepare for the transition, provide comprehensive training, and successfully implement new software and hardware solutions in your organization. 

In the world of facility management, change management involves guiding organizations through big transitions, all while maintaining operational efficiency. When a large corporation has to make a change like implementing a new CMMS, they can depend on change management best practices to ensure a smooth and effective transition. 

It is important to find a CMMS provider who understands change management and can use that knowledge to create a successful implementation plan. 

What is Change Management, and Why is It Crucial for Facility Management?

Change management in facility management involves guiding organizations through transitions while maintaining operational efficiency. 

Key aspects of change management include: 

• Involving stakeholders from across the organization at the earliest stages of transition
• Ensuring clear project ownership 
• Building cooperation between departments and divisions
• Communicating clearly, consistently, and accurately throughout the process
• Providing excellent documentation of decisions and processes
• Implementing effective training programs for everyone affected by the changes
• Incentivizing participation and engagement with the new system 

To understand why change management is so important in facility management, let’s consider what happens when someone doesn’t use these principles. 

Without change management strategies in place, organizations can expect to see frustrations  and delays abound. In the worst cases, poor change management can lead to project failure. When this happens, new systems get abandoned or are underutilized, and teams revert back to old ways of working. 

When a project fails like this, the financial losses are significant. All that money spent on new solutions? It is essentially wasted. Plus, reverting back to old systems means you don’t get the savings or ROI that the new project was meant to provide!

Additionally, when you forego change management principles, you end up  with problems like these:

• Widespread frustration and resistance to the change
• Increased employee turnover (including high-value leaders) 
• Decreased productivity
• Conflicts between those who adopt the changes easily and those who are against the changes
• Organizational chaos, with teams using different processes
• Inconsistent data and reporting metrics
• A general sense of confusion about procedures 
• Work falling through the cracks
• Lost opportunities for growth and efficiency
• Loss of credibility when the changes never materialize
• Slower customer service
• Decreased customer satisfaction 

Contrast these frustrations with the benefits of change management: 

• Enthusiastic adoption of new processes and procedures
• Lower employee turnover
• Increased productivity
• Better morale based on unity and collaboration
• Improved data and reporting metrics
• Strengthened operations
• Increased growth
• Better customer service
• Improved customer satisfaction

Common Challenges in Change Management for Facilities Managers

Change management certainly makes things easier! However, if change management were super easy, then everyone would do it successfully, every time. The work of change management is certainly challenging. 

Let’s take a look at several of the most common issues that you may encounter during the transition to a new CMMS or some other major change:. 

Resistance to Change 

In general, human beings are change-averse. We like to stay safely within what we know. When we are presented with new technologies, systems, or processes at work, it’s normal for us to be hesitant, skeptical, or even hostile to these new ideas.

That’s why it is so important to communicate clearly and effectively, from day one until the new platform is seamlessly integrated into your operations. You need to convert the skeptics! 

Change management experts use a number of strategies to ease anxieties about the upcoming adjustments to procedure, including: 

• Clear communication
• Modeling a positive attitude while hearing and understanding concerns
• Communicating throughout the entire process
• Involvement of all departments and teams in decision making, as appropriate
• Effective training
• Excellent documentation
• Exhibiting strong leadership

Communication Challenges 

Clear and effective communication can create more buy-in and support a healthy transition, but how do you make sure that you are communicating effectively? 

Change management experts recommend: 

• Make a solid, data-driven case for why you need to make these changes
• Communicate the benefits to all stakeholders
• Ask questions--make sure your employees feel heard and understood
• Avoid confrontational interactions; leaders must model good communication standards
• Always be prepared; when a company leader presents information to the stakeholders, they must already have  a deep and comprehensive understanding of the changes
• Communicate consistently from the earliest stages
• Give opportunities for feedback and concerns 
• Define everyone’s role in contributing to the forthcoming changes to eliminate confusion 

Disruptions to Existing Workflows 

When change is on the horizon, one of the biggest sources of anxiety are questions about how current workflows will be disrupted.

Disrupted workflows cause stress for employees, increased costs for the organization, and frustration for customers. It’s a lose-lose-lose situation. That’s why changes should be implemented with care--and lots of pre-planning! 

To minimize or avoid workflow disruptions, consider these strategies: 

• For technology changes, make sure you are changing to a fully supported platform
• When changing processes, introduce new procedures gradually 
• Leadership changes should focus on making sure that workflows are sufficiently supported while the new leader comes on board

Overwhelming Complexity When Implementing CMMS or Similar Tools

Changing to a new CMMS is an intimidating process--but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming! 

Unfortunately, the complexity of modern CMMS platforms can become overwhelming if they aren’t managed properly. The common sources of complexity include: 

• Data migration challenges
• Maintaining data integrity during transition 
• Transfer of past work order data
• Managing vendor records
• Integrating with other organizational systems

To manage these complexities, change management leaders recommend a series of steps. 

Step 1: Break down the implementation into tasks.

Start with core functions of the CMMS and identify everything that your current CMMS does, the gaps in its performance, and what your new CMMS will do. Once you make the transition with these core functions, you can add features a few at a time. This prevents your system from being completely replaced overnight. 

You should also test each implementation as it is made before moving onto the next one. The last thing you need is a domino effect of problems that cause other problems! 

Step 2: Provide structured support to all stakeholders

Your stakeholders need to be supported during this process. From a bird’s eye view, you may be able to see the problems with the CMMS that you are replacing. But that doesn’t mean that everyone who interacts with the system can see those same problems. In fact, they may have been perfectly fine, based on when and how they interact with the platform. 

Employees feel supported when the organization takes these steps: 

• Offers role-specific training 
• Creates clear documentation
• Establishes support channels for questions and concerns

Step 3: Focus on Critical Workflows First 

An important component of change management is identifying a hierarchy of projects, workflows, and transitions. If you go about things haphazardly, the implementation will likely fail. 

Instead, focus on critical workflows by identifying essential processes. When you prioritize high-impact processes and features, you can change those first. That means faster improvements and easier transitions. 

Even though converting processes to new ones may seem daunting at first, change management strategies can make the transition far more manageable. 

How to Build a Change Management Strategy 

So far, we have established the importance of a change management strategy that is carefully planned and systematically executed. Knowing that something needs to be carefully put into action doesn’t mean that you automatically know how to put it into action. 

Let’s use CMMS platforms as an example. If you need to upgrade to a new and flexible CMMS solution, here is how you can make that happen with change management principles in play.  

1. Start with an assessment phase. 

Before you can start  making changes left and right, you have to conduct a full assessment of your current CMMS. Identify what is working, what is not working, and what changes need to be made to see better results.

During the planning stage, you will also need to: 

• Evaluate the readiness for change in each department, division, or team
• Define clear goals and metrics for measuring success
• Consider sending out a RFP to get detailed proposals from CMS providers 
• Create a detailed timeline with milestones
• Identify potential risks and develop mitigation strategies 

2. Engage stakeholders 

We have already covered some strategies for making sure your stakeholders are on board, but there are still some other things to consider. 

First of all, stakeholder engagement can make or break your project’s success. At Fexa, we have seen what happens when organizations do the hard work of engaging everyone who will be affected by the change. The end result is always more powerful and effective! 

Second, you can create a high level of engagement by designating clear internal project owners. These individuals should be knowledgeable about the need for change and how the new CMMS is going to address problems, but that’s not all. They should also be approachable, enthusiastic, and aligned with company culture. 

If your leadership is not 100% on board with your new CMMS, your first job should be to help them understand why this new platform is going to be good for them, their team, the company, and the customers. 

Last but not lost, create authentic feedback channels where individuals can express their concerns and ask questions. Promote these channels throughout the organization and make sure they are not difficult to find. Importantly, you must actually respond to these concerns! It’s not enough to say, “We hear you,” when people have questions. You need to provide people with concrete answers as often as possible. 

3. Thoughtfully address resource allocation

Good change management is supported by appropriate budgeting. The initial costs of a new system are not limited to the cost of the software, but also: 

• Implementation support and services
• Training time and materials
• Staff overtime during transition periods
• Documentation development
• Integration with existing systems
• Data migration costs
• Contingency funds for unexpected challenges
• Additional hardware or infrastructure needs
• Dedicated project management resources
• Post-implementation support and maintenance

These investments are all part of the true cost of facilities management. The reason why so many leading companies are switching to CMMS platforms like Fexa is that the ROI on a modern, flexible CMMS is significant enough to justify these costs.  

4. Prepare for implementation
We recommend a phased rollout strategy that builds testing periods into the plan. 

In the planning stage, you should have established clear criteria for success. Collect enough information at each step of the process that you can evaluate and measure its effectiveness. 

Implementation planning also means planning for contingencies. Have back-up plans in place in case you need to make a quick pivot. 

5. Offer comprehensive training

Great documentation and training can make or break your CMMS integration plans. We recommend asking any potential CMMS provider exactly what documentation and training options they provide. 

Internal training is an option, too, if you have a training department. 

Training should be: 

• Customized to different roles and responsibilities within the organization
• Clear and accessible
• Easy to navigate
• Complemented by an effective user support system  

6. Measure KPIs

What are your key performance indicators (KPIs) for this upgrade? If you don’t know what you are supposed to be measuring, you won’t have a real understanding of how successful you are. You also won’t know where you still need to make improvements. 

These are some KPIs that work well for most organizations that are switching to a new CMMS:

Operational KPIs

• First-time completion rates and repeat service calls
• Travel time and dispatch efficiency
• Service level agreement compliance
• Response times for critical repair issues 

Vendor Performance

• Response time metrics
• First-visit completion rates
• Adherence to NTE (not-to-exceed) amounts
• Compliance with insurance and certification requirements 

Asset Management

• Equipment uptime
• Maintenance costs per asset
• Asset lifecycle performance
• Preventive vs reactive maintenance ratios 

Financial KPIs

• Administrative overhead reduction
• Emergency repair cost reduction
• Maintenance cost savings
• Return on investment (up to 250% ROI possible)

Compliance KPIs

• Regulatory compliance rates
• Documentation completeness
• Required inspection completion rates

7. Plan for sustainability

Sustainability planning requires organizations to take a long-term approach to project management. A sustainable system must be based on a cycle of continuous improvement, including planning, implementation, evaluation, and then planning again. 

It would be great if you could promise your team members that this will be the last change they have to make, but the reality is that technology is always changing. Facility management is always changing, too! Choose a CMMS that is committed to staying on top of industry changes so that you can plan for future updates. 

Best Practices for Training and Onboarding Teams During Change

Training and onboarding can make or break your CMMS upgrade. Some change management experts refer to their work as “winning the hearts and minds of people affected by the change.” Effective training and onboarding are two great ways to do this. 

After all, when people feel confident in their ability to use a new tool or system, they are much more likely to embrace it rather than resist it! Training is your opportunity to help people get from where they are to where they need to be. 

Best practices for institutional training include: 

• Train leaders first so they can model and support the change effectively
• Create role-specific training paths with relevant examples and exercises
• Use multiple learning formats (live sessions, videos, documentation)
• Build in checkpoints to verify understanding
• Offer flexible training times and formats for accessibility
• Focus on explaining why changes are happening, not just how to do them
• Designate "super users" who can support others
• Create easy-to-access reference materials
• Set up peer learning networks and mentoring
• Schedule periodic refresh sessions as systems evolve
• Track training completion and effectiveness
• Provide clear paths for getting help when needed

Remember, the goal isn't just to get through training so that you can check “training and onboarding” off a list. Rather, your goal is to create confident, capable users who can make the most of your new system.

Measuring Success in Change Management

We have already talked about several numbers you can measure to determine your implementation success. But  let’s consider something important: success is about much more than tracking numbers. It is also about understanding what those numbers mean for your organization. 

Before kicking off any major changes, take time to document your current circumstances. What are your current performance metrics? Where are your pain points? What specific improvements are you hoping to achieve by introducing a new CMMS? 

These are baseline measurements that you can use to demonstrate the values of every change you make. 

Creating an effective measurement system requires regular check-ins and evaluation. Simple data collection isn't enough; you need to analyze trends, identify patterns, and make adjustments based on what you learn along the way. 

This might mean creating progress dashboards, establishing feedback mechanisms, or developing new ways to track both quantitative and qualitative improvements.

Key areas to monitor include:

• User adoption rates
• System utilization
• Process efficiency gains
• Cost savings
• Time savings

How Change Management Drives Operational Efficiency and ROI

Change management and ROI are directly connected: when big changes are managed well, organizations see stronger returns on their investment into those changes. 

We started this guide by discussing the risks of project failure; there is no faster way to decimate your ROI than to fund a major project and then watch it fail. Change management is the best way to prevent those failures! 

Think of it this way: If you are going to invest in a major improvement like a new CMMS, you need to invest in change management, too. Otherwise, you are adding a whole lot of risk to something that has the potential to be very low-risk. Change management reduces corporate risk. 

Here’s why: 

• Fast adoption drives ROI
• Teams that understand and embrace new systems start using key features faster and more effectively
• Solid training programs prevent costly mistakes 
• The sooner your new system is up and running, the sooner you can see the benefits that you signed up for in the first place

The long-term benefits of change management extend far beyond the initial transition period. Rather, using a strong change management framework creates a strong foundation for future operations. 

Importantly, well-managed changes build trust throughout your organization, making future transitions even smoother. 

Moving Forward with Change Management

Effective change management is about more than navigating the immediate tasks associated with a major change. It is also about creating a foundation for long-term success. As your organization grows and evolves, having strong change management practices in place will help you adapt more quickly and efficiently to new challenges and opportunities.

For more detailed insights into managing organizational change, particularly around CMMS implementation, check out our webinar series:

• "How to Manage Changing Your CMMS Provider"
• "Pivoting Providers"
• "How to Implement a CMMS for the First Time"

These Fexa-hosted webinars provide real-world examples and expert guidance from facility management professionals who have successfully navigated major organizational changes.

Why Choose Fexa for Your CMMS Transition

Fexa delivers advanced facility management software specifically tailored for multi-site businesses. Our highly configurable CMMS platform helps companies like yours streamline their operations, ensure compliance, and boost efficiency. 

We are trusted by leading brands like Dollar General, Five Guys, and Crate & Barrel, and we are proud to support nearly 2 million locations daily. 

Here’s what sets Fexa apart:

• No vendor access fees which reduces  your overall costs
• Highly configurable platform that adapts to your needs
• Smart project management and automation tools
• Comprehensive support throughout implementation
• Future-ready architecture that grows with your business

When you’re ready to transform your facilities management with a partner who understands change management, talk to us at Fexa. You can request a demo today and discover how Fexa can help make your transition smooth and successful.