Involving people early, addressing emotional resistance, and consistent leadership are essential to successful supply chain transformations.
The Importance of Bringing Your Team Along on the Change Journey
In my experience with supply chain transformations, one recurring challenge stands out: We often emphasize technology and processes while overlooking the most crucial element—our people. After completing an extensive system integration or process change, we often realize that people haven’t fully adopted the new ways of working. This reactive approach hinders adoption and diminishes the value of new systems, leaving you stuck in the same inefficiencies and preventing the transformation from delivering the results you set out to achieve.
Engage Early, Succeed Together: The Formula for Change Management Success
Early engagement is crucial. We can’t just introduce new systems or processes and hope people will get on board later. By involving a cross-functional team from the start—leadership, planners, schedulers, and even operators—we give everyone a voice in the decision-making process.
This creates a sense of ownership, and when people feel like their input matters, they’re more likely to embrace the change. This approach works particularly well in projects involving Product Wheel Scheduling, where everyone from business leadership to the factory floor has a say in how the system is designed.
Overcoming Emotional Resistance to Change
Of course, effective change is so much more than taking a set of logical steps to the new system. Even when it makes sense, people can be emotionally attached to the old way of doing things—especially if they’ve used the same processes for years.
We’ve seen cases where operators found it difficult to shift from a daily production goal mindset to a longer-term focus, like weekly or monthly optimization. It’s hard to break away from what’s familiar.
That’s where senior leadership plays a crucial role. They need to reinforce the new methods consistently. It’s not enough to push the change once and expect everyone to adapt. People need time to adjust, and leadership must continually support and advocate for the new way of doing things.
Change is not adopted overnight; regular reinforcement helps employees transition emotionally and operationally into new processes. It’s a long-term effort, not a quick fix.
The ABCs of Leadership in Change Management
To lead successful change, I always come back to the ABCs of leadership:
Actively Engage
Leaders need to be more than just figureheads—they need to be visibly involved in the change. It’s about being present, advocating for the change, and showing employees that you’re as invested in the process as they are.
Build a Coalition
No single department can carry a change effort alone. Building a coalition of support from various functions ensures the change is supported across the board, from operations to planning to quality control.
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
Under-communicating is one of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen in change management. A message needs to be reinforced several times before it truly registers.
You may have heard of the Marketing Rule of 7. It’s proven that folks need to hear a message at least seven times before it starts to sink in. It is critical to repeat the key messages—why the change is happening, how it will benefit everyone and the end goals.
Fundamental Transformation Happens When People Are Invested
In the end, change isn’t just about new technology or processes. It’s about getting people to feel engaged and supported throughout the journey. When we focus on bringing people along, the change becomes more than just another project—it becomes something people are invested in, and that’s where real transformation happens.
From Challenges to Solutions: Practical Strategies for Leading Successful Supply Chain Transformations
Don’t miss our recent webinar, “Thriving Amid Supply Chain Volatility—What’s Holding Us Back?” if you’re ready to turn resistance into results and lead successful change within your organization. Along with Andy Durrant and Peter King, we explore these critical elements of change management and offer practical insights and strategies to ensure your supply chain transformations deliver their full potential.
Learn how early engagement, emotional support, and strong leadership can create lasting organizational change. Catch our insight-packed webinar and start transforming the way your team approaches change!
Tracy Kosiarek
Principal Consultant, Zinata
About the author
Tracy has over 25 years of global supply chain experience, including 22 years at Procter & Gamble. She excels in leading transformational change, optimizing operations, and improving processes across functions and geographies. At P&G’s Saigon and Iowa City sites, her leadership drove significant improvements in warehousing, production planning, and supplier management. She is certified in PROSCI Change Management, and is also a US Navy veteran. Connect with Tracy on LinkedIn or email her for more insights on effective change management.
