Managing Transitions to Make the Most of Change
When you hear your organization has an exciting new change initiative coming soon, what do you think? Are you filled with dread? Are you energized? Do you roll your eyes because you know “how well” that last big change went? Do you get apprehensive? Stressed?
One of the biggest challenges with making an organization’s change successful is taking into account the “transition” that must occur among those impacted. Inspired by Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change by William Bridges, research and our own experiences with transformation done well and… not so well, we have found an immense cumulative benefit of intentionally addressing both change AND the transitions that comes with it.
Situational vs Psychological
One of the most important things to remember about any change process is that change is situational but transition is psychological. The situation may “change” such as when the new system is in place or logistically the process flows through a different path; but the transition requires an acknowledgement and acceptance of letting go of something first and foremost. Only then, are people ready to adapt behavior or attitudes to facilitate a new beginning. Unfortunately, letting go of the old is one of the most common points of resistance, oftentimes more so than resistance to the change itself.
Focusing on logistics and factual change requirements, while certainly important, is not what will fully make the change transformation successful. Change leaders also must take the time to address the psychological side of transition if they want any hope for effective, sustainable changes with all the positive effects originally envisioned.
As shown below, there are models that align change transitions with the stages of grief (because in reality, if something is going to change it starts with a loss of something first, a loss of how things are or what we know to be true). The Kübler-Ross model shows the typical cycle of transition employees journey through during a change initiative. Keep in mind, employees may seemingly pass through each phase only to regress for periods of time. These regressions can easily be addressed through various tools and techniques outlined below. Change leaders must cater plans to account for the human factor - knowing that the unknown is scary. Failing to recognize the human factor and how losses impact us, can leave change leaders rushing to celebrate the new way without giving people the proper time to process or without tailoring communication and understanding of how they can assimilate in the new world.
Tools & Techniques
There are many tools and techniques to help facilitate the transition process in a positive, beneficial way and to set up your organization to make the most of change. Important components to incorporate in any transition process include:
Sell the problem - People leading change tend to spend closer to 10% of the time selling the problem and 90% selling the solution. However, that equation doesn't add up to success. The reason being is that people aren’t in the market for solutions to problems they don't see or understand. Plus if the biggest resistance point revolves around letting go, telling them how it's going to be starshine and rainbows on the other side doesn’t address what’s holding them back anyways. However, if you sell them the problem so they can really see and feel it, then it becomes theirs as well and increases their interest in jumping into being part of the solution.
Analyze impacts - Start with analyzing and understanding who stands to lose something in the change and/or will have to change behavior. This will look different for different stakeholders or employees - not all are going to feel the impact the exact same way. As mentioned, people often resist the letting go, not the change itself. Preemptively help with figuring out what specific behavior and attitudes will need to change to make things work. If you make it clear what is needed to reach the new beginning, that will ease their transition and related angst of letting go because they know what they are jumping into and how to do so.
Facilitate learning - Ensure any tools or resources needed for the transition are easily available and accessible. The last thing you want is frustrated employees who can’t start transitioning once they are ready; that may only serve to set back the entire process. Make sure there are no unfair assumptions or an adversarial tone surrounding training or new behaviors - for example, don’t ask “why aren’t you doing this?” but rather ask what roadblocks or difficulties are occurring as a way to create open dialog about what else could be provided or resolved to assist in repatterning their behaviors or realigning their expectations and attitudes.
Lead by example - Role model what is expected of employees. If leaders aren’t taking something to heart or committing to it, employees will pick up on that and it can be interpreted to mean it's not that important. Accountability matters and both leaders and employees can make more informed decisions on how to behave if they know it is taken seriously and that stated expectations are not arbitrary. Leaders can also serve as a communication conduit between the change team and their own direct reports. Leaders should be seen as a trusted source that employees can go to and have confidence they will get an honest, straightforward answer.
Communicate A LOT - Communicate courageously by being prepared to share the good, the bad and the ugly in a way that people can understand, process and eventually get onboard with supporting. Start with reality. Give people the rationale for change - THE WHY - laying it out in the clearest, most dramatic terms. Rather than using “big” announcements, try engaging in ongoing, bite-sized communications that can let people ease their way into accepting and transitioning into a changed state. Create a communications plan but be ready to adjust it as needed if messages aren’t resonating as expected or leading to the desired outcome. At the end of the day, if you think you have communicated enough - you haven’t; communicate some more.
McKinsey (2015) found that when senior management communicated openly and across the organization about the transformation’s progress they saw 8x greater success rate.
If You’re Doing it Right
We’re not going to sugarcoat it — it takes more time and effort to intentionally lead both situational change logistics and psychological transition. However, when the effort is put into helping people let go of what they knew to be true, facilitate transitioning applicable behaviors and attitudes, and supporting coming out the other side with optimistic perspectives on the new beginnings, there are impactful results including:
A more engaged workforce
Organizational readiness, flexibility and adaptability
Stabilized productivity before, during and after the transition
Customer satisfaction (because how employees feel will radiate to treatment of customers)
