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PART TWO - Managing Transitions: Making Change Work

Part One of this article was published in the HRVoice on April 12, 2007. Read Part One now.

Dr. Mark DeVolder

Trust and Betrayal

In a recent Internet survey conducted by Pittsburgh based Development Dimensions International and the CRM Group, surfers were asked, “Have you ever wished you could fire your boss? If yes, why?” Nearly one third, 32 %, said a lack of trust and/or integrity. Building and keeping trust is essential if a change is to work.

Leaders have many opportunities to build trust with employees. Most of these opportunities are directly linked to actions. Dennis Reina defines trust like this: “Behaving in a way that respects others’ needs and feelings while practicing open, honest communication.” Notice two words: behaving and communication. Trust is built through respectful behaviour and honest communication. More on that later.

Conversely, if respectful behaviour and honest communication are not practiced, people feel betrayed. Betrayal is a strong word, but it captures how people feel. And if feelings of betrayal are present, the change process will be severely hampered.

Managers must also recognize that not all betrayal is created equally. Some negative actions affect the entire organization and others impact individuals. This is categorized as major and minor betrayal. Within this continuum, we also recognize that some actions are intentional and others are unintentional. Leaders who address feelings of betrayal, whether real or perceived, can rebuild trust with employees. However, healing from betrayal is more difficult if the behaviour was intentional.

Coping with Anger

If employees feel betrayed during the change process, managers will be dealing with anger in the workplace. Two things are important for managers to remember. Manager yourself first and then assist others to manage their anger. It is vital that anger be controlled because unbridled anger can have devastating consequences.

When managers recognize their own triggers and defensive reactions to an angry employee, it ensures that there is only one angry person to deal with rather than two.

Managers can assist others to manage their anger by learning techniques to defuse anger. In addition, it is helpful to recognize when an employee’s anger reaches the crisis phase. If this happens, time and space are needed. In the crisis phase, adrenalin is pumped into the blood system, making it nearly impossible to make rationale judgements. In fact, it takes a full 90 minutes for reasoning to return to normal. All the more reason to manage anger.

Transition Management

In order to successfully navigate through transitions, organizations and individuals go through three stages: “1) letting go of the old way, 2) making the most of the time of re-patterning in the neutral zone, 3) and making a real, new beginning ” (W. Bridges). The problem that many people encounter with transitions, though, is getting stuck in stage one or two. Each stage has work that must be completed before progressing on to the next stage.

In Stage One, the tasks are acceptance and letting go. Many people have difficulty with acceptance. At a visceral level, to accept the change feels like they believe in the change or condone it. Rather, acceptance means that people acknowledge the change has happened or will happen. In this way, they become prepared to let go of the old way.

The tasks of Stage Two are waiting patently and learning. Patience is required because Stage two will last longer than everyone expects. Problems arise; deadlines are missed. During this time, everyone commits himself or herself to learn as much as they can.

In Stage Three, people must let go again and take a leap of faith. Even though, the previous stage took longer than anticipated, it was still temporary. But people have gotten use to being there and still fear the unknown future. In order to enter into the new beginning, people must let of Stage Two and take a leap of faith.

Communication

People going through the change process need information and this information rests in the hands of leaders. But leaders cannot be stingy; they must freely communicate at all levels. Communication should begin with a clear and succinct vision statement, then going on to explain the reasons and details of the change. It is imperative to do this in face-to-face meetings. In fact, some would argue, “if it isn’t face-to-face, it isn’t communication.”

After the initial change is explained, allow people time to process the information. Depending on the change, some may be in shock and not remember many of the details that were mentioned. That is why it is helpful to provide people with written communication as well many different opportunities to ask questions and seek clarification.

Some leaders think that once the information has been delivered, their responsibilities for communication are over. However, more is better. Keep the communication going out and coming in. Look for ways to improve communication between management levels, as well between management and employees.

Conclusion

Change is essential in today’s economy. Companies merge, departments reorganize, new governments are elected. In order to navigate change successfully, organizations must focus on Change Management and Transition Management. However, as we have seen, usually Change Management gets most of the attention.

To avoid this common mistake, savvy managers have learned to manage both simultaneously: the project and the people. When employees are given the support they need, the implementation process goes more smoothly. There will always be challenges and difficulties, but transitions will work if managers give effective leadership, engage employees, build trust, defuse anger and communicate constantly.

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