How PMI Digital defines change
The point of change is simple: did behavior change?
Most change initiatives focus on communication, training, kickoff meetings, and newsletters. Those activities are visible and easy to measure, but they are not the same as change. Real change occurs when people use new systems, follow new processes, and perform work differently on a daily basis.
Managers
Managers are the critical piece in change. A good manager works with employees daily, gives direction, corrects behavior, and reinforces the new expectation long enough for it to become normal. Upper management and the trasnformation manager do not have that level of insight and influence/
Individual pace
Some employees change quickly. Some change slowly. Some will never change unless forced. Good change management peograms take these differences into account instead of assuming one message will move everyone equally.
Long-term test
The question is not whether people complied in a meeting, while others were jsut watching. The question is whether behavior changed in the desired direction over time and became internalized.
Operational reality
If a new accounting system is installed but people continue using spreadsheets, a second computer, shadow files, or parallel workarounds, the organization has not changed.
If the old way still exists in parallel, the organization has not changed.