Change is always painful! How to lead better?!
What is change and change management really?
Simply defined, change refers to doing something different or the same thing in a different way tomorrow than today, it refers to a change of or within routine. There are the big business changes that make the news, such as production relocations or restructuring efforts, and there are the billions of small changes, such as a simple software update or a process change, that “mess with” the work routines of people around the world every day.
Every change at work should be managed which means that it should at least be explained to the affected people by the leader in charge of the area in which it occurs. The bigger changes and transformation efforts are usually not just announced but managed, hopefully with a clear, structured and measurable approach.
Why is even positive change always painful?
When was the last time you have met someone who regularly gets out of bed in the morning and really wants to change his or her routines? I didn’t think so… Humans are routine animals, our routines give us comfort (zones), a sense of purpose and the security to achieve something, mainly the same thing as yesterday but we usually don’t mind about that because we are used to the result. Just think about adopting a healthier lifestyle, not being out of breath after four flights of stairs sounds fantastic but giving up chips and beer and starting regular running sounds less great, after all some of us love beer and are used to being out of breath every once in a while. Making a change to any of our routines is painful, the more important the routine is to us, the more pain we feel. It also requires a significant effort and energy to make a change, energy that is spend on moving out of the comfort zone into a place of potential insecurity and failure. Doesn’t sound nice, does it? Let’s find out how to manage the big change efforts better and successfully help our people through the transformation
8 practical keys to being an excellent change manager
• Invite people to change, don’t force them to change: the initial announcement should always be meant and communicated as the invitation to a better future even if it involves job losses
• Paint a clear picture of the future situation and always address the “what’s in it for me personally?” concern of everybody, find a piece of mental candy for everyone who is needed to make the change happen. Different situations lead to different approaches here, closing a factory and relocating (part of) the production is different from establishing a new structure and sometimes the candy is really just pain medication, usually in part financial.
• Communicate and keep communicating, otherwise people who do not know what’s going on will communicate for you, potentially from a place of pain and fear
• Address positive and negative emotions in group and 1-to-1 settings! And this is more difficult and time consuming than it sounds because its prerequisite is actually a good enough understanding of the emotions and the people behind them, always listen first.
• Influence the influencers: your message and the change needs to be lived and repeated by others who have an influential standing when you are not there
• Try their job before you decide: Walking in someone’s shoes is a nice wording for a mostly imaginary exercise and it only helps if you are really doing it, not just thinking about it. Try to actually do some of the jobs you are trying to change, just for half an hour to get a taste
• Highlight and execute connected opportunities. You need to plan for it from the beginning and it is good practice to realize connected opportunities, you wouldn’t change a tile without cleaning the dirty floor afterwards either.
• Never give up on your efforts or your people and keep a winning mindset that includes everyone involved and celebrate every win on the way with them!
Thank you for spending time on my page! There will be more articles in the future and I am happy to expand my views on any of these brief summary posts. I am always glad to read your comments and receive your feedback on this article, never hesitate to get in touch.