This is the second article in a three-part series on combatting change fatigue. Click here to access the first article.
Change fatigue is pervasive and costly. In our work with organizations, we’ve seen it derail strategic progress, drain productivity, increase turnover, and take a toll on overall performance. The good news? It doesn’t have to be that way. When organizations proactively manage their change load, they can reduce the risk of fatigue and promote a healthier, more sustainable work environment.
In the energy sector, load management refers to the process of regulating electricity demand to ensure grid stability and optimize efficiency. It balances consumption with available supply, preventing overloads and keeping operations running smoothly. This simple supply-and-demand principle is a helpful analogy for organizations navigating change. When the pace or volume of change exceeds capacity, the system falters—and so do people.
Understanding Capacity and Load
Two key factors underpin effective change load management: capacity and load.
Capacity refers to the maximum volume of change that an organization can absorb and successfully execute. According to Prosci’s Change Saturation Model, several factors influence an organization’s change capacity, including the organization’s past experiences with change, cultural attitudes toward change, people resources, structure, and employees’ belief in the need for change. Leadership and change management competencies also play a vital role. Think of capacity as your organization’s internal power grid—the energy source that fuels successful transformation.
Change Load, on the other hand, is the total “weight” of change occurring within the organization. It includes the number of changes underway, the scope and scale of each initiative, and the pace at which they are introduced. Change load can come from technology, updated processes, strategic initiatives, new products or services, cultural shifts, or compliance requirements, and each layer adds to the load employees must carry. Think of change load as your demand being placed on the power grid—the combined pull of every change initiative drawing energy from your people and teams.
When change load outpaces the organization’s capacity, saturation occurs—and that’s when fatigue can start to set in and risks start to rise. As the pressure to compete and evolve increases, many organizations are continuing to push beyond the limits of their capacity (i.e., their power grid), and research is validating this trend. Prosci’s most recent Best Practices in Change Management study found that 75% of organizations are near, at, or past the point of saturation.
That is a red flag for leadership. If you aren’t thoughtful regarding capacity and don’t manage the change load, the consequences can include burnout, underperformance, resistance, and turnover. However, two essential strategies create a sustainable path forward: proactive load management and capacity building.
Proactive Load Management
To better manage change load and reduce the risk of change fatigue, leaders can take these four practical steps:
1. Create an Inventory Your Current Initiatives
Step back and take a full view of what’s happening across your organization (or your team) Build a comprehensive list of changes planned or underway for the next six months. Include:
- The type of change (e.g., technology, process, behavior, culture)
- The timing of each initiative
- The groups impacted (e.g., departments, teams, or levels.
- It is better here to be more specific to identify load issues.)
Don’t limit your list to large initiatives. Minor changes, especially when layered, can significantly increase load.
2. Assess Group Impact Using Common Scoring Criteria
Once your inventory is complete, assess the impacted groups on each initiative, considering two factors:
- Significance: How much will this change alter day-to-day actions, behaviors, mindsets, or performance? (e.g., 5 = Significant impact, 1= minimal or no impact)
- Readiness: How ready is the team for implementation? Do team members believe the change is needed? Do they have the capacity, knowledge, skills, and ability to execute? (e.g., 5=High Readiness, 1=Not ready)
This simple evaluation can help bring structure to an often subjective discussion. It also enables the visualization of data, which can yield new insights.
3. Analyze the Data and Identify Risk Areas
Review the inventory and data with a strategic lens. Use the following questions to guide your analysis and/or engage other leaders in discussion:
- Which initiatives are business-critical and must move forward, and which ones might be deferred?
- Which groups are most heavily impacted (e.g., a high number of changes, or more than one change with significant impact)?
- What high-value changes show significant people-side risk (i.e., risks for fatigue or failure to execute successfully due to heavy load)?
- What opportunities exist to reduce the load or provide additional support (i.e., can any initiatives be delayed, sequenced differently, phased in over time, or streamlined?)
- What actions can be taken to support the most significantly impacted groups for changes that must move forward (i.e., additional resources, coaching, taking something off their plate, etc.)?
This reflection or discussion surfaces hidden risks and opportunities. Even a high-value change can fail if the impacted group lacks capacity or is asked to take on too much. Thus, pausing to step back and look at the bigger picture is an investment that can yield better results for both people and the business.
4. Plan and Execute Adjustments
Based on your findings, develop a realistic plan to reduce strain, align expectations, and enable success. Consider the following practices:
- Communicate proactively with impacted groups. Let them know what changes are coming and why they matter. Acknowledge their role and situation, and share the steps you are taking to manage the load.
- Ensure strong leadership and planning across key initiatives. That includes effective change management, project management, and sponsorship.
- Be transparent about priorities. If a change is essential, explain the stakes. Why is it important? Why now? What are the risks of not doing it?
- Make adjustments in timing or scope. Reduce the load by re-sequencing changes, phasing a roll-out to distribute impact over time, or deferring non-essential changes.
- Establish feedback loops. Regularly check in with teams. Where are people struggling? What’s working or not working? Stay close enough to spot or “sense” the symptoms of fatigue or burnout and respond early.
While assessing and adjusting the current change load is essential and can alleviate short-term issues, it is also a strategic imperative for organizations to build change capacity.
Building Change Capacity
Change is here to stay, so an organization’s ability to change well is a competitive advantage. This includes building internal capabilities and resources, as well as helping people at all levels learn how to lead and navigate change effectively.
A critical first step is investing in change-focused skill-building for team members, managers, and executives. This development fosters understanding, confidence, and competence, creating more internal “power” to support ongoing transformation. When paired with proactive load management, these efforts strengthen resilience and reduce the emotional and performance toll that often accompanies significant periods of change.
Additional strategies to build capacity include intentional investments in resources to support the people side of change, as well as reinforcing a change-oriented mindset as part of the organizational culture. When done well, investments in building your change capacity shift the organization’s ability to adapt and result in a much more positive change experience, creating embedded strength for the future.
The Bottom Line
To avoid change fatigue, you must prevent change saturation. And to prevent change saturation, you must proactively manage your change load and your people’s capacity to absorb it.
Too often, organizations press forward, stacking change upon change—assuming people will adapt, and assuming success will follow. But the human side of change has limits. When those limits are exceeded, it shows in stalled projects, lowered engagement, and rising turnover.
The organizations that lead change well are the ones that respect the limits and work to expand them thoughtfully. They stay tuned to the experience of their people. They assess. They adjust. And they equip their teams to succeed.
The difference shows—not just in business results, but in the energy, focus, and engagement of their people.
1. Enough is Enough: Tips for Avoiding Change Saturation by Tim Creasy (Prosci)
Breakthrough Moments Questions
- Think of a time when your organization or team navigated multiple changes successfully and still maintained strong energy and performance. What made that possible? What were we doing differently, individually and collectively?
- If we could design an environment where change felt energizing rather than exhausting, what would that look like? What elements (e.g., culture, resources, communication, etc.) would be present?
- What is one step we can take now to balance our change load better and build a more resilient organization, without losing momentum on what matters most?
- In what ways might I be unintentionally adding to the weight of change through what I initiate, how I communicate, or what I fail to prioritize? How can I lead with greater focus, clarity, and empathy?
