Diagnose Change Resistance After a Process Rollout

When teams work around a new process, the delivery director should investigate the workflow before recommending more training or a mandate. Workarounds can reveal a design issue, a missing local decision, unclear sponsorship, or a constraint during a particular shift. The regional leader and local managers are closest to the behavior, while the process owner can authorize changes to the workflow.

Ask for examples of where the workaround occurs, what employees are trying to accomplish, and which step adds friction. Review whether local managers joined the original design sessions and whether the new process changed handoff work. Bring the process owner, change lead, and representative managers into a recovery workshop that seeks evidence instead of assigning fault.

The regional operations leader says, “Can you make teams follow the process? Why did no one ask the regions?” The director responds, “The workaround is a signal we should understand. Where does it happen, and what does the current shift handoff require that the earlier workflow did not?” She explains that local managers were absent from design workshops and each handoff gained a new step. The director says, “A recovery workshop can map the observed workflow, hear from the managers, and give the process owner a clear view of what requires a decision.”

Finish the workshop with an observation log, workflow owner, local manager actions, and a date to review evidence from the revised approach. The delivery team can facilitate and document the work; client leaders decide how their teams operate. Practice by asking for one concrete behavior before suggesting any response.