Thriving through change - creating successful, embedded change
Help people make sense of significant change with individual transition coaching and team workshops
Some people love change, embrace it and champion it - in the workplace, that's often those leading change. Others fear it and don't cope well, or struggle to make sense of it.
It often depends not just on our own past experiences of change, but also on how change is communicated and if we feel engaged with it.
When you're implementing a significant change at work - transition coaching (individual and team) helps provide a common understanding of what the change means and helps people manage their own way through the process.
A human-centred approach for change management
In business, as in life, change has always been a constant - it is business as usual. It's necessary for growth and success - personal, professional and organisational. Time was, a senior team would make a major change (a merger, or reorg for example), make one announcement about it (if you were lucky) and then everyone was supposed to get on with their jobs.
Now, thankfully, we're usually more evolved and that scenario is unusual (isn't it?). These days we expect more from our leaders – people at work expect to be heard and feel included. They need to be engaged and aligned, on a personal level, with the company's vision and strategy - they want to make a difference. And, this makes a difference in how leaders deliver change.
Defining what change means to you and having a consistent, embedded approach to how you manage change and involve people in it will make for smoother sailing. You can plan to manage change - whether it’s intended, such as a rebrand or a new org. structure or if it comes as a crisis, a storm, out of a clear blue sky - having your ship, ship-shape and your crew ready, helps to navigate choppy waters.
It's essential to acknowledge we each react differently to change and that everyone involved needs to understand the change for it to be successful.
Successful change is dependent on effective, consistent communications. Providing clear and open lines of two-way communication throughout the process is a critical element - to make sure everyone is on board.
Open, clear, consistent and timely messaging, together with formal conversational structures (like 1:1s, skip meetings, team meetings) provide ways to have conversations and to give and receive feedback.
Teams and individuals need to feel able to share their concern and frustrations as openly as they can their enthusiasm and praise if change is to be achieved.
Typically, leaders are unafraid of challenge and change – they thrive on it. Arming managers and their teams with the skills to manage the psychological side of change makes for successful, embedded change. Keeping two-way communication open and letting everyone manage their own way through, at their own pace (as far as possible) is key.
It’s up to those leading change to make sure everyone involved has the skills they need to manage their way through change. Using Fisher’s model of some of our emotional responses to change, based on Kubler Ross’ change curve, or using the 'change house' can all be useful conversation starters. It can be helpful to understand different perspectives and see where each team member feels they are and to share that.
Please get in touch to let me know how I can help you support your teams through change.