How to lead through change
Abrupt change happened in your organization. A new software, acquisition of a competitor, layoffs. As a manager, perhaps it wasn’t your idea or decision, but that doesn’t relieve you from leading your team through it. Luckily, there are resources that can help.
Managing a change starts with delivering tough news
First things first. Managing a change should start with communicating the change in the first place. The emphasis here is on communication because your first urge might be to run away from what is coming or avoid talking about it. You might want to cover your head in the sand, but as a leader, it’s not about you, so you need to do the opposite.
A general rule of thumb when communicating change, especially a big one:
Communicate clearly: explain what is happening, why it’s happening, and what it means for your team.
Check for tone: cover your angles and make sure you are not tone-deaf in your delivery. One piece of information can be communicated in many ways, so make sure there is ownership in your message and accountability without shifting blame.
Remove doubts and use compassion: create space for questions, and feedback and actively listen.
Mitigate risks and offer support: provide the information about what you’re doing to mitigate the negative, what supporting materials your team will have at their disposal, what the desired behavior is from your team, and in what ways the team will be appreciated for navigating the change.
Now that we’ve covered the delivery, let’s see how the change manifests.
The Kübler-Ross curve:
One model focuses on change and its stages for the people experiencing it. Initially introduced by Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross for terminal patients to help them come to terms with their own mortality, later it was expanded to help grieving people. Perhaps you know it as “5 stages of grief”. Nowadays, this knowledge found its way into everyday life and business because it accurately represents human emotions when presented with a change - any change.
There are 5 phases: denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and finally acceptance.
Each person has personally experienced this roller-coaster of emotions. Try to think of a time when you were faced with a piece of strong negative news.
You probably couldn’t have believed it was happening, then you had become frustrated and sad. After some time and thought, you tried to find the silver lining of the situation and eventually, you accepted that the change was inevitable and you learned to live with it. The same happens to teams when presented with a change or bad news. However, in the business world, if a change is not managed, there is a high risk of an irreversible drop in performance and attrition. Instead of accepting the unmanaged chaos, your best people can quit. You don’t want your high-performing and well-trained team to leave, not for reasons that could have been handled better and you sure don’t want your business to suffer. So what can you do?
Recognizing the change and managing it
The good news is that each phase or stage comes with specific behaviors and signs. As a leader, these help you read the room and apply specific leadership principles. If these seem unnatural to you at first, the more you analyze past situations, the easier you will spot the signs of change in future situations. There are 4 transitioning stages with clear indicators that you should look for.
Each situation will be different depending on the severity, impact, and duration of the change, so the details of your actions as a leader may vary, but the following logic should still apply:
The first stage is the most silent one. People are still trying to understand what was communicated and your team will need time, answers, and reassurance. They might be quiet and in shock, so anticipate which questions they might have, which are important to them and answer as many of them as possible. Create a safe space for the team to express themselves without fear of retaliation.
The second stage is emotionally charged. Outbursts and resistance are to be expected. Make sure you are cool-headed, thinking long-term, and that you do not penalize your team for a temporary drop in performance. Your duty is to listen and make sure you remove as much friction as possible. Focus on all negative side-effects of change that can be mitigated, especially if communicated by the team as impactful or important - solve those first.
The third stage comes with a sprinkle of optimism. Give your team plenty of opportunities to test, experiment and get familiar with the change. Lead by example and participate to feel the impact first-hand. Time and exposure are crucial in this part - the more time and opportunity your team has, the easier it will be to get accustomed to the new reality. Some will take longer than others and some will feel lost, so encourage the right model of behavior and give it some spotlight. Help your team see what the desired behavior is.
The last phase is the one where change has become a part of the normal day-to-day. You might want to jump on the next issue, but make sure to stop and smell the flowers with the team. Reward the good behavior, celebrate the small wins, and continue encouraging your team in actions that are aligned with your goals and high performance.
Once you truly understand these 4 stages in your organization, then the leadership behaviors will come naturally. Change is difficult, uncomfortable - and inevitable. Having the skill of managing change will prove useful no matter if you are a CEO, a manager, a teammate, a captain of your sports team, or a parent. And remember, you don’t have to be a leader to lead, you can always lead by example.