1. Change is the Only Constant

   75% of organizations expect to increase the types of significant change initiatives they will undertake in the next three years, according to Gartner.

2. Change isn't Easy

   While businesses frequently undergo substantial changes nowadays, about half of change initiatives fail, whereas only 34% report evident success. 16% of change initiatives report mixed results, according to Gartner.

3. Companies Must Change their Culture for a Transformation to Succeed

   Cultural inertia causes most of the failures of change initiatives. According to Gartner, 46% of CIOs report culture is the biggest barrier to success, while 42% of CEOs at companies undergoing digital transformations expect their firms to undergo profound cultural changes.

4. Engaged Employees Make for More Successful Change Implementation

   Activities that improve employee engagement include executive sponsorship or leadership, increased consultation with frontline employees, and enhanced communications, amongst others.

5. Top-down Change Initiatives are Much Less Effective than Open-Source Changes

   Top-down changes are determined by upper management, whereas open-source changes are a cooperative process where employees and management are involved in creating a change initiative. Using an open-source approach, the rate of lasting success jumps to 58%, compared to just 34% for top-down changes, according to Gartner.

6. Stay Positive Throughout the Process

   If leaders and employees believe that successful change is an unlikely outcome, they tend to regard momentary setbacks as the dead canary in the coalmine of their change initiative. Suddenly, employees will disengage en masse, and you've got a self-fulfilling prophecy on your hands. Don't give up.

7. Change Requires a Great Deal of Understanding from Everyone Involved

   For big changes to take hold, people at every level of the organization must understand why these changes are taking place. With a top-down approach, the gap in understanding between the c-suite and entry-level employees is a whopping 31%. Compare this to an open-source change strategy, where that gap shrinks to a mere 3%, according to Gartner.

8. The Most Successful Change Initiatives are Engaging and Well-supported

   The three essential elements for a successful transformation, according to Google, are 1) a fun, engaging communications plan, 2) executive sponsorship, and 3) innovation councils to sustain the change.

9. Let Employees Guide the Implementation Process

   Shifting implementation planning to employees can boost the probability of success by 12%. Successful organizations empower employees to experiment with solutions and new ideas but also set guardrails to prevent actions from derailing the change, according to Gartner.

10. Successful Change Requires Continued Work, Even After it Seems Complete

    Training programs for new systems have proven to be critical during and after a change has been implemented. 69% of the most effective change programs offered training before and after go-live, according to Google.

If you're a manager who needs to adapt and develop a successful change strategy, you can start with Google's Change Management Resources and Technical Guides.