When you think about implementing change at work, what comes to mind? Stress? Happiness? Worry that employees will resist change? People have different reactions to change, some folks hate change; others welcome change and will change just for the sake of changing. Regardless of your view on change, managing the transition of change is an essential part. In fact, William Bridges, a leading author on change, says that the number one reason change efforts fail is because the transition process is not managed.
I’m writing this on Inauguration Day, a very exciting day for the USA because we successfully transition from one leader to another and this year from one political party to another. We’ve known that we had a new President on November 4th but the change didn’t take place until today, January 20th. The transition period helps make the change more successful as information is passed from one presidential team to the other, key staff can be placed, and detailed plans can be made. What would have happened if the change had taken place on November 5th? Can you imagine how chaotic it would have been? Think about the emotions of the citizens of the USA on Election Day. President Obama won the election with 53% of the vote, but 46% wanted another candidate and voted for John McCain. People have now had time to deal with the fact “their guy” didn’t win and adjust to the new reality. Think about the transition for President Bush, at the center of everything that is happening in the world with a large staff to handle life’s details. On Wednesday, January 21st they’ll have to make their own breakfast and get their news from CNN like the rest of us. Transition is evident throughout this whole process. For the new beginning to start tomorrow for the new President, there also had to be an ending for the current President. We have to deal with the endings of change to be able to have a beginning, this takes time.
Here are some tips for leading the transition of change:
· Communication: There is no such thing as too much communication during times of change. People may need to hear the same message more than once, especially if they are in denial of the change. Vary the message for different styles, some verbal some in writing. Make sure that communication is two-way to truly hear concerns about the change in addition to giving information.
· Time: People need time to adjust to whatever the new reality the change will bring and how it will impact them personally. Just like we would not have had a smooth transition for our new President if the change happened on November 5th, people need the time to adjust to the new reality. People who have had input to the change but the end result wasn’t their first choice, have a chance to deal with their disappointment and rally their support to the final decision.
· Involvement: I’ve heard that “change imposed is changed opposed”. People are less likely to resist a change where they are involved, if they feel their concerns have been heard and they can be part of implementing solutions to the barriers that are discovered during the change. Involvement can be in the form of brainstorming sessions, meetings, and one-on-one discussions.
We will always deal with change at work because of the external forces on our organizations and internal forces that drive us to continuous improvement. Managing the transition process will ensure the success of your change.
Transition: An Essential Part of Change
How to Set Goals That Really Happen
Some people set business goals like their New Year’s resolutions. We all know what happens to those - they are shallow, fear-based and essentially don’t work. Why? Simply because they are a reaction to something you don’t like about yourself, or are afraid of. Plus, the results targeted are probably not realistic. Even if you do accomplish one of them, it may not really be the thing that will give you the greatest satisfaction and long term benefit. It might be a compensation for something else that truly is important to improve.
Many of us set a goal to lose weight, when we really need to change something else that is at the root of our over-eating and under-exercising. Maybe it’s a relationship that isn’t working, poorly managed finances, or over-working due to weak time management skills. Any one of these issues creates a high level of stress. You may not be aware of the real issue, or want to confront this uncomfortable problem, so you overeat. Going on a “diet” is only going to cause more stress. It’s a vicious cycle and doomed to fail.
On a business level, weakly thought out goals are also ineffective and often destructive. For example, a business leader might set a goal to increase his company’s performance by 30% this year. The team focuses on the most obvious thing, sales. So they ramp up, hiring more people, setting up new improved sales training and perhaps buy more advertising. In reality, the business has poor customer service and weak systems. They are losing good customers daily. This is the source of this company’s problem. Increasing sales won’t solve it. Instead the leader must consider steps to creating authentic goals for the organization.
In other words, to really make important changes in your life and breakthroughs in your business, it takes a deeper understanding of what the real problem is. Once that is identified, then the question becomes, what is between you and overcoming this issue and accomplishing your goal? It takes a new level of awareness. Dr. Paul Warren, the late psychiatrist and author said, “Self-awareness is curative.” That is where coaching, consulting, training, mentoring, and support groups come in. We all need others to help us see what we cannot see for ourselves. Consider the art and science of selecting and tracking your goals to achieve success to help you focus on the right results.
If you are serious about making 2009 a “sea change” kind of year – a line of demarcation, a watershed or turning point, then get serious and take time to really reflect on where you’ve been in the last year and what is important to you now. Then consider what kind of support you will need to accomplish your most important business and personal goals. Sound too time-consuming, or too complicated? The time you spend will save you many hours of frustration and discouragement. And think how good you will feel next year when you have accomplished so much!
The Human Side of Change: Thinking for a Change
Thomas J. Watson, Sr., the founder of IBM, used to share his vision of a changing and improving organization with a sign that read, THINK. Today, that call to excellence and action is a call for change that echoes across
A big part of the human side of change starts with awareness. That awareness should be the natural outgrowth of the combination of logical and sequential thinking as compared to holistic and emotional thinking. Logical and sequential thinking takes shape in the left brain while the holistic and emotional approach is a right brain process. Combined and balanced the whole brain approach to change through awareness is the natural first step.
What do you think? Or should the question be, “Do you think?” Now, don’t take that as an affront or an insinuation. It’s just a question to make you think!
Thinking is part of the change process. It takes work to think. Unfortunately, most people think about working, rather than work at thinking. Read that line again, and then let’s move to the next one. That doesn’t say you are that way. But honestly, think about it.
How much time do you devote to thinking on a daily basis? Most of us (that includes me) get into deeply ingrained habits (that’s a nice way of saying ‘ruts’) that require no thinking at all. We mindlessly go about our daily routines without a conscious thought about what we’re doing.
When was the last time you thought about the route you travel to work? How long has it been since you really considered your daily routines starting with the time you wake up and what you do in the first 30 minutes of the morning? Have you given any deep thought to the possibility of a better office arrangement, a different daily schedule, and a change in your diet or exercise regimen? What would happen if you changed some of the people you associate with regularly?
It takes discipline to think. It forces us to really evaluate, to honestly question what we do and how we do it. But isn’t that where innovation and improvement begin? When we become smug, complacent and mentally lazy we are doomed for failure, possibly disaster. Why does this happen? We all know better. But do we do better? The human side of change begins with an awareness of our own habits, our own weaknesses and our own strengths.
We can think, and we do think, if we want to think. Thinking deeply, logically and holistically will begin to open new horizons of opportunity for change and personal growth. This ultimately leads to success and happiness in all of our endeavors both personally and professionally. Thinking develops your awareness and that’s the first step in the human side of change. What do you THINK?
Setting Smart Goals for New Year
It is that time of year when many companies and their leader begin to develop goals for the year. Often these goals are meant to stretch the organization and its people towards growth in profits and production. Occasionally the goals may be designed around cost reduction and effective use of resources. Whichever is the desire, when you are developing goals, design them effectively by making sure the goals are SMART. SMART goals mean different things to different people and the words for the acronym change based on who you may be listening to. The important thing is for the SMART goals to mean something to the organization, department, or team and be written where progress can be easily tracked so everyone knows when the goals have been met.
The words I like to use for SMART goals are: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time based. I think most experts use specific as the first portion of the acronym as this requires the goal-setter to think about clear, detailed targets verses just putting dreams into words. Dreams are nice, but goals need to suggest actions to be taken. The word measurable means that some sort of quantity or percentage needs to be established as the target to hit in order to know the goal will be accomplished. Without a measurement, the goal can not be tracked so that action can be taken if the goal is in trouble of not being met. The A is typically either attainable or achievable. I prefer attainable as it sounds more like it requires an effort, which every goal should involve stretching the current limits or challenging people to perform higher. The R should be for relevant as every goal needs to mean something to those who are to work towards it and be written in a way that they can engage in the process of reaching it. Making it relevant helps the goal seeker with motivation towards attainment, whereas setting a goal that is realistic could be just maintaining the status quo or aiming at too low of a improvement target. And finally time-based means a date for accomplishment or a timeframe (such as weekly, monthly, or quarterly) for meeting measurements is set for every goal. Without the time-based portion it is hard to develop a plan for reaching the specific goal.
Since the important thing is for the SMART goals to mean something to your organization, department, or team, first check out what SMART means for your business. Second, ask yourself questions about your needs for the upcoming business year. Then begin to write and refine your goals where the organization, department, or team progress may be tracked so those working to reach the goals will know when the target is hit. If you are setting yearly goals and the goals are accomplished early, then you may not have stretched yourself and your teams enough. Re-evaluate any goals that are met early and determine if the goals needs to be updated in order to make it more challenging. Before changing and communicating a revised goal, be sure to celebrate reaching the original goal to keep the momentum going. Then explain why the goal is being updated and get agreement to making the new goal the next target.
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NOTE: Other optionally used words for the SMART goal acronym are in an article at http://www.timethoughts.com/goalsetting/smart-goals.htm
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