The Harassed Manager’s Guide to Survival in Times of Change
By Jane C Woods
A short, light hearted and practical look at managing staff through change, with practical, down to earth exercises that work – and no jargon!
This book is dedicated to all of those front line managers and small business owners faced with an organisational or business change to implement. Whether it’s of your making or not you will have to take the flak, even when you’re feeling as fed up as everyone else. Read this when you are expected to know all the answers, when you must look in control, even when you’re screaming inside.
This is your book!
One
‘Cometh the hour cometh the man’...or woman… or anyone, please?
OK, so the powers that be have just told you about their latest initiative and how wonderful the world will be once their new plan/reorganisation/merger/ acquisition is put into place. You front line managers, they tell you, have nothing to worry about because a team of consultants are coming in to manage the change and you will get all the information you need as and when. Just go back and let your staff know that change is afoot, oh and by the way, don’t let productivity fall off and keep everyone happy, absence levels down and all the staff on board with the new plan!
Or maybe you are the owner of a small business and have just announced some significant changes to your business like relocation, or a new customer care system. At this stage you may know where you want to get to but not be entirely sure of the route. And your employees are looking at you for answers...
Of course, this being the real world your team or employees probably already knows that something is afoot and will have been discussing it amongst themselves for ages. Already the rumour mill will have been grinding on. It is really important that you set the right tone right from the beginning even if you may think there is nothing you can usefully say at the moment.
But can you just say you don’t know yet?
No Creative Speechifying
Well, yes you can actually. If you start with the ‘creative speechifying’ now you will only tie yourself up in knots later on when it becomes obvious that you don’t know. It is really important at this early stage to establish your credibility so I suggest the following:
Actions
1) Get everyone together as soon as you can. Whenever it is at all possible do difficult communication face to face, or rather your face to their faces. E mail is cowardly and open to misinterpretation, doctoring, and can be sent across the world in the blink of an eye. Don’t do it. Information is received in the following proportions - Words 7%, Voice 38% and 55% Body Language and Appearance. No wonder e mails so often make things worse!
2) It is important now to establish the tone for all future discussions so be as honest as you are can. Tell them that you will meet with them regularly to update them and take questions (because you will, won’t you) and as far as you are able you will tell them everything you can. Tell them that you will invite questions both now and after they have had time to absorb the information.
3) If they are very quiet at this stage don’t be misled. They are probably in shock
and have not yet fully absorbed what they have been told. When you leave the
room you will probably hear a lot of discussion immediately strike up behind you but don’t take it personally. Never take it personally. You are the immediate face of management and their representative on earth so you will get some flak but don’t take it personally. This will require some practice....
4) While you still have some energy set up your own support network. You will need it, preferably with some managers or business owners in the same position. Make spaces in your diary now and commit to getting together regularly to share information, coping strategies and handkerchiefs. Go to that next business/management networking event and find someone with experience of this. Or use formal support like a coach.
5) Look up the details of any staff counselling/welfare service or anything offered locally. Even if you don’t need it someone will soon. You might even give them a call to check that someone has remembered to warn them of the likely increase in calls to their service. Maybe even arrange a date to get them in to tell your team what they can offer? If you run a small business try your local support group or Business Link to see if they can offer anything.
6). Go home. You’ve had a tiring day.
Two
The Theory
There are several well documented and researched stages that people experience when they are undergoing a change of some sort. A visit to your nearest library or a trawl of the internet will reveal so many books about change that your head will spin. I have included a list of some of them at the end of this book.
But you don’t have to read them at all unless you are really keen. Basically this is what they say:
Change is awful, few people like it unless they have initiated it.
People are shocked that their world is not staying the same.
They don’t believe it is happening and try to ignore it.
Then they realise it is happening and get frustrated and cross as it dawns on them that things will actually change.
Sometimes, depending on the severity of the change, people can get very fed up, even depressed and absence levels may rise.
After a variable period of time they start to think about what the change means and decide to try out a few ideas to make sense of it for them. Depending on the circumstances this phase goes on for ages or not too long.
A few people embrace change from day one, some try and ignore it, and some resist/sabotage it.
It’s best to find out who they are!
Give the embracers a role.
Keep telling the ignorers what is happening.
Keep an eye on the resistors.
And finally people move on with the change!
The Change Curve
Probably the most famous piece of work is that done by Dr Elizabeth Kubler Ross who put together a simple curve (with apologies for my interpretation)
Integrating the change into your
life
Shock
Denial/bargaining
Decisions
Anger/Frustration
Trying out new
ways/experimenting
Being fed up and even depressed
Dr Kubler-Ross’ research was carried out specifically in relation to people who had terminal illness and were anticipating the ultimate loss. Fortunately few organisational or business changes are that serious, but don’t underestimate the impact it will have on people! And if people have had lots of personal change, a work change might just tip them over the edge!
Any change usually means a loss of some sort and most people will experience a variation on the change reactions described by Kubler-Ross; just the intensity differs. People tend to prefer the devil they know so even if it is something they have moaned about for ages they are still likely to mourn its passing. That mourning may take the form of making life difficult for anyone trying to introduce something new....
Denial
If you have told your staff about the impending changes over the last few days then it’s likely (but not compulsory) that they will be moving onto denial about now. Unfortunately for you, however, they will not all pass neatly through these stages at the same time and even more unfortunately you are not immune from going through this cycle as well. This makes it problematic if you are in denial too…
The sorts of things you are likely to be hearing from your staff are ‘well, it’ll never happen’, ‘we’ve heard it all before’, and ‘I’ll believe it when I see it’. And so on. Actually, this is not a bad form of coping because, let’s face it, sometimes the changes do evaporate without trace if the merger fails, the bank won’t release any more funds, or Government or State regulations change.
Practical Steps
1) At this stage there is not a lot you can usefully do except repeat the information you have already given them. Every book on managing change emphasises the importance of good communication but sometimes it’s really as simple as saying the same thing over and over.
You may have heard that some doctors, when breaking really bad news to their patients, actually tape it so patients can take it away with them. They do this because they know that certain words trigger a kind of aural black out effect, and patients don’t hear anything beyond that trigger word. Employees can react in the same way when they hear the word change or reorganisation. They stop listening and their minds are leaping ahead to possible implications for them.
2) Of course, I am not suggesting that you start walking round with a voice recorder because that will really feed any feelings of paranoia. But don’t assume, however, that because you had that big meeting yesterday and told them the news that the job is done. It isn’t; half the group will have heard one thing and half will have heard another and rumour will fill in any gaps between.
Also, some will still be shocked, especially if it appears that they will be particularly affected. This can happen by the way, even if the news is good. Generally speaking when the news is positive people go through the cycle a bit more quickly but they can still experience it.
3) I said in the last chapter that you mustn’t send e mails or letters, now you can- but only if you’ve had a face to faces meeting to give the principle news. If all your staff has access to whatever medium you choose to use, e mail, and a notice in the tea room etc, it is OK to repeat what you told them in a written form. In fact, it is positively helpful for people to be able to check out what they think they heard from you at a time when they feel ready to absorb it. So follow up your verbal messages with the same message in a written form.
4) A word of warning - be very clear and direct in your written communication. It may come back to haunt you at a later stage if you get it wrong. If you can’t be specific use phrases like ‘at this stage my understanding is…but I am waiting for clarification, etc ’.
Remember, actual words account for a very small proportion of how information is received so choose carefully and don’t try to be funny in e-mails. Research has shown that messages are received in the following proportions: words account for 7%, the voice sends 38%, with 55% being the overall appearance. The latter refers more to body language than an Armani suit (although in some circumstances that can be appropriate!) Keep it factual and appropriate to what they need to know.
Don’t think because you can’t tell them the whole story at this stage, that it’s better not to tell them anything because it isn’t. They will make it up and what they make up is often worse than what is happening and will very quickly lower morale and affect your credibility. Magical thinking comes into play.
Magical thinking is what children do when they don’t know a whole story. They make up bits to fit what they do know but usually with themselves at centre stage. Employees do exactly the same thing! What they don’t know they invent and invariably they will create a scenario which is bad news for them.
5) A point about communication; as the change process rolls on there will no doubt be many bulletins either from you, if you are a small business, or from the executive team if you are employed. It could be helpful to have special folder for these, kept in date order, including all your own communications with staff. This should be kept in a place easily accessible to all, like by the kettle.
In fact, the wall by the kettle or water cooler is a really good place for things you want read as people are often captive there for several minutes at a time and will idly flick through things. But try not to cause a health and safety hazard as this is not good for morale…and take it down when it curls up in the steam.
6) And while we’re talking about putting things on the wall, think about putting the change curve in an appropriate place too. It can work really successfully and allow staff to identify for themselves what stage they are at.
Whole teams can go through the stages collectively and I have found it really helpful to ask them where they think they are at the beginning of each meeting. You could even use post it notes or a magnetic board! It is a relatively safe way of letting people talk about how they are feeling and you might find yourself referring to it at meetings about the change.
Three
Grow a Thick Skin-Fast!
Anger/Frustration
This is the third part of the change cycle and the one that can be the most difficult to deal with.
As the leader/manager/owner you might now be coming in for quite a bit of flak as the impact begins to be felt. Whenever there is a change on the cards it means something is being lost and people experience this loss in different ways.
Typically it will show itself as resistance when any suggestions will be met with an indirect or direct refusal to cooperate. You may find that old hurts and angers you thought were long buried start to surface and arguments abound.
It’s important to remember that it is usually an emotional response so don’t expect appealing to logic to work, it won’t.
Practical Steps