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How to manage your team through change – tips for a happy, empowered workforce
Appetite for change
When you take the decision to make changes. This could be to move to a new system, the business being acquired by a larger group or adopting a new management structure. Your staff with feel the effects of those changes.
Some team members will of course feel excited by the prospects of the change. Relishing a new challenge, the opportunities and have a natural openness to all things new.
But you are more than likely to experience some push back and apprehension. It is human nature to be wary of the unknown. Some individual will likely feel threatened by the prospect of automation. They will wonder what their place will be. They could experience a lack of confidence in their own ability to learn new skills. And these can all show up as a hostility to change. It’s funny how a little bit of negativity can bring down the mood of the team.
Change for good
However, with a considered approach and good communication you can prepare your team for the inevitable change. Consult, and convey the the positives the opportunities. And get them on board and open to discovering together.
For example, time saved on data entry means they can now spend more time having an impact on the business – be that chasing debtors, keeping the cashflow forecast up to date or preparing better quality management information.
Tools to help
There are a number of tried and tested tools to help you communicate through the change process effectively, pre-empt and gain buy in and input from those affected employees . To gain a deeper understand of why they feel the way that they do and how to overcome any resistence.
How to frame the change
Where possible you should prepare your team for the need for change. Rather than surprise them with it without explaining the ‘why’!
Engaging them in the process of discovery, will inevitably lead to more acceptance of the change.
You can discuss with them how you will get from where you are now (say it’s a paper based system) to the expected destination (automation). And talk with them about how will overcome the inevitable obstacles on the way.
A simple way to approach this is to follow these steps:
- Explain where you are going – the GOAL.
- Discuss where you are now – the CURRENT REALITY.
- Explore the routes to the desired destination – the OPTIONS.
- Get commitment to the journey and prepare for obstacles along the way – the WILL.
Adapting behaviours
Where the change requires employees to adapt their behaviour a useful method of explaining this is the ‘Evidence-Effect-Change’ technique. The idea is to get across why the old behaviour is undesirable and how a new behaviour would overcome this.
Let’s run through this in practice:
- EVIDENCE – Take an example of the behaviour – for example this could be spending a day a week doing manual re-keying of invoices
- EFFECT – Reflect with them on the impact of their actions – in our example you could discuss how the steady increase in sales means there are now simply too many invoices for this manual entry to be a viable use of time. it is causing them and you stress and delays to key reports.
- CHANGE – Discuss methods to overcome this or encourage a new behaviour. So, continuing this example, this would be how a digital process whereby invoice details are automatically copied into the desired reporting templates would mean the team could easily keep up with the increased sales volume, reports would be available on time and employees would have extra time to spend on more value-add activities
When things get tough
Some conflict is inevitable
Despite our best laid plans there will at times be conflict caused by dissatisfaction with the changes.
Morale can take a dip while employees learn to adapt. At the same time managers will often be fraught with the stress of their own learning curve.
Non verbal communication is key
At this point it is critical to remain mindful of your tone and body language. More-so than the words you actually use.
Most communication is non-verbal
When you realise just how much you are saying to your team… even when you are saying nothing…. you can appreciate the impact your mood has on others.
When you as a manager are under pressure it’s easy to get straight into head down, absorbed in the crisis. So when things get tough, take a breath, frame things in a positive light. Celebrate even the small successes.
What you can do now – small things make a big impression
Remember to say thank you, smile and ensure you greeting everyone in the morning and take an interest in how they are.
You’ll be surprised at how much this can lift the mood of the room. Your team are sure to respond more favourably to the challenges, and will be more open and approachable with you in turn.
Remember you have to deal with the feelings and emotions first. As these lead to the right behaviours and results. A sense of camaraderie and learning together.
Why do they do the thing that they do?!
The Four Tendencies
People are puzzling. It’s easy to see the world through our own eyes. To become mystified and exasperated at the way other people do what they do. Or how they react in a certain way that falls short of your expectations.
Gretchin Rubin explains a useful technique looking at the ‘Four Tendencies’ whereby people can be categorised as either ‘Questioners, Upholders, Obligers or Rebels’. Each set requiring a different management style from you.
Tailor your style
This realisation can help us understand how other people see the world. So we can best frame tasks to maximise the positive outcomes and adapt our style to get the best outcome.
Lets take a look at the two extremes of tendencies:
‘Obligers’
The ‘obligers’ deal well with outer expectations but struggle with internal expectations. Anything that requires self-motivation or self-management doesn’t come naturally.
On the face of it these people can seem lazy, disinterested and downright frustrating to work with. You give them a vague instruction and they don’t take ownership. When they let you down you say to yourself surely they know how important this was, why didn’t they take initiative?!
However, another way of looking at it is they just need some disciple and structure from you and they will perform well.
Getting the best from obligers
To get the best from ‘Obliger’s you need to have oversight, to hold them accountable. You need to give them clear instructions, agree milestones, set deadlines and conducting regular update meetings with them. Then they will deliver exactly what you expect them to.
‘Rebels’
‘Rebels’ are at the other end of the scale. They push against both internal and external expectations. ‘Rebels’ resist meeting any expectations if they feel bossed around and they must understanding the ‘why’.
They are willing to work hard and are super committed and passionate. But only if you frame a request in a way that makes them feel they have a choice, that they made the decision!
How to manage a rebel – or at least harness their creative genius!
The key to managing a ‘Rebel’ are to not give orders or too much management. (Basically the opposite to managing an obliger.)
Instead, take the time to provide detail of the current situation and the consequences of different choices. So they have free will to make the right choice.
You can phrase questions by first setting the scene and asking what they think, we could do X or Y – what do you think? And with that they will be off sorting out the problem with the most suitable solution with minimal direction.
More on tendencies
Take the free quiz to find out what style you and your team fall into. It’s likely you will have a mix of different tendencies in your team. And reading the descriptions you can probably guess whom falls into which category!
Suddenly ‘annoying tendencies’ become clear and manageable.
For more insight on the the Four Tendencies check out the book it is a great read!
Generational differences – be they perceived or real!
Generations working together
You likely have as many as five generations in your workforce today. Each with its own broad set of preferences (or at least perceived preferences).
Typically Generations Y or Millennials (born between 1080s-1990s) require more from their organisation. They value freedom, change and diversity. They want to make a difference!
Results of Deloitte study on why Gen Y chose their job
Getting the best from Gen Y
When you talk to Generation Ys about the need for change, they respond best to:
- Candor – being honest and straightforward!
- Individualize training efforts – they’re used to a world tailored to their wants and needs (think Google search results!), so tailor training templates to them individually.
- Provide flexibility – allow free time to work on their own creative problems. They’ll likely come up with something that helps the bottom line and should appeal to their desire for a passion filled career.
Gen Z
The most recent generation entering the workforce is Gen Z (mid 1990s to 2000s). These individuals can help technology unite the generations by teaching the older generations, such as baby boomers, how to make better use of technology.
As with Gen X, they crave the ability to influence and make an impact on the world around them (think snapchat and Tiktok).
So embrace this, enable them to influence in the organisation by removing hierarchies where possible so they can ‘go teach the Boomers’ and work collaboratively.
People as individuals
But remember people are not their age, their experience, their job title…
It can be easy to get carried away with categorising and stereotyping people.
But we also have to remember employees are individuals. They have their own sets of unique values and challenges. And these will go up and down depending on what other external events are going on.
The particular circumstances they are experiencing will impact on their priorities, ability to perform and receptiveness to change.
Priorities fluctuate, be holistic
Perhaps a team member seems unenthusiastic and unreceptive to change. But actually outside of work they have other factors that make it hard for them to embrace change at work.
They could currently have dependant they are worried about, such a sick relative, they could be battling a personal issue or illness?
Aspiration and attitudes are not a consistent predetermined thing. They will vary depending on these other factors.
Depending on how much bandwidth that individual currently has to devote to bringing their full self to work on that particular day/week/month.
It is important therefore to take a holistic approach.
Don’t jumping to conclusions.
Don’t judge and scold before you know the full picture.
You can use compassionate questions – asking how people are, take a genuine interest and show that you respect them and support them as an individual.
We’d love to hear your thoughts.
How do you manage people through change successfully? What did you do to make it work?
Or have you experienced exceptional leadership through change? What was the one thing that left an impression on you?
Share your thoughts!
