Give Change a Big HUG
Organisational change is common, but success rates are low. Some reports cite a 70% failure rate for change initiatives due to factors like employee resistance and stress. So, with change being inevitable, how do we learn to handle it differently and effectively? Dawn Rutherford, our Principal Change Architect, reveals all.
For years, we have been saying that the pace of change is increasing. Rather than seeing this as a negative, I think we should open our arms and embrace it - Give it a big HUG. It is possible to enjoy change – remember that holiday that didn’t go to plan but you had an amazing time seeing new places and meeting people that you would never have met if the travel plans had worked out?
As humans, we are born ‘ready’ for change; our brains can, in the right environment, adapt quickly. After all, we test it every day; starting new relationships, changing careers, and dealing with day-to-day work issues. The challenge comes when we are surprised and in shock – remember the fight, flight, freeze?
The skill of a change professional is to harness people’s in-built ability to change, minimising personal and organisation disruption. So, how do we do this?
Create a Safe Environment – It’s important to set the tone, bringing positivity and energy to facilitations.
Ensure No Surprises – Our brain goes into fight, flight or freeze mode when we are surprised, so reducing the element of surprise helps the brain deal with the change with less stress or delay. This ensures we future think the change and engage people along the way.
Facilitate Curiosity – Encourage open questions, listen to people’s views and allow teams to question the change (remember the 5 Whys? – when did we stop being open to this technique? Our children are expert at it…. frustratingly) This is not only great for problem solving but for engaging people in understanding the change, the organisation’s reason for change and to challenge if there is a better way to reach the required outcome.
Connect With People – A core skill of a Change Manager is the ability to connect with people on a human level, have strong emotional intelligence, listen, hear, challenge and reframe. We never ignore concerns – we always address them.
Build Trust – We do what we say and, when we can’t, we communicate it and explain why.
Be Bold – We fight for the voice of the receivers of change to ensure their voice is heard.
Positively Challenge – In particular, we challenge the project Sponsors and Managers, to ensure they continually think about the end user.
Check Adoption - Change Managers are not Project Managers, they are not so keen on project plans, tasks list, Gantt charts, or risk logs, but they are passionate about ensuring that the change that has been planned and implemented is adopted.
If you recognise yourself here, please contact us and become part of the Marbral team!
If you would like support with your portfolio of change, to ensure that the change your organisation needs to drive growth and improve efficiency is adopted, we have an experienced team of Change Managers that can support you personally. We also offer e-learning and training courses that can help you build this capability within your own teams.
Remember to HUG the change rather than avoid or resist it, you never know where it will take you.
For Change Management support, planning, resource, or training, contact the friendly team at Marbral Advisory today: hello@marbraladvisory.com. Or have a read of our client testimonials here: https://www.marbraladvisory.com/case-studies