Tempering Traumatic Transitions
Peter de Jager is a provocative Speaker, Writer and Consultant. His primary focus in on how we manage change, technology and the future.
In addition to speaking at conferences worldwide, he also writes monthly columns for CIO Magazine and Computerworld Canada.
His goal is always to question what we think is so, and in so doing perhaps open up new opportunities.
If you'd like permission to reprint any of Peter's articles, please contact him directly.
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It’s a good day. Your company and all the involved stakeholders have agreed unanimously, “We need to Change!” Everyone either understands the urgency and importance of fixing a problem, or has seized upon a single vision of what the organization might become in the future. There is no resistance to the Change, there is no talk of “Buy-in”, and there are no holdouts. Your organization is ready to move in unison towards a common goal, with concentrated effort, and determination.
That sounds exciting. It sounds like a successful completion of the perfect Change Management Project (CMP). It also sounds too good to be true. Most organizations would give their right arm to write the above paragraph about their current CMP. For some, this would define exactly what “Organizational Change Readiness” is all about. Yet… in many ways, this
desirable state of affairs would not signal the completion of a CMP, it would just be the first step on a sometimes long and painful journey towards the final goal of implementing the Change.
“Change Management” is not just about whittling “resistance” down to a non-event. Nor is it sufficient to rally the troops and gain corporate wide agreement that the Change must occur. These things are incredibly important, and frankly, based upon anecdotes, first hand experience, newspaper headlines and survey results; they seem beyond the abilities of most organizations, but they are not the only goals of a good CM project.
“Change Management” is also about managing what happens after people have decided that the Change is not only worth embracing, but
that it is also worth their effort, long hours, their total support and determined persistence to the oft times bitter end.
Consider your own past experiences. When was the last time you decided that you needed a change, and went through with it? Regardless of what that change involved, from moving to a new city, learning a language, losing weight, stopping smoking, getting promoted, getting married, learning to use a new tool, a new game, a new application, etc. etc. the
difficulty involved in learning the skills necessary to achieve the final goal was totally separate from thedifficulty involved in making the decision to change.
Here is the issue in a nutshell wrapped in a cliché; Change Hurts. Even when we want it so badly we can taste it, real Change is difficult, though not impossible, to achieve.
Learning any significantly new skill is difficult. Learning a significant skill upon which your
pay cheque depends is frightening. Learning a significant and financially critical skill without the necessary support structure is cruel, unusual, and most importantly, totally unnecessary punishment.
The support structure to temper the trauma of a transition breaks neatly into four parts.
Training:- Provide those affected by the Change with the skills necessary to execute their new responsibilities. The closer you can provide this training to the big event, the better. People, despite our best efforts, don’t have permanent memories. It really is a case of use it or lose it.
That training and general support can take many forms, the more the merrier.
1) Formal Courses… with refresher courses assumed from the start.
2) Communication in every conceivable form; Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic.
3) Help lines, support desks, support groups… and anything else that can place the
person learning the new skill in contact with other ‘victims’ of the Change as well
as experts in the new skill set.
4) Removal of uncertainty. Do people really understand that time is allowed for the
learning process? Do they know that while they are being asked to learn by trial
and error, they will not be put on trial for those errors?
5) We’re in this together! Is there general recognition that everyone is involved in the
transition and has a stake in the outcome? Is there a sense of teamwork amongst
everyone involved?
Encouragement:- Training is good, but hands on experience is totally different. If it’s new, then regardless of how much training you’ve provided, people will still make mistakes. That they are making mistakes is actually a good thing. It means they are making an attempt to learn.
Every failure is evidence of effort. When they somehow fail when they are using the new
system, it’s sometimes too easy to forget that part of that sentence is “they are using the new system”. That’s progress.
Pay attention to failures after a transition as they are indications that people are attempting to move forward. Encourage them, not to continue failing of course, but to continue trying.
Reinforcement:- Not all attempts will result in failure, some attempts will, (honestly!) result in success. Each one of those successes, with as few exceptions as possible, should be rewarded.
Celebration:- From frenzied dances around the campfire after a successful hunt to Harvest festivals around the world from time memorial, we “need”, not just “like” to celebrate our efforts and achievements.
Celebration is public recognition of a job well done. It proclaims loudly and publicly that our efforts were appreciated. It is both personal and peer recognition that we are of value to the progress of our organization. It, perhaps more than the work itself, creates an esprit de corp that prepares us for the next challenge.
Celebration is a “Thank you” motivated by sincere feelings of gratitude and a canny understanding of human nature. People like to be appreciated and a celebration is a powerful way to communicate that message.
The celebration does not have to involve costs. If budgets truly are on the skinny side, then a team potluck lunch will suffice. If there is budget, and there should be if the Change was truly significant and resulted in the survival of the organization, then by all means throw a party. Ask yourself two questions;
1) How valuable was the successful completion of the CMP?
2) How much do you want their full, and willing participation in the next CMP?
Change, even desired Change, is difficult. Implementing a support structure to assist people through a significant Change is not just a matter of overcoming our reluctance to leave the comfort of the old status quo, it’s an attempt to support and promote the determination and courage necessary to move towards the next one.
© 2005,
Peter de Jager – Peter is passionate about change, how it affects both
individuals and organizations and allows them to grow and prosper. To contact him, and
host internal seminars on Change Management visit www.technobility.com
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