Phone: 518-293-7255
| Managing Change |
Phone: 518-293-7255 |
|
|
|
Managing Change All of us know how stressful change can be. Any kind of change in our familiar routine makes anxiety levels jump. The whole household is in turmoil to accommodate the demands of a new baby; the whole office struggles to accommodate the expectations of a new boss; the whole production line scrambles to accommodate the requirements of a new machine. We've all been through these kinds of changes, and we all know how they can threaten our job performance, our self-confidence, and our thinking about the future. Even if the change is the one we choose to make, one we know is a good change, the transformation from the old way to the new way is never easy. For managers, times of change can bring double trouble. Not only do you have to adapt to the change yourself, but you must also help your people adapt as quickly and smoothly as possible. That's your job, and it's a job that can sometimes seem almost impossible. How do you do it? How can you become an effective manager of change? Solving the problem of how to manage change is like solving any other problem: you first must understand how your people react when faced with the prospect of change. Once you know what to expect, then you can plan strategies for coping with these reactions. Once you attain the planning capability based on that knowledge, you have taken a giant step towards easing the stress change brings. You're in control again. You understand the challenge, and you have the tools to meet it. You have reason to be confident in your ability to guide your people from the old to the new. This confidence in your ability to manage change not only makes you feel much better, but also rubs off on your people. Anyone going through transition needs to know that there's someone in control, someone who will lead the way and lend guidance if the going gets rough. When you show confidence in your ability to lead, your people will feel more confident in their capacity to change and adapt to the new situation. Confidence is contagious, and when you've got it, your people get it. The experts in business psychology offer some valuable information about how people respond to change in the workplace. By observing actual change situations, the experts have discovered that people tend to react in the same way to different kinds of changes. Whether the new change involves new technology, a shift in organizational structure, or new personnel, the human response is the same. So when managers understand and anticipate these reactions, they become better prepared to deal with any kind of change, big or small. The first hard fact is that most people resist change. The next hard fact is that resistance to change is natural and not irrational. It stems from legitimate and understandable concerns. Managers who accept these facts and seek to understand the reasons for resistance are in the best position to find solutions. Let's examine one by one the reasons why people resist change and the effective management strategies for dealing with each one.
Picture your own reaction as a line manager who finds a notice on his desk one morning informing him that, in two days, two new machines will be installed on his line. With one operator each, the new machinery will do the job of six workers in half the time. His normal response is shock and anger that no one has given him any warning of the change. Given a few weeks' notice, he could have prepared a plan to train the new operators for the new machinery and to reassign the four other workers. But no one did warn him, and now he instantly has to deal with not only his own feelings of shock, but with those of the six people whose jobs will suddenly change. On top of this, he knows, that as a result, he probably won't be meeting his production quotas for at least three weeks. He and his people begin wondering what changes will be sprung on them next. This kind of surprise scenario is all too common. And the saddest part is that such traumatic experiences of change can be easily avoided. Upper-level managers had been planning the machinery changes for months. They could have prepared the line manager and his employees well in advance. Managers at every level need to prepare their people for change by giving advance warning rather than springing ready-made decisions on them out of the blue. Given time to adjust, people's natural resistance to change decreases rather than increases. People begin to see what might be good about the changes. Any surprise change on the other hand, spurs an instinctive defensive reaction - a negative reaction that takes a long time to dissipate.
The line manager in the scene above felt powerless, helpless, and out of control when he was informed of the sudden changes affecting him and his people. When people feel helpless, they often react in petty ways. Sabotage, foot-dragging and squabbling are natural reactions to a loss of control. In her book Men and Women of the Corporation, Rosabeth Moss Kjanter makes this point very well: she says that in organizations, it is powerlessness that corrupts, not power. People behave in childish, grabbing ways when they feel helpless. Managers can prevent these costly defense reactions by giving people a chance to participate in decisions which affect their jobs. For example, if the line manager had been consulted, even in a small way, about the plans for the new machinery, he could have felt some control over his territory even in the face of change. The more choices people get to make, the more in control they feel and the better they respond to the need for change. When they are involved in the decision-making, they then have a stake in the success of the project, a commitment to the change in question. Even a big and difficult change can go smoothly when everyone is committed to making the new way work.
People become fearful when they know change is coming but don't know when it will happen, how it will affect them, or what the next step will be. They feel blindfolded in the face of danger. Their fear naturally makes them prefer the old ways and routines (however unsatisfying) to an unpredictable future. Managers can calm these fears by sharing information with their people at every step in the change process. Early warning should be followed by regular up-dates. Just the feeling of being "in the know" promotes the sense of participation, choice and control that helps each employee adapt to change. Managers can also make the change process less fearsome by dividing a major change into a number of small steps, complete with timetables, short-term goals and milestones. When people can focus on one part at a time, they become more confident that they can do what is expected of them. The task of change seems achievable rather than overwhelming. Furthermore, employees feel more confidence in their managers if the change process appears to be well planned. If the boss looks in control and well prepared in the face of change, they will feel that the change is safe. Change arouses concern about one's competence to perform well under new conditions. No one likes to look or feel inadequate, or to feel that he or she has to start over again to become competent in the organization. People who feel threatened or whose self-esteem is low do not perform well on the job. Managers must therefore make every effort to safeguard the self-esteem of their people throughout the challenging transition period. Well-designed training programs and sufficient practice time are essential to building employees' confidence in their ability to learn new skills without loosing self-esteem. They will begin to take pride in their ability to face new challenges.
During the transition period, people often work long hours, doing the old job while learning the new one. Tempers become short as employees see less of their families and more of each other. Managers need to provide support, recognition and compensation for this extra effort. Rewards can range from cash bonuses to special trips to celebrations. Special care in providing adequate food and other physical comforts in the workplace also helps keep up morale. But the important point is that the extra work and time must be recognized as voluntary, never taken for granted. Then people are more willing to go the extra mile that any change requires.
Faced with the prospect of the extra effort required for change, employees often bring up old, unresolved grievances which can hamper the change process. If they have felt let down or unrewarded for past efforts, they understandably question why they should put in extra effort now. As long as people remain resentful about the past, they will not commit themselves to the new future. Sometimes, then, managers must first go back before they can go forward. They must listen to past resentments and try to repair the rifts these have caused. One "sour" employee can infect many more with his or her cynical attitude. The same, of course, is true of the employee whose ruffed feathers have been smoothed.
Much or our work in organizations is routine and habitual, and we feel disoriented and uncomfortable without these familiar supports. None of us functions well in an environment where everything is new. We become exhausted by the energy it takes to cope and reprogram. For this reason, managers should try to minimize the number of differences introduced by a change, leaving in place as many routines as possible. Even a minor matter as leaving the office furniture as it was can help people feel safe and comfortable, even when their tasks have changed considerably.
Then people naturally feel criticized, put down and stupid for having done things the old way. They will defend these old ways against change in order to save face and not look like failures. Managers can save people's pride by resisting the temptation to "sell" the new way by pointing out all the flaws and failures of the old way. Instead, they can show how those ways were the right ways then, even though conditions have now changed. With this approach, people will feel they're being flexible in accepting the change rather that being "shamed" into it by failures in the past. Similarly, people are more likely to accept change when it is presented not as a radical departure from the old ways but as continuous with tradition. Roger Smith, the chairman of GM, launched a revolutionary period of change in his company by calling on tradition: "I'm going to take this company back to the way Alfred Sloan intended it to be managed."
The hard reality is that when change comes, people sometimes do lose status, power, comfort or even their job with the company. And because managers dislike telling the bad news, they put it off until the last minute, encouraging false expectations in the people involved. Managers should not pretend that the hard realities aren't there. Instead, they should make a clean, fast cut - letting people go or relocating them - as the first step rather than the last step in the change process. People are relieved to know the worst, for they can then pick up the pieces and head in a new direction with their lives. Not only is this approach more humane, but it also prevents those who are threatened from infecting others in the company with their anxiety or bitterness.
Even those who are excited about new opportunities ahead will miss the loss of routine, relationships and traditions. They naturally feel nostalgic that some things will never be the same again. Managers should not ignore these feelings in their enthusiasm for the changes, but should acknowledge these losses by allowing time to "mourn" the past. Good-bye parties, file-burning ceremonies and events that honor the past are not morbid or negative activities. Instead, these rituals help people to finish gracefully with the old ways so that they can become ready to move ahead. Before we review the strategies for building commitment to change, here's some advice for dealing with union labor. Some managers might assume that the concerns and techniques for managing change apply only to non-union employees and that a whole different set of strategies is required for implementing change when unions are involved. This is a misconception. Unions often resist change for just the same reason that individuals resist change; that is, fear of loss of control. The management strategy for allaying that fear is the same for unions as it is for individual employees: 1. Make solid market information available so unions can see how the marketplace situation requires that the company introduce changes to gain and keep a competitive edge. Show how their people stand to profit from changes which increase sales and profits. 2. Keep unions fully informed of the intentions and plans for change at every stage in the process. 3. Involve union people in planning and implementing the changes, giving them choices and decision-making responsibilities. Anyone who helps plan changes naturally develops a commitment to the success of those changes. Unions are no exception Are You Managing change? Whatever the new situation, you'll handle things confidently if you keep six strategies in mind: Compensate your people for the extra effort required during a time of change. Help people envision the change by providing clear information, a step-by-step approach and a clear picture of the end result. Allow people the freedom to air old grievances and new fears. Neutralize resistance by allowing room for participation and providing choices at all levels in the planning of the change. Give people a grace period - time to adjust to the idea of change and time to bury the old ways with respect. Educate your people thoroughly in the skills they need to perform their new tasks well and so no preserve their sense of competence. If you follow these strategies for guiding your people through change, the rewards are double. Not only do you reap the benefits of the changes, but you help to create a company culture which is oriented to whatever changes might be required in the future. You - and they - have done it once. You - and they - can do it again. With confidence. With pride. Together.
© Copyright Roger Billings & Associates. Reprinted with permission
|
