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CHANGE SERIES PART 3 – ACHIEVING SUCCESSFUL CHANGE

Posted on June 26, 2020July 3, 2020 by nrg2perform in Article

By Craig Johns

Any leader can instigate a change, but managing effective and successful change requires something special. A meticulous attention to detail, outstanding people skills and the stamina to succeed are just some of the important factors that great leaders possess in delivering effective changes over a long period of time.

This article is the third part of a four part series discussing transformational change from a variety of different angles and providing an insight into some of the organisational changes I have personally experienced. Part one considered why change is important for organisational success, ways to manage change, and organisational impact through change. Part two took a look at how to prioritise change, while investigating the challenges and resistance faced during change. This article (part three) highlights factors for success during change and implementing a continual change culture. Finally, part four will bring to light effective communication strategies during a change process.

WINNING HEARTS & MINDS

To successfully effect organisation transformational change the most critical aspect is the ability to win the hearts and minds of the employees in relation to the change. Four key processes are necessary to impact change from a people point of view:

Understand how the changes fit into the entire organisations environment, through a systematic diagnosis of the current environment, as well as determining whether there is a need for change and if the organisation has the capability to develop, manage and implement.
Determine what adjustments the organisation will require to effect the change.
Continually train all employees so the changes are integrated into the organizations culture.
Ensure buy-in and win support from all employees through influencing appropriate adjustments.

It is so important to bring your team along for the ride. They need to grasp the purpose of the change, believe in it and be willing to give one hundred percent commitment. As a leader you need to plan and prepare how you will win the hearts and minds.

Jeff Immelt, who recently retired as CEO of General Electric (GE) after seventeen years at the helm, was successful at implementing a change culture that could comprehend multiple organisational transformation changes. In an article called ‘How I remade GE’ (4), he noted that you can’t have transformation without revamping the culture and the ‘ways things are done around here’ mentality. Jeff provided seven important attributes that contributed to his leadership of transformational change at GE:

Discipline – Leaders require the discipline to ensure that new initiatives fit with all organisation initiatives and they release those that don’t fit.
Soak – Good leaders are curious and always absorbing information about new potential trends and developments. They don’t instantly react, but instead contemplate, read about, listen to expert opinions and engage in a ‘soak period’ to reach a conclusion, understand what it means for the organisation and how to act on it. They must be profoundly convinced that the organisation must transform itself.
Make It Existential – Treat every big change if it were life or death, and instill this type of psychology in the management team.
Be All In – People can smell a lack of commitment, so you can’t improvise with half measures. You require a 100% commitment to ensure adequate financial and human resources are committed to the change and you are prepared to go all the way to the end.
Be Resilient – Any change transformation requires ‘staying power’, grit, perseverance, risk taking, time and resiliency. You have to be prepared to open another door, every time one closes.
Be Willing to Pivot – It is unlikely that you will get the strategy right, straight off the bat. You have got to be open to pivoting on the basis of what you learn, while still having the courage to act and motivate your team to continue moving forward.
Embrace New Kinds of Talent – As a leader of organisational transformational change, you need to be prepared to protect new employees until they are fully integrated. You also need to be prepared to building a new culture, new ideas and new ways of doing things.

Change is not a simple process, especially when it comes to managing your team. You have to be very observant, sense the mood, understand your people, and communicate with conviction, clarity and consistency.

(Photo from http://www.fortune.com)

Case Study: Thanyapura
Below is my Thanyapura experience based on Jeff Immelt’s GE 7 Attributes
Discipline – It is very easy to say yes to new ideas and hard to say no to initiatives that have already been implemented. Working at Thanyapura, we were pioneering, and prepared to take on the world and show them something special. We had a lot of talented people on staff with amazing ideas. It was a challenge for the leaders to keep a calm state and ensure only the best change ideas where executed.
Soak – With so many industries (Sport, Mind, Health, Education & Hospitality) blended together, and huge pressure from the owner to gain a return on investment, our soak periods were very short. It was extremely difficult to gain a quality perspective on what changes had the most potential as we were always on a bullet train, moving at light-speed, down the express line.
Existential – You have to be very disciplined and creative when creating a sense of urgency. We had to convince the staff that if we didn’t make the change we would lose our competitive advantage. This was challenging with multiple change processes occurring simultaneously and most staff involved in more than one change process.
100% – This was the area that was make or break at Thanyapura. With competing change processes and resources, staff were unsure as to where the priorities lie. Many changes were still in progress while other changes were commencing, leaving staff wondering whether there would ever be an end in sight. You can see it the team members commitment and productivity when they are unsure of where the priority lies.
Resilient – Having to deal with regular new projects and change processes meant dealing with a lot of physical and emotional energy. Being prepared to deal with roads being rerouted, closed or side-streets opening meant there was always disruption to deal with. It didn’t mean it was a bad thing, it just tested you as a leader.
Pivot – We had an opportunity to create a world-first in women’s tennis. An agreement was difficult to finalise as we were competing with legal systems and insurance coverage from multiple countries. We changed strategy at least four times to try and find a solution so we could implement the change. Unfortunately we had to pull the pin as there were other competing priorities that needed our time and energy, after Lawyers said it would be too resource-consuming to seal the deal.
Embrace – This is an area that we didn’t spend enough time on. It was almost expected that new team members fitted straight into the culture. It is such an important component of every organisation to invest time into new staff to ensure that the can fit in and excel.

SUCCESS FACTORS

As a leader it is important that you are effective at influencing and persuasion with your organisation, so that they are used to a culture of successful change. This is due to the common thought that most change projects are unsuccessful. Nick Tasler (6) recently debunked the myth that only 30% of change projects are successful, showcasing the percentage came from misinterpreted facts in a 1993 book titled ‘Reengineering the Corporation’. Tasler summarised a 2009 survey by consultants at McKinsey mentioning that “a third of executives believed that their change initiatives were total successes, and another third believed that their change initiatives were more successful than unsuccessful. But only ‘about one in ten admit to having been involved in a transformation that was ‘completely’ or ‘mostly’ unsuccessful’”. We need to be more realistic in determining the success of each change project and influence our team members that 9 times out of 10 a change process will have some level of success and that a third of the time you will enable full execution.

Katzenbach, Steffen and Kronley (7) found that “almost every enterprise that has attained peak performance—including the Four Seasons, Apple, Microsoft, and Southwest Airlines—got there by applying five principles. Such companies see culture as a competitive advantage—an accelerator of change, not an impediment.” They provided five principles, based on research and client experience, that “can help an organization achieve higher performance, better customer focus, and a more coherent and ethical stance”:

Match Strategy and Culture – Too often a company’s strategy, imposed from above, is at odds with the ingrained practices and attitudes of its culture. Executives may underestimate how much a strategy’s effectiveness depends on cultural alignment. Culture trumps strategy every time.
Focus on a Few Critical Shifts in Behaviour – People find it very difficult to alter behaviour even in the face of overwhelming evidence that they should. Ask the people in your leadership groups, “If we had the kind of culture we aspire to, in pursuit of the strategy we have chosen, what kinds of new behaviors would be common? And what ingrained behaviors would be gone?”
Honor the Strengths of Your Existing Culture – It’s tempting to dwell on the negative traits of your culture, but any corporate culture is a product of good intentions that evolved in unexpected ways and will have many strengths. Find relevance of the organisations original values and use storytelling, as the existing culture’s assets make major changes feel more like a shared evolution. It is also valuable to emphasise desired behaviours that already exist in the organisation.
Integrate Formal and Informal Interventions – Whether formal or informal, interventions should do two things: reach people at an emotional level (invoking altruism, pride, and how they feel about the work itself) and tap rational self-interest (providing money, position, and external recognition to those who come on board).
Measure and Monitor Cultural Evolution – Rigorous measurement allows executives to identify backsliding, correct course where needed, and demonstrate tangible evidence of improvement—which can help to maintain positive momentum over the long haul. Four areas to pay key attention to are: business performance; critical behaviours; milestones; and underlying beliefs, feelings, and mind-sets

As a leader you need to reduce as much complexity as possible and simplify the change process to overcome potential barriers. “Over a century ago, the philosopher Guillaume Ferrero proposed that humans operate on the Principle of Least Effort: given several paths, we pick the easiest. More recently, Harvard psychologist Shawn Anchor suggested that the behavior we choose is the one that’s just 20 seconds easier to start.” (Luna & Cohen, 2017) Asking yourself how you can make the process more simple is a good start.

To be successful in leading change you will need to be disciplined and focused so that everyone can see how the puzzle connects. You need to rewire you brain so that you 100% believe the survival of your company depends on the change. Being able to convince your team members that they need to get on board the train and come along for the ride, is crucial. You must be committed over a long period of time, because, as they say, ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’. The process of change will challenge your resiliency as there will be tough times while your organisation is creating a better future. You will need to constantly listen and act simultaneously as the organisation will need to pivot during change which requires a lot of courage, especially when you learn something new. Most of all, you will need to embrace new ways of doing things, a new culture and the rise of new talent.

To increase the likelihood of change being successful, you can employ the following tactics:

Create a step-by-step plan that includes a clear business case for the achievement of measureable aims, which can be continuously updated.
Ensure there is a consistent, clear and effective communication plan that includes the reasons for change, details of the change and what the benefits of a successful implementation will look like.
Provide each team member a part to play in the plan, and even more importantly the outcome.
Monitor key aspects of the change process such as implementation, costs, risks, assumptions, return on investment and effects on culture.
Develop a training, education and skill enhancement program for the organisation.
Be proactive in realigning any resistance to change to the overall vision of the organisation.
Protect your team and stand by them, when there is any interdepartmental conflict.
Show empathy and if required provide counselling to team members who are finding it a challenge to adhere to the change.
Be prepared for setbacks, identify challenges early, reassure your team members that it won’t derail the whole change process, and determine how to manage it.
Encourage your team members to think critically and ask questions as part of the process.
Symbolise the new identity and embed it in the organisation’s culture.
Establish early successes and celebrate the wins.

CONTINUAL CHANGE CULTURE

An effective leader is able to stimulate a culture of continual change, where they are able to turn an organisation into a perpetual motion machine where change becomes a part of everyday life rather than a major turbulent event. We are brainwashed into thinking that change is hard and difficult, as an occasional disrupter, rather than an important part of an organisation staying relevant. Leaders are more effective when they view change as the very essence of their role and believe that all management is change management.

Being able to set tough goals, establish processes to achieve them, lead the implementation of the processes, and carefully learning from both successes and failures should characterise the underlying culture and daily life at every level of an organisation. People find it much easier to see and achieve in the short-term, so by providing a clear picture of where the organisation is aiming for in the next month, quarter or year will make it much easier for team members to comprehend and accept the change. (8)

If we hold our managers accountable for continuing improvements, it will support their capacity to lead continual change while their team members develop the capacity to implement the change. They need to gather supporting evidence and advice from specialist experts, but need to take hold of managing the actual change. Leaders need to instil the culture of “change management being management, and management is change management” (8).

Walker and Soul (9) carefully articulate an organizational culture being similar to the wind. “It is invisible, yet its effect can be seen and felt. When it is blowing in your direction, it makes for smooth sailing. When it is blowing against you, everything is more difficult”. They talk about movement research which suggests that change starts with an emotion. It generally starts small with “a group of passionate enthusiasts who deliver a few modest wins”. Regular small wins get the wheels of perpetual change motion turning and gradually they gain momentum. Using the momentum and the power of influence, a leader can commence institutionalising the cultural change.

The following practices can lead to a successful cultural movement that thrives on change (9):

Frame the issue so it stirs emotion and incites action.
Celebrate small wins to bring the heart and minds along the journey
Harness networks and build coalitions that share a common purpose
Create safe havens where creativity and discussion leads to a strategy
Embrace symbols to create a feeling of solidarity

“Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening, because it means things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better.”
KING WHITNEY JR.

Success lies in the hands of the leader as without one hundred percent commitment, discipline, awareness and influence, it will be a steep mountain to climb. In part four, I will dive into communication strategies that can assist you as a leader during every step of an organisational change.

References

Anand, J., Barsoux, J., (2017). What Everyone Gets Wrong About Change Management. Harvard Business Review, Nov-Dec 2017. link

Ashkenas, R., (2013). Change Management Needs to Change. Harvard Business Review, Apr 2013. link

Barrett, D.J., (2002). Change Communication: Using Strategic Employee Communication to Facilitate Major Change. Corporate Communication: An International Journal, Vol 7 No. 4. link

Bridges, W., (2017). Strategies for Managing Change. Website. link

Eisenhauer, T., (2017). How to Communicate During Organisational Change. Axerosolutions.com. link

Elving, W.J.L. (2005). The role of communication in organisational change. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 10, pp. 129-38. link

Immelt, J.R., (2017). How I Remade GE. Harvard Business Review, Sep-Oct 2017. link

Johansson, C., Heide, M., (2008). Speaking of Change: Three Communication Approaches in Studies of Organizational Change. Corporate Communications: An International Journal. Vol 13 (3). link

Katzenbach, J.R., Steffen, I, Kronley, C., (2012). Cultural Change That Sticks. Harvard Business Review, Jul-Aug 2012. link

Kotter, J.P., (2017). Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail. Harvard Business Review, Jan 2017. link

Lawrence, P., (1969). How to Deal With Resistance to Change. Harvard Business Review, Jan 1969. link

Luna, T., Cohen, J., (2017). To Get People to Change, Make Change Easy. Harvard Business Review, Dec 2017. link

Prosci (2014). Change Management Communication Checklist. http://www.prosci.com. link

Schaffer, R.H., (2017). All Management is Change Management. Harvard Business Review, Oct 2017. link

Stebbins, S., (2017). Change Management Methodology And Strategic Communication: An Essential Partnership. http://www.forbes.com link

Sirkin, H., Keenan, P., Jackson, A., (2005). The Hard Side of Change Management. Harvard Business Review, October 2005. link

Tasler, N., (2017). Stop Using The Excuse Organizational Change is Hard. Harvard Business Review, Jul 2017. link

Unknown, (2018). Change Management. Wikipedia. link

Walker B,. Soule, S., (2017). Changing Company Culture Requires a Movement, Not a Mandate. Harvard Business Review, Jun 2017. link

Achieving Successful Change – Change Series Part 3 Link
Change Tantrums – Change Series Part 2 Link
Why Change? – Change Series Part 1 Link
Unleash The Niche Link
Ask A Question Link
I Make No Apologies This Is Me! Link

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Friday Fast Five On Leading Through Pressure

Posted on June 19, 2020July 3, 2020 by nrg2perform in Newsletter

By Craig Johns – 19 June 2020

Finish the week with some magic. It is time for some inspiration with Friday Fast Five

5 weekly thoughts to spark your curiosity in under 90 seconds

#5 Vulnerability “Daring greatly means the courage to be vulnerable. It means to show up and be seen. To ask for what you need. To talk about how you’re feeling. To have the hard conversations.” – Brené Brown

#4 People “One of the biggest reasons organisational change fails is a lack of thought and planning in regards to the impact on people. People are the heart and soul of an organisation; therefore it is the responsibility of the leader to ensure they are at the centre of every decision made in relation to the change. You need to understand who is losing what, accept the reality and importance of subjective losses, and don’t be surprised to an overreaction when there is disruption to peoples ‘ways of doing things’.” Continue reading Change Tantrums

#3 Leadership “What separates the good leaders from the great? From the great leaders to the world class leaders?” 6 Principles To Be A World Class Leader on the active CEO Podcast.

#2 Life “If you own your own story, you get to write the ending. If you leave it to others, you can only be the subject. If you believe in it, you get to narrate it. How do you want to be remembered?” Learn how to find absolute clarity on your vision with Craig Johns

#1 Lens “Everyone looks through their own lens at the world. Meet people where they are. Attempt to see the world through their eyes. Listen intently to what is said and not said. Try to imagine yourself dealing with the pressures with who ever you are speaking with is dealing with on a day to day basis, because everybody has them.” Fiona Robertson on the rules of belonging. active CEO Podcast episode 108. Tune in for an incredible conversation.

Where the ordinary don’t belong!

Craig Johns

High Performance Leadership

craig@nrg2perform.com
www.craigjohns.com.au

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Change Management Craig Johns CHANGE SERIES PART 1 – WHY CHANGE? Craig Johns Blog Article

Change Series Part 2 – Change Tantrums

Posted on June 10, 2020June 10, 2020 by nrg2perform in Article

By Craig Johns

Do you have Change Tantrums in your organisation team or maybe even inside your own mind? Dealing with an organisational environment where complexity, competition and technology are increasing at a rapid rate, requires a leader to bring their ‘A Game’ to ensure the organisation remains relevant. Change is eminent and commonly a normal part of organisational life. Being able to prioritise change, be proactive in planning for potential challenges and reducing resistance to change are important qualities that leaders require to ensure that change processes are successful.

This article is part two of a four part series discussing transformational change from a variety of different angles and providing an insight into some of the organisational changes I have personally experienced. Part one considered why change is important for organisational success, ways to manage change, and organisational impact through change. This article, (Part 2) Change Tantrums, takes a look at how to prioritise change, while investigating the challenges and resistance faced during change. Part three, highlights factors for success during change and implementing a continual change culture. Finally, part four will bring to light effective communication strategies during a change process.

Prioritizing Change

Whether an organisation is achieving successes, failures or both, there are always many opportunities for change. Being able to remain relevant and compete in an ever increasing marketplace, requires leaders to never become complacent by ensuring the organisation continues to evolve. So how do you, as a leader, decide what changes to prioritise? Anand & Barsoux (2017) note that leaders need to fully understand three aspects of each change:

The catalyst for transformation (pursue value)
The organisations underlying quest (choose direction)
Leadership capabilities required to see it through to full implementation (develop leaders)

An organisational transformation is triggered by the pursuit of value, which usually entails both improving efficiency and reinvesting in growth. If improving efficiency doesn’t enhance growth then the value to its stakeholders can affect the organisation. In a similar vein if growth is fostered in an inefficient environment, it won’t be sustainable. Many change transformations are derailed when either one becomes the focus in neglect of the other.

Once the organisation understands that it requires change, then it must identify and define a quest that will lead to greater value generation. In an article written by Anand & Barsoux (2017), they established that most organization change transformations “are either derivatives or combinations of five prototypical quests”:

Global presence – increase market reach, and become more international in the way the organisation is led, nurtures talent, incorporates best practices, cultivates innovation and enhances capabilities
Customer focus – understand customers’ needs, and provide enhanced insights, experiences and outcomes rather than just products or services
Nimbleness – accelerate or simplify processes to become more strategically, operationally and culturally agile
Innovation – exploit new opportunities through incorporating new ideas and approaches
Sustainability – improve the organisations approach to eco-friendliness and social responsibility

Discipline is required by the organisation to ensure each quest has its own unique focus, enablers and derailers. Each quest requires the organisation to look at how it can add value to its operating model, customers, partners, internal processes and/or resources. The leader will need to ensure team members face the reality and need for change, communicate choices and ensure healthy debated of priorities takes place. For a change process to be successful it is valuable to achieve a consensus during the prioritising phase.

It is advisable for organisations to complete a gap analysis of its human resource capabilities to ensure whether it has the current or potential future leaders of change internally. To ensure sustained transformation the organisation will need to develop leaders who can see the whole change transformation through to full implementation.

Case Study – Thanyapura
I arrived in Phuket in August 2012, to commence working at Thanyapura as their Director of Sport Academies. Thanyapura was at its infancy of developing the worlds leading integrative sport, mind, health, education and hospitality facility and resort. With such an ambitious idea, projects were instigated on a regular basis with many competing for financial, human and physical resources. At the time of arrival the following projects were a sample of those in progress:

Sports Hotel was in pre-opening phase
Integrative Health Clinic was being considered
The 14 inter-related businesses were being consolidated into 10
An international sales team was being reformed
Integrative packages (health, sport, mind, education) were being developed
An events team was being developed
The merchandising shop was being formed
The human resources were being restructured
An integrative database for membership, merchandise, food & beveridge, rooms, services and more was being considered.

As part of the senior leadership team, it was challenging to find consensus on prioritising change, managing the change processes, and ensuring that daily operations were continuing to improve, especially since we were in pre-opening phase. With 500 employees, from 20 different nationalities, and a variety of different industry sectors, the viewpoints of the team members varied a lot. With so much disruption, changes in staff and uncertainty on how Thanyapura was evolving, all leaders and managers were being tested.

Struggling With Change

There are always challenges during a transformational organisational change process. Three fundamental difficulties associated with change are integration, navigation and human factors. Collaboration between people with different skill sets are required to ensure that strategic, social and technical components are aligned and integrated. Navigation through change is all about continuous adaptation throughout the process, due to the regular influence from a variety of changing contexts. People are resistant to uncomfortable situations, such as change, especially when they are used to ‘this is the way we have always done things around here’.

According to Anand & Barsoux (2017) transformational change usually fails at the quest stage, when teams lose focus on the value which is worth pursuing or take on more change than the capabilities can withstand. The three main failings that are observed are: neglecting the quest; being seduced by the wrong quest; or focusing on multiple quests.

Ron Ashkenas (2013) believes the following three questions are important to ask yourself if your organisation or a section of it if is struggling with effectively implementing a change:

Do you have a common framework, language, and set of tools for managing significant change?
To what extent are your plans for change integrated into your overall project plans, and not put together separately or in parallel?
Who is accountable for effective change management in your organization: Managers or “experts” (whether from staff groups or outside the company)?

It is important that you, as a leader, show clear visibility during the change process especially when juggling multiple simultaneous changes, are managing multiple teams and have to differentiate the needs for multiple sites. You may need to look at how you can harmonise processes, so it is easier to track controlled change, ensure that changes are implemented consistently and the impact is constantly assessed.

Updating documents is very important during a change process, especially when there are multiple changes or teams involved. The documents need to be tightly controlled, appropriately reviewed, transparent and have adequate audit trails.

If your change isn’t going to plan you may need to reverse the change. This can be quite a challenge, depending on how far down the change process the organisation is and whether a contingency plan was developed in case of unforeseen circumstances. Planning a solution that helps you effectively plan, assess and implement a roll back in cases there is a situation where you need to reset back to the organisations prior state.

Case Study – Thanyapura
Here is an insight into the challenges Thanyapura faced, through Ashkenas’s (2013) questions to ask during a complex change management process.
Do you have a common framework, language, and set of tools for managing significant change?
There was no Strategic Plan at the beginning as Thanyapura was organically evolving on a daily basis. Therefore we didn’t have a clear purpose or vision to align projects. We were developing something that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world, and it was all happening at a very fast pace. It was a very exciting time as all 500 staff were pioneering a new future.
We didn’t have a project and change management system in the beginning and therefore was difficult to align all projects to ensure that everyone was working in a cohesive manner. We did implement Base Camp in 2013, which helped to reduce the complexity of monitoring the myriad of change processes, although not all projects were included. Not all projects were being channelled through a central leader, which added to the complexity of allocating and sharing human resources.
To what extent are your plans for change integrated into your overall project plans, and not put together separately or in parallel?
Predominately the change processes were planned in isolation or in small clusters of projects. A lack of clear alignment of processes made it confusing for team members, especially those whose roles inter-linked between the different organisational sectors. We relied on daily 30minute briefs from different departments to ensure that we had a strong understanding of how projects were progressing.
Who is accountable for effective change management in your organization: Managers or “experts” (whether from staff groups or outside the company)?
In the beginning the owner was very hands on making it a challenge for the President and CEO to have a full oversight of change projects. There were a lot of consultants involved before pre-opening due to the wide range of industries involved. From 2012, the number of consultants reduced and the organisation managers were accountable for change management. This ensured there was a higher level of quality control and fusion of changes into the organisational culture. As some managers and leaders were involved in multiple projects, it was, at times, a very complex environment to work in.

Impact on People

One of the biggest reasons organisational change fails is a lack of thought and planning in regards to the impact on people. People are the heart and soul of an organisation; therefore it is the responsibility of the leader to ensure they are at the centre of every decision made in relation to the change. You need to understand who is losing what, accept the reality and importance of subjective losses, and don’t be surprised to an overreaction when there is disruption to peoples ‘ways of doing things’. It is helpful to acknowledge losses openly, with sympathy and where possible compensate for the losses.

To lessen the impact, it is valuable to inform people on a regular basis, define what is and isn’t part of the organisation going forward, and you are clearly outlining the endings. Make sure that you treat the ‘way we used to do things’ with respect, allow people to take a piece of the past with them and communicate how the endings show continuity of what really matters to the vision of the organisation.

Leader Impact

As a leader there will be impact on yourself that you need to plan and prepare for. There will be emotional stress and feelings of guilt in relation to decisions made that have powerful consequences on your team members lives. You are likely to be the centre of attention for team member’s anger, fear and mistrust as the change process evolves. Your empathy skills will need to be at their best as team members will bring more emotional and personal problems to your desk, with many quite difficult to solve.

When change occurs your attention maybe diverted to addressing staff morale, discipline, motivation, complaints and interpersonal conflicts. During periods of challenging change clear communication is your number one friend as messages can be easily misunderstood, misinterpreted and even not listened to as effected team members have clouded judgement.

It is possible that you will feel a greater weight on your shoulders, as you feel the added responsibility for your team member’s productivity and reputation when resources are reduced, especially when you are implementing changes that were decided from above, that you may not agree with. You may feel a loss of self-esteem if the quality of team member’s performance declines and especially when there is job insecurity within the organisation. A feeling of loneliness and isolation may result as you find it more difficult to find personal support within your organisation, more specifically when you are a manager and the senior leaders are overwhelmed and unavailable.

When a change management process hasn’t effectively planned for changes in workload, you and your team members risk burning out if too much work has been taken on, work hours are increased, breaks aren’t taken and holidays are delayed. Burn out may also occur if team members are worrying about work at home, are experiencing insomnia, have unrealistic expectations and are focusing too much on perfectionism. During these times you are likely to feel added stress as you find it a challenge to delegate tasks as team members are already overloaded with work.

Case Study – Thanyapura
Due to consistent disruption, multiple projects competing for resources, regular changes in staff, and a constantly evolving organisation, there was a large impact on both team members and leaders. For me I loved the intensity and challenge of such complexity, although as a leader of multiple change projects, I was tested on a daily basis.
The impact on staff was quite high, especially at times when organisational restructuring was taking place or they were involved in multiple projects with conflicting deadlines. My empathy, compassion and sympathy skill sets were being utilised on a regular basis as I supported, motivated and consoled team members, during challenging times. With high levels of change and complexity, it was very difficult to define endings and ensure projects were even going to be completed. This meant many of the team members were on edge and quite often I felt like more of a counsellor than a leader.
Dealing with changes in staff, especially those who we had to release was very difficult, emotionally. Over time I was able to deal with the stress and emotions during staff restructuring, a lot easier, but it always had an effect. I felt quite lonely at times and with so many changes it was difficult to judge whether you had the team members trust.
It took me quite a while to learn how to deal with the complexity of competing priorities and an ever increasing workload. Over two years, I absorbed the following departments and in some cases, roles: Kids Club, Membership, Fitness Centre, Mind Centre, Performance Shop, Elite Junior Sport Academies, Boarding Dorm, as well as developing integrative programs. I learnt to develop a clear delineation between work and home life, and once I got back into a regular exercise routine, I was able to sleep more effectively and improve my productivity. I learnt a lot about leading and managing complexity, and how to say no so the right projects can prosper without being distracted or side-tracked.

Resistance to Change

In the world of great change we know there is great resistance and is one of the biggest challenges that leaders face. So how do you lessen the impact of reduced output, employees quitting, transfer requests, in-house quarrelling, hostility and the constant barrage of reasons why stakeholders think it won’t work? By involving team members and encouraging them to participate in areas that bring out their strengths can reduce resistance, although if not done well can negatively backfire. You need to understand that resistance is generally associated more with social change rather than technical change, and develop strategies accordingly.

As a leader it is your role to identify and manage resistance. Team members previous experiences that relate to the technical change maybe negative, so it is important to involve them in discussions and create opportunities for them to challenge their ways of thinking around the change. Set fears to rest and provide the more reluctant members of the team with certainty. Emphasising new standards of performance and team member attitudes is important in building trust from team members who haven’t got on board yet. Remember, confidence is frequently contagious.

“Doubts are roadblocks in the process of change. You can get a lot further on this road with patience and clear, constructive guidance.” Anonymous

You need to be aware that resistance to change should not always be viewed as negative, because it might be showcasing red-flags that need to be attended to. (Lawrence, 1969) Therefore, it is important to listen and observe first, before reacting or acting to resistance to change. You might be able to save yourself and everyone else a lot of hassle if it is a red-flag.

Having a greater understanding of the challenges you may face and how to deal with resistance allows you to manage a change process with greater confidence. Being proactive in planning a change process that is based on open and transparent communication will provide solid foundations in achieving success. In part two, which will be released next week, I will identify a number of challenges and resistance you may face when implementing organisational change. The next article (part three) highlights factors for success during change and implementing a continual change culture.

Did you miss part one? Click here