Given how frequently change occurs in the workplace, it's always surprised
me how much managers struggle with managing change. In The Prince, Niccolo
Machiavelli wrote, "There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous
to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction
of a new order of things." And indeed, the risks are great: Failure to manage
change well can damage employee morale, create an atmosphere of mistrust, cause
good employees to leave their jobs, and most importantly, disrupt business continuity.
To manage change successfully, you need to avoid three common mistakes and observe
a handful of change-management principles and strategies.
3 Common Mistakes
Managers who are unsure of their ability to manage change can easily end up
alienating employees. In my experience, the three most common mistakes managers
make when trying to manage change are making it a surprise, not doing enough
to resolve uncertainty, and being insensitive to employees' feelings.
Making change a surprise. A colleague of mine once
compared a reorganization in her division to a baby watching a jack-in-the-box: "Here you are sitting on the floor,
looking at a colorful box, listening to soothing music, and
then out of nowhere a scary clown-like puppet springs out
of the box and the music stops." A sudden announcement
of change can be jarring—particularly if employees don't
perceive the need for the change.
When you spring change on employees, they feel
ambushed and left out of important business or technical decisions. Why do managers surprise employees with
change? Many do so in the belief that they're doing the
right thing by not disrupting the rhythm of business or distracting employees. Although such managers mean well,
this argument for sudden change is patronizing and rarely
holds water. Save surprises for birthdays, when they're
more likely to be appreciated.
Letting uncertainty over change linger. Allowing uncertainty
over change to persist is just as bad as making change a surprise. Long periods
of uncertainty often occur when a big change is only partially implemented,
and during that period of unpredictability rumors spread unchecked. Uncertain
employees become conservative because they don't want to take risks that might
jeopardize their position after the change takes place. For example, employees
might hesitate to take on long-term projects, fearing that the work they complete
now will become irrelevant or unimportant.
Many managers fall into the trap of letting uncertainty
over change linger because, although they recognize that
making change a surprise is undesirable, they underestimate how long it will take to implement the change. The
biggest consequence of lingering uncertainty over change is
that top performers might find new
jobs in which they can be successful immediately.
Being insensitive to employees'
feelings. As a manager, you need
to be careful about how you discuss the change, even if employees understand it and consider it
to be good for the business. You
need to be especially perceptive when a decision is made
to discontinue a group's or individual's work. Simply
announcing that the group or person will be reassigned
to different projects or priorities will lead to the quality
of those employees' work being questioned and could
demoralize those employees if they perceive the change
as a reflection of the value of their work.
Frequently, managers—particularly those who don't
work directly with the affected employees—don't understand how personal an employee's work can be, especially
if the employee has been working on a project for a long
time. During times of change, recognize your employees'
hard work and dedication, even if your business is moving away from the project they've been working on. It's
also important to make your employees feel valued in the
reorganized business.
5 Principles for Successfully Managing Change
You can successfully manage change by communicating clearly and being sensitive
to employees' feelings. Let the following five principles guide you:
- Be transparent. Whether the change is driven by bad news (e.g., poor sales)
or good news (e.g., growth), be open and honest about why the change is taking
place. Explain the reason for the change, the timeline for implementing it,
and who the decision makers will be during the change process.
- Initially announce the change to front-line managers and influential individual
contributors. Ask those people to announce the change to their teams and to
find out how their employees feel about it. Then, respond to everyone's thoughts
and concerns in a larger meeting.
- Drive for certainty. After the initial announcement about the change has
been made, eliminate as much uncertainty as you can, even if it means implementing
the change in some areas of your department before others. For example, if
you know that some part of the larger organization will not be affected by
the change, let that group of employees know as soon as possible.
- Be sensitive to your employees' feelings. Some of your employees will react
viscerally regardless of the type of change. Be honest, and explain why the
future will be better than today even though difficult short-term trade-offs
might accompany the change. If there will be a long period of time between
the announcement of the change and its completion, update your employees regularly
about the status of the change and the factors that are delaying its implementation.
- Celebrate the change. One of the best lessons I've learned about
managing change came from a Microsoft vice president who always makes the
formal (and final) announcement of the completion of a change into a celebration
of the new beginning that the change is bringing. And he doesn't make the
announcement of change just a symbolic celebration—he makes it a real
party.
The Measure of Success
A successful implementation of change is one that minimally disrupts the rhythm
of your business, doesn't overly damage employee morale, and doesn't result
in losing key employees in the process. Ultimately, the measure of successful
change management is the time it takes to get everyone in your organization
positioned and intellectually on board with the new mission. Because it's likely
that you'll be managing many changes over the course of your career, develop
the skills you'll need now so that you'll be prepared to manage the changes
that will inevitably take place in the future.
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