5th in a series
The only human beings that really appreciate regular change are babies.
It never fails. You get a great performance plan written and agreed to. You enter it into your organization’s system, and start working on achieving those goals. Then it happens – your leader comes to you with a “change in plans.” What happened to the original plan? Why the change? Why now?
FROM THE OTHER SIDE…
I’ve lost count of the number of leaders that have complained to me about the “resistance” they get when they have to initiate a change in plans or process. “Why can’t everybody just get on board?” When I get that question from a leader, my first response is to ask them, “When did you get them involved in the change?” If I don’t get a quizzical look, like “what do you mean ‘involve’ them,” they’ll usually tell me “When they had to get it done.” In which case, I just say, “You’re a little late.”
AGENTS, CONDUITS, AND VICTIMS
Space does not allow me to go down the Managing Change rabbit-hole right now, so here is the Cliff’s Notes version of the Readers Digest edition of the synopsis.
Change is a process, not an event. The change process starts with an event – a decision to do things differently. This “trigger event” can either be caused by an outside force (changes in markets, etc.) or an internal one (changes in leadership, vision, focus, etc.). But regardless, someone makes the decision that things will be done differently – the Change Agent. The change agent is the first to go through the process and is ahead of everyone else. But because (s)he sees the reason – benefits – for the change, they go through the process rather quickly.
The leader then has the sub-leaders carry out the change – The Change Conduits. It is their responsibility to relay the rationale behind the change, manage their way through their own journey, and guide their followers through the journey along the way. If this is not done effectively (i.e., the rationale and benefits are not embraced or explained well by the conduits), the whole journey can end up the equivalent of an organizational train wreck.
Then there are those who are responsible for executing the change – the “Victims.” I put that in quotes because that mindset is not always the case. There are basically 3 reactions to change:
“What took you so long?” These are the early adopters – eager to get going with the new way. Like the Agents, they see the rationale and the benefits and come through the process relatively quickly.
“Huh?” These are the confused. Somewhere in the communication process, there was static on the line. They can easily lose sight of the new vision – the desired future state – and start wandering, lost somewhere in the transition between the old and the new performance expectations.
“I don’t think so.” These are the resistive. They are focused more on the losses (what is going away) than the gains that replace them. They lost the “What’s in it for me?” element and are holding on to those things that are most important to them for as long as they can.
Change is like rainfall – everybody knows you need it, but no one wants to get wet.
The key here is effective communication (it always boils down to this, doesn’t it). As I have said before, the more people know why they are being asked to do something (in this case, change the course or direction of their energies), the more likely they will buy into it. So here are a few thoughts for discussing mid-stream changes to the performance expectations:
- The time to initiate the conversation is as soon as you know something is coming, NOT when it is suddenly upon them – startling is likely to produce aberrant behavior.
- Allow time for the process to work its way through. Remember, Change Agents move faster Change Conduits who move faster than Change Victims. You will probably have to coach the conduits and victims through the process:
- Acknowledging the loss of what they saw as important
- Helping them paint the picture of gain in the new environment
- Gaining their commitment to engaging in the new environment
- Discuss what is (and is not) going away and why.
- Apply the same skills you used when you set the initial expectations. Allow time to think through and apply ideas.
- If you are adding expectations – as opposed to replacing – remember that something may have to give. Look at the expectations in the order of priorities. Are the lower priority items really necessary? Can they be dropped off the plan, or at least temporarily suspended until the added expectation takes hold?
Everyone has their own “red-line” level – their point of diminishing returns. It is your job as a leader to know where that red-line level is. Exceed that maximum, and you run the risk of burning them out and/or losing them altogether.
John Lake has been a Business Culture and Performance Consultant/Trainer for over 20 years. JDLake Communications, LLC is designed to help organizations retain the talent they don’t know they are about to lose.
