Change is hard. We forget that routine and habits are part of our own self-organizing systems because eventually, they become unspoken, accepted ways of life. Unfortunately, you can’t avoid change, but an effective change management process can help you better handle it when it’s inevitably thrown at you.
With the right tools, you — and your team — can not only push past the overwhelm but also thrive, both personally and professionally, in the face of change. As a result, your company will thrive, too.
Here are five ways you can create and implement an effective change management process in your workplace.
1. Identify the Change You Want
Not all change has to be out of your control. The first step in creating an effective change management process is to carefully examine your team’s and workplace’s existing practices and behaviors and identify the ones you want to change.
Remind yourself that your existing routines served you in some way or they wouldn’t have been your standard practice. Knowing why you previously did what you did — and why those practices weren’t necessarily effective — will help you create the resolve you need to process the discomfort you’ll inevitably experience during the change.
Ask yourself and your team, “Why do we desire this change? How will it make our lives better?” By identifying areas you want to change, you can sidestep being blindsided by unexpected obstacles and take a proactive approach to managing change.
2. Familiarize Yourself With Common Mistakes
It’s easy to get overwhelmed in the face of change. That’s why having an effective change management process in place can help everyone on your team get on the same page and address the changes head on. Try to avoid the following common mistakes when creating your change management process.
- Lack of urgency. Too often we estimate that everyone understands the need for change. Instead of assuming your team understands, explain why the change is necessary for the company’s survival. Maybe the market has changed, the client has made a particular demand, or technology has improved, for example.
- Failure to develop cross-functional coalitions. Top-down management cannot produce productive change on its own. To encourage professional, collaborative communication, seek advocates from all levels in the organization of your team and organization.
- Sparse communication. John Kotter is famous for reminding us that we often fail to communicate by a factor of ten. Instead, try overcommunicating to effectively facilitate team and organizational change.
- Leaving obstacles in place. At times, an organizational leader can become an impediment. As a leader, then, you must be a role model for the crucial behaviors needed — you are, after all, responsible for creating a unified workplace.
By mitigating the most common mistakes leaders make in the face of change, you can establish a change management process that sets your team on the right path to effectively handling every unexpected obstacle.
3. Prepare for Discomfort
Adapting to the early stages of the change management process takes time. We are learning how to adapt, moving out of our comfort zones, and experiencing the unknown. Don’t discount the unsettling feelings of change.
Now is a good time to revisit your company’s “why” and the new “good” you are moving toward. Discomfort is part of the process. It will be tempting to backslide and return to your old routine, so it’s important to plan for discomfort and develop a quick remediation plan for yourself and your team to avoid regressing.
4. Remove Barriers
Naturally, the best way to ensure a smooth-sailing change management process is to eliminate as many barriers as you can before they actually become barriers. As soon as you decide (or are forced) to address a change, anticipate reluctance and any potential obstacles that might arise along the way.
Consider what skills you need to learn to be successful with the change, what systems need to be adjusted to guarantee success, and who could be a sounding board and support as you navigate the change. Develop a change management process with small steps that make the changes incremental and successes easy to measure along the way.
5. Take Time
We live in an instant society that moves from one thing to the next with the click of a button, but change takes time. Don’t treat it like a diet that will last a week or a month. You’re striving to establish new behaviors that eventually become a lifestyle.
Team adaption can provide a support system for meaningful change. Use your team to collaborate and problem solve so you’re moving forward together. At the same time, remember that many change efforts fail within organizations and teams.
Change is hard for all of us, but it’s worth the effort personally and professionally. The disequilibrium of change can be transformative for leaders who are proactively moving forward. A good change management process takes time, but it’s worth the effort (and necessary) if you want your team to be prepared and your company to remain relevant.
When’s the last time you had to handle change in your workplace? Let me know in the comments!