So, you might say:

- Alright Erik, let’s sit down, grab a coffee, open Miro or Draw.io, redesign the process, talk to everyone involved, inform them that the process will improve, and everything will be fine.

Easy, right? Not quite.

Here is the reason I started this article: changing a process on paper is easy. The hard part is changing it in people’s minds, habits, routines, and incentives.

People’s habits

Human beings operate through habits. The longer people have been doing something in a certain way, the more that way of working becomes part of how they think, act, and make decisions.

From my perspective, there is even a process to understand how someone learns a new process. For me, it usually works like this:

• The professional joins the company
• They learn the existing processes
• Doubts appear, and other people teach them the right way — or sometimes the wrong way
• The first mistakes happen, but the professional is new, so everyone tolerates them
• More doubts appear
• The professional starts understanding how things really work
• They begin working with fewer difficulties
• Eventually, they become an expert in that process

So, why is it so difficult to change processes if we already know how people learn them? Simple: the second time, people are no longer treated as beginners. They are treated as experts. And experts are not expected — or allowed — to make mistakes.

Denial

This is exactly why many people do not like change inside companies. Having doubts again is uncomfortable. Making mistakes again is exhausting. Starting from zero creates thoughts like: “I cannot do this,” “I am incompetent,” or “I used to be good at my job, and now I feel lost.”

That is why, when something new arrives, most people will not immediately follow it. Some will resist openly. Others will pretend to follow it while continuing to work the old way. And this second group is the hardest for a manager to identify, because they do not fight the change directly — they quietly sabotage it by pretending to agree.

This is also where data becomes important. When a process changes, leaders need visibility into whether the new way of working is actually being adopted. A platform like Saint Jude can help by showing patterns in tasks, delays, costs, sprint deviations, team productivity, risks, and execution performance. Instead of relying only on opinions or status meetings, managers can see whether the process is improving delivery or simply creating new bottlenecks.

Advice from someone who has participated in several changes

As a manager for many years, I have participated in several process changes. Some worked well. Others were painful. In all of them, I learned a few lessons that are worth sharing:

Be clear with everyone

Clear communication about what is happening is essential from the beginning. People need to understand why the change exists, what problem it is trying to solve, what will change in their routine, and how success will be measured. You can even use this article to investigate the root causes of the problem before changing the process: How to find the root cause of your project’s problems

Without clarity, every person creates their own interpretation of the change. And when each person creates their own interpretation, the process becomes fragmented before it even starts.

Understand who to negotiate with and who will simply follow

Managing people during a process change is crucial because, at that moment, everyone wants to contribute with ideas. The principle is good, but it can quickly become a gigantic and unmanageable monster. Some people genuinely want to help. Others “help” only to delay the change, protect their own comfort, or keep the old process alive. Pay close attention to them.

Here is a good article that can help with this: Stakeholders – improving your power and impact

Either you are the boss, or you need full support from the boss

There will be battles among executives, managers, and professionals who are either against or in favor of the change. Having enough authority to move forward is crucial. If you do not have that authority, you need full support from someone who does.

Remember: negotiating with everyone can also become a sophisticated way to delay the completion of the new process. At some point, discussion must become decision.

Be prepared to remove people from the process

It is an unpleasant phrase, I know — but it is true. Some people simply will not want to adapt to the new process or the new way of working. Others, when they fail to adapt, may start an open war against the change. This becomes even more dangerous if they manage to convince others to resist with them.

Remember this phrase:

"A rotten apple can spoil healthy ones. But healthy apples cannot heal the rotten one."

This does not always mean firing someone from the company. Sometimes it means removing that person from the initiative, changing responsibilities, reducing influence, or making it clear that the new process is not optional. But if someone becomes an active obstacle to the company’s improvement, leadership must act.

Measure the change, not only the intention

Many process changes fail because companies measure only whether people attended training or received the new documentation. That is not enough. You need to measure whether the process is actually being used and whether it is improving the results.

This is another place where Saint Jude can help. If the change affects project delivery, it is possible to monitor whether tasks are clearer, whether estimates are improving, whether delays are decreasing, whether costs are better controlled, whether risks are appearing earlier, and whether team performance is becoming more predictable. A process change should not be judged by its presentation deck. It should be judged by its impact on execution.

If you give up, everyone will give up

This is about your day-to-day attitude. There will be moments when you will feel like you are the only one still standing. Do not give up too early. If you truly believe in the new process, go to the end.

To conclude this article, I remember the story of Sir Winston Churchill, who, while many people wanted a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, insisted that Nazism was a great evil and should be stopped at any cost.

Changing processes is not about drawing boxes and arrows. It is about changing behavior, incentives, habits, power structures, responsibilities, and sometimes even people. That is why organizing processes is always a tough task. Breaking them, however, is very easy.

And you, what do you think? Have you dealt with process changes in your company? If so, how did it happen? Like the article, comment on LinkedIn, or share it on your social networks.

See you soon!

Erik Scaranello