Change management: how to bring your team along when you digitalise

A Ghent SME had finally found the budget for its digital transformation. New software, streamlined processes, the whole works. Three months later the CEO rang, frustrated.

"Walter, technically everything works perfectly. But half my team is still using the old Excel sheets. How do I get them on board?"

Walter has seen this scenario countless times in well over twenty years as a programme managerThe person who oversees several related projects and aligns them towards one shared goal.. From software testing to change managementBringing people along with a change, so that new ways of working actually stick. at large organisations such as Fluvius and Euroclear, and later at SMEs. The technology is ready, but the people aren't. And without the people, the technology delivers nothing.

Why a digital transformation often runs aground on your own team

As IT professionals, we often think a good solution sells itself. "As long as it's more efficient, they'll use it." Nothing could be further from the truth.

An Antwerp wholesaler had implemented a beautiful new order system. Everything digital, automatic stock control, real-time reportingTurning data into clear management information.. Technically a gem. Yet Marie, the experienced sales manager, simply carried on keeping her own Excel files.

Why? Not because she was a technophobe, but because nobody had explained why this change mattered for her day-to-day work. And she had fifteen years of experience tied up in those Excel sheets. You don't throw that away for a nice demo.

The human side of change

In his time as change manager at Fluvius, Walter applied a method derived from ADKAR: five stages that every organisational change goes through, namely awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement.

The problem in most SME projects is that they jump straight to steps 3 and 4. They organise training and expect everyone to come along enthusiastically. But unless the team realises what is happening (awareness) and wants it to happen (desire), training is a waste of time.

Five practical steps to bring your team along

1. Start with the why, not the how. Don't make a technical demo your first step. Start with an open conversation about the challenges you are currently running into. Let your team tell you themselves what frustrates them about the current way of working. At that Ghent SME, it turned out the sales department spent hours searching for old quotes. Their new CRM system solved exactly that, but nobody had made the connection beforehand.
2. Turn your sceptics into ambassadors. There are always people who are enthusiastic about change, and people who resist it. Invest your time in the second group. They often have the best insight into why something might not work. Marie, the sales manager, eventually became the best ambassador, because we listened to her concerns and used her Excel knowledge to make the transition smoother for the whole department.
3. Make sure there are small wins in the first week. Deliberately plan moments when your team can experience that the new system genuinely makes their work easier. Not in six months, but within the first week. A simple example: show them how to produce, with a single click, a report that used to take an hour. Those "aha moments" are worth their weight in gold.
4. Speak their language, not IT jargon. Avoid terms such as "digital transformation", "process optimisation" or "change management". Talk about what it means for them: less repetitive work, more time for interesting tasks, better customer service. Terms like ADKAR and agile are your working tools, not theirs.
5. Stay involved until it becomes a habit. The biggest mistake in many projects is that companies think the job is done once the training is over. But new habits take time to form. Drop by regularly, ask how things are going, celebrate successes and correct any drift. Allow three to six months before it is truly embedded in day-to-day work.

Why this matters even more for SMEs

Large companies have separate change management teams. As an SME, you have to do this yourself, often alongside every other priority. That makes it all the more important to get it right. A failed transformation does more damage than no transformation at all. You have invested money, lost time and, above all, undermined your team's trust in future changes. The next time you propose a new system, it sounds like "yet another thing that won't work".

On the other hand, if you get it right, you create a culture in which your team is open to improvement. That is a competitive advantage you can't buy.

What now?

If this story sounds familiar, you're not alone. We see this pattern at most of the SMEs we work with: they have good technology, but bringing their people along is the real art. The good news is that change management is a skill, not a talent. You can learn it and practise it, and once you've mastered it, reuse it on future projects.

Are you in the middle of a transformation where the tech works but the team isn't following? Start by talking to the two or three people who still work the old way. Don't ask "why aren't you using it?" but "what does the old way do that the new one doesn't?" The answer tells you what the real obstacle is. And usually it isn't a training issue.