In operations, there’s nothing quite like the rush of launching a new process. After weeks, sometimes months of careful planning, building systems, and training teams, everything builds toward that much-anticipated “golive” date. It feels like a finish line we’ve been racing toward.
However, as we emphatically learned in our recent 12-week Ops Edge course, the real, impactful work truly begins after the golive. This program delivered a crucial, often overlooked, lesson: the indispensable need for a dedicated “stabilization” period.
The Two-Week Rule: A Pause for Progress
This isn’t just a suggestion; it’s a critical phase that demands a minimum of two weeks where no further changes are introduced to the newly implemented process. Why is this so vital? Because this period allows your teams to fully engage with the new workflows, observe their real-world application, troubleshoot unexpected issues, and most importantly, genuinely adopt the changes.
As one insightful participant articulated, “You think you’re done after training; you’re not done. Usually, that’s where the work starts.” This sentiment perfectly encapsulates the shift in perspective that the Ops Edge course champions.
The course drew a powerful analogy, comparing the post-golive period to shaking a snow globe. Initially, there’s a flurry of “chaos” as the new elements settle. But with patience and a structured stabilization period, a new “order” emerges.
The Cost of Rushing: Avoiding Change Fatigue
Without this dedicated time for observation, troubleshooting, and support, organizations risk rushing into the next change before the current one has even taken root. This often leads to “change fatigue” among employees, where new initiatives are met with skepticism or outright resistance because previous ones were never given the chance to solidify.
By understanding and proactively building in this stabilization phase, we can drastically improve the success rate of our process improvements. It’s about empowering our teams to master the new way of working, ensuring they feel supported rather than overwhelmed.
This strategic pause allows leaders to gather essential feedback, make minor adjustments, and truly embed the new processes into the organizational culture. Ultimately, it’s about building a solid, resilient foundation for continuous improvement, rather than simply checking a box on a project plan.
The Ops Edge course doesn’t just teach you how to launch a process; it teaches you how to make it stick. Join the waitlist here before it fills.
