Clarity

A common "gotcha" to change is that not everybody has the same understanding of what the future looks like.  Without a clear understanding, you might find that your operations aren't working toward the new goal and things can start to fall apart.To make sure that doesn't happen, you need to be really clear on defining the future.  Key elements of this are making sure that the new processes have been defined, along with the roles, responsibilities, and expectations for everybody who is involved in the process, and getting your communication plan in place and executed.And, has everybody been trained and are they ready to provide the  new services that are being asked of them?  A prerequisite to them being successful is that they know what they need to do and they have the skills to do it.And, even though everybody may understand what the new process is, and they have been trained to be able to do their part, do they also understand that they are expected to go along with it?  As opposed to thinking "ok, this is another change initiative that is going to disappear in a few months so I'll just pretend to go along with it and everything will be fine and go back to normal soon".This is where the executive sponsorship is really important.  The message needs to go out from the sponsor that everybody really needs to give this a try and give it their best effort.  Part of that message should include the information about how people can give feedback and suggestions to improve areas that might be a little bumpy.With the expectations being clear and with the right sponsorship, your change can succeed!