Supporting Change

People react differently to change. And their behavior and attitude towards it is determined by how they are impacted by it. Even those who can positively gain more after the change process, have uncertainties and even questions about how solid the new ways are going to play out in the future.

Gradual changes are often more successful than radical, quick changes that leave those who are affected by the change perplexed, unprepared, leaving a good amount of issues unaddressed and questions unanswered. And although a project is carried out completely, the success of it is determined by how effective the change management was done, and how everyone is doing after the change has taken full effect.

But how can one implement change successfully, despite the challenges and setbacks along the way? The answer may sound simple but it requires plenty of thorough work, and it all boils down to the level at which people are provided support and pragmatic help.

Change management is done by handling, managing, and developing people, processes, and even entire organisational structures. It is important to understand that while change is happening externally, those who are affected by it are figuring out their way through it internally. They are processing the information personally, along with the events that they are experiencing and the physical, tangible changes that they are seeing, hearing about, and being implemented.

For any type of change to be successful, these points need to be considered, resolved, or fulfilled.

• As a receiver of the information, affected by change and also tasked to deliver important information to the rest of your team or groups in the organisation, you must resolve your personal conflict and aversity to the impending change. It is important to understand change, so that you may explain it logically and as precisely and as thoroughly as you possibly can. This makes it easier for others to understand and be more open or accepting of the change.  Being personally prepared for the change is the best way to help others adapt and handle the change as well. This also gives you the opportunity to be able to communicate as much as you can, explaining things as fully as you can, while involving yourself and others through the process.

• As you explain the change to those within your team or to the different groups in the organisation, always keep in mind that like you, there will be some or even most, if not all of them, who feel the same way you did about the change, before you went through your own personal process. Understand that individuals will react differently and may react the same way at the same time. People’s reactions reveal the amount of uncertainty they have, how much they understand or know about the change, and how likely or least likely they are to take part in it. Use their reactions as a guage and their feedback as a way to develop and improve any help or support system you plan to put in place, so that you may address their concerns accordingly and provide optimum and pragmatic support, especially to those who are directly and largely impacted by the change.

• Use the past, present, and future to show the positive side of change. Most, if not all, find it difficult to let go of a work process they’ve gotten so used to, a boss they’ve been working with for years, or even a role that they’ve been so used to, they feel that there’s nothing else they know how to do. By reassuring them about the things that will stay the same, things that will improve the current situation, and how much better the future of their careers will be, can help ease the transition and encourage people to give change a chance, especially in situations where not everything will be removed or replaced.

Helping people go through change means looking into their personal concerns, giving them the time to express their feedback and listen to their voices, and providing them with realistic and practical solutions that can increase their willingness and desire to participate in the process.

Going through the Process

There are certain ways to measure the impact of change on people, based on how much stress or hassle it causes them on duirng a specific stage or phase of the change process, as well how it impacts them on a daily basis. The Holmes-Rahe SRRS or Social Readjustment Rating Scale has often been used as a way to measure these points, to determine how much stressful change can be to those who are undergoing or affected by it. It’s a list of life events with corresponding points, with anyone scoring less than 150 life changing units has a 30% chance of experiencing stress, 150 to 299 life chaning units has a 50% of experiencing stress, and anyone scoring 300 and above has an 80% chance of experiencing stress AND developing illness that are normally related or triggered by stress. The impact on health is one to look out for, as not everyone responds the same way to stress. A redundation due to organisational restructuring may be a welcome opportunity to someone who has worked for a long time and had the opportunity to build up their savings and prepare for retirement, but the same may cause stress and worry for someone who’s worked just as long but with a different pay grade. These two individuals require different types and levels of assistance as they go through the same event. However, on the SRR Scale, the scoring remains the same, which doesn’t take into account whether the change in work life is a positive or a negative experience.

Later on, instead of life experiences, Kanner et all (1981) developed a different rating scale, with daily hassles and daily uplifts as the factors to be observed and rated. Hassles are rated according to severity, while uplifts are rated based on frequency. This was used for a control group of a mix of male and female, with the same ethnicity, economic class, and age group. In conclusion, they found that daily hassles are a more accurate way of measuring stress.

Safe to say that if the change that is being implemented, no matter how fruitful it promises to be or how brighter it promises to make the future of an individual or an entire organisation, may not be received as easily and as openly by those who are directly affected by it, especially if it requires a 180 or a 360 turn to make the change happen. The hassles that these individuals will experience as they go through the process may cause them to become less interested in participating i or helping with the change. Determining the challenges, as well as the hassles, that can occur throughout the process, will help change managers create possible ways to avoid it or to provide steps to make it much easier to navigate such experiences.

Learning about the Change and Experiencing It

People may react differently during the time they find out about the change compared to once they start going through it. No matter how people prepare for life changing events, nothing could have really prepared anyone for when it actually happens. For others, it may be a beginning of something more promising, and for others it may be the end of something they’ve been doing for years or even decades.

Even with positive life changing events like a job promotion, for example, it may still take time for the individual to get used to their new role, and in some days, the individual may feel more stressed because they are still adjusting to their new role. Meetings may become a hassle than a welcome break, especially if their work load has also increased. In this case, mentorship, shadowing, or a temp assistant may be helpful, until the individual has gained more mastery in their daily activities and developed a work system and process that works for them.

The Effects of Change in People and How Change Managers Can Help

Change managers are often met with negative pre-conceived notions about the work that they do, especially by those whom they are going to be working directly with. But effective managers understand how to manage the people and their emotions. These emotions are identified and described below:

• Awareness/Shock

People are paralysed and overwhelmed by the information of change, affecting their ability to rationalise, think constructively, and get into a planning/probem solving state of mind. This often happens when they are unprepared for news of change.

As a change manager, involving them in the disucssion and listening to their feedback is an avenue for educating and informing the people about the change. There will be more questions than constructive discussion at this point.

People may still feel shock and experience a state of immobilisation even if the change has a positive effect or impact in their lives. One example is securing a spot in a competition, landing a dream job, being awarded a promotion, or a pay raise.

• Denial

People have the tendency to minimise the gravity of the situation to reduce emotional toll, and have the tendency to deny the change as they continue to cling to the past and remain unwilling to see the up side of change.

A change manager’s confrontational skills may be put to the test, as well as their issue identification skills and troubleshooting skills, as they help individuals accept the reality of change and move them out of the denial stage. Making the positive effects of change visible, and using a timetable to show these are excellent ways to show the upside and benefits of change, including the practical ways that they can benefit from it. For change managers, this is an opportuinty to gain people’s trust and confidence.

• Depression

When change becomes more apparent and can no longer be denied, people may feel defeated and powerless, and that they have no choice but to accept the situation. It may be feelings triggered by the impending emotional process of letting go of the past and things that they are used to, as they transition into the new norm.

As a change manager, the best ways to tackle this challenge is to value people’s emotions and reactions as they go through this phase. Consider this as a hand-holding and listening process, as you help them navigate all the different emotional valleys that they are going through, as they become more aware of the reality of the situation.

• Letting Go

Whether it is a long-time and beloved leader, a colleague, or a teammate who is either leaving the team for retirement, a job relocation, or a promotion, the process of letting go of the personal bond can be quite an emotional exercise. It even becomes more difficult when it is letting go of one’s previous role and their old purpose, in the event of an organisational restructuring or severance.

As a change manager, respecting and valuing the past – work history, job role, the success of the old system/process, is a significant step in assuring people that the new norm is not as woeful as it was perceived to be. This gives the assurance that the past is valued and recognised.

• Testing

People usually seem more reactive and easily agitated at this point. People may seem easily irritated and have the tendency to magnify discomfort and hassles that hinder them from adjusting to the new norm. Testing is much like a trial and error phase, where people find ways that work for them to help them settle and adapt to the new norm.

A change manager’s Issue identificaiton, trouble shooting, and issue reslution skills will prove extremely useful at this point. Provide support by helping people find options and creative ways to adapt to the new role or environment and develop a way that will make it become their new natural day to day.

• Consolidation

People will have adjusted to the new norm and actually begin to experience it. This is the point where they continue to do what they have learned from the Testing phase, and will have adjusted to their new environment and learned to embrace new behaviours that came with the change.

As a change manager, recognising and rewarding positive behavior will prove beneficial at this point. Doing so will encourage more positive behavior, build up confidence, and mutual trust. Sharing best practices is a constructive and helpful way to broadcast an individual’s success, as this gives recognition to the individual and become a learning opportunity for others.

• Reflection and Learning

Learning occurs naturally at this point. People examine their emotions, reactions, and behaviour as they went through change, as well as how much they’ve grown, changed, and learned since they’ve transitioned into their new role, status, or environment. It is important to allow one’s self or anyone to spend enough time to sort and understand their previous thoughts and emotions, so that they may learn from it and be able to develop a better way to adapt to change should it occur in the future – which is likely to happen.

Echoing the importance sharing best practices mentioned above, allowing someone to share their experience builds up their character and strength, building up their ability to face, adjust, and adapt to change in the future, and their ability to help others do the same.

• Internalisation

People reach this state when they have completely let go of the past without any unfinished business left behind. Similar to having full closure and readiness to move on, to take on a new experience, role, or environment. The new normal becomes the natural order of things.

A change manager’s  work is considered done at this point, and is also a form of change within the entire change process. The frequency of interaction, the level of support, as well as the amount of help you provide is gradually reduced until you withdraw from your helping role.

The amount of help and support for people going through these transitional phases depend on how they go through each phase. For some, these phases may overlap, some phases become more prominent for a certain period, or any of these phases may be experienced at the same time, and thus will need varying support levels at each of these phases.

The manner in which change is announced matters as much. Change managers must consider the following means of announcing change.

Create a common ground by using empathy – “if I were in your shoes”, “I know how this can be challenging for you, because I’ve gone through the same thing before, but I’m here to listen and help”

If the Change Manager is an external talent, it is wise to work with a team of internal key individuals and leaders to gain the trust and confidence of the people within the organisation.

The time, method, and amount of information must be carefully planned out, considering the quadrant in which a group of stakeholders/people belong, their level of interest and their likelihood/unlikelihood to participate in the process.