Most Common Change Management Challenges – And How to Overcome Them
Listening to your feedback from my training courses and master classes, I’ve identified five major change management challenges shaping our work through 2025 and, importantly, how we can overcome them.
These insights are supported by data from the Annual Change Capability Survey. You can view the full survey results here.
Below, I’ve summarised the five most common change management challenges, their underlying causes, and practical solutions to address each one.
If you are facing challenges in the workplace due to organisational change then I have plenty of resources for you. You might be considering a certified course, ongoing coaching and support or in-house training, all of which are available from Capability for Change. Contact me today to discuss your requirements.
Top 5 Change Management Challenges — and How to Overcome Them
Every year Capability for Change conducts a survey where we invite industry professionals to share their insights into how change has affected their organisation, workload, processes and more. The change management challenges I’m bringing to you come from the results of that survey, so you know these are real challenges with real solutions.
The solutions to all of these challenges are taught within my virtual and online courses. Whether you choose to study Agile Change Agent, Agile Change Coach, Neuroscience for Change or Change Management Foundation and Practitioner you will receive an in-depth coaching session through the best theories, models and common challenges we face as change practitioners.
Challenge 1 – Managing Multiple, Simultaneous Changes
The Issue: No one experiences change as a single, isolated event anymore. With numerous initiatives running in parallel, people can lose focus, feel overloaded, or hesitate to act while waiting for clarity that never comes.
The Solution: Implement change roadmaps that visually connect different initiatives, showing dependencies and impacts. Establish change governance forums to align timing, priorities, and communication, so employees see how changes fit together rather than compete for attention.
Challenge 2 – Too Much Change to Be a “Side-of-the-Desk” Activity
The Issue: Change often gets added on top of existing workloads, leading to exhaustion and disengagement. Treating change as an extra responsibility simply isn’t sustainable anymore.
The Solution: Leaders must allocate dedicated time and capacity for change. Before launching new initiatives, assess what existing work can stop or pause. Encourage senior teams to “stop before you start” eliminating lower-value work to create space for transformation efforts.
Challenge 3 – Communication is not concise
The Issue: Employees are overwhelmed by information. Long emails or presentations are skimmed, ignored, or forgotten, meaning critical messages never land.
The Solution: Make communication more impactful. Use concise, multi-channel communication: 2-minute videos, short updates, or visual summaries that share 3–5 key points at a time. Layer communication, start small, spark curiosity, and invite people to explore more detail only when they’re ready.
Challenge 4 – Planning is Failing
The Issue: Detailed, long-term planning fails in uncertain environments. When external conditions shift, whether due to economic factors or global disruptions, rigid plans quickly become outdated.
The Solution: Iterative planning is essential. Adopt iterative, incremental planning (as taught in the Agile Change Agent course). Re-plan regularly, refine estimates, and stay flexible. Focus on short-term deliverables that can adapt as new information emerges, rather than fixed, long-term commitments.
Challenge 5 – Restructuring for Efficiency Dominates the Agenda
The Issue: Restructuring has overtaken digital transformation as the most common change driver. While efficiency gains are vital, constant reorganisation can create uncertainty and fatigue.
The Solution: Frame restructuring around clear outcomes and people impact. Combine cost-efficiency with capability-building so teams understand the benefits beyond headcount reduction. Pair structural change with cultural and leadership alignment to sustain morale and engagement.
Neuroscience and Common Change Management Challenges
These 5 challenges tell us things are changing fast. We need to react more quickly than ever before, we need to understand how people feel about change and be able to step in with support and coping mechanisms early and frequently.
This is where the study of Neuroscience can help – you can build your strategy for a world of constant, high-volume change using neuroscience.
After all, change is always a threat before it is an opportunity, and the Neuroscience for Change course teaches you how to shift the emotions triggered by change from negative to positive.
Neuroscience is the most in-demand skill I am asked for across all my change coaching and training work, so I am committed to offering an open session every couple of months so that you don’t have to wait for your organisation to commission a training course. Contact me for more information or to book your place today.