 Image taken from: https://sites.gatech.edu/admission-blog/2020/03/20/change-is-the-only-constant/ We are delighted to share a blog piece written by someone who would like to remain anonymous. The piece is entitled, 'Putting Kindness at the Heart of Change'. Over to our author: Putting Kindness at the Heart of Change Image taken from: https://sites.gatech.edu/admission-blog/2020/03/20/change-is-the-only-constant/ Last weekend, the last few minutes of what was left of Sunday night, my wife and I made the decision to move home. This is the right thing to do for a number of reasons and is the best decision overall for my family. Even though I truly believe in what we’ve decided to do, what has surprised me is how much I have struggled with the thoughts of the impending move and the upcoming change, it made me reflect and part of that reflection was to write this blog. ‘Change’ is a word that’s sometimes used very loosely, often without a profound understanding of what it actually means to the individual(s) who will have to undergo that change. In an organisational context, if you are in a position where you are making the decision to change, it’s vital that you ensure that you put the people who will be impacted at the heart of the process so that they feel included, heard and they know that they matter. I have always believed that a good leader is a master of managing change since if we do our work very well, transformation can take place incrementally whilst individuals remain engaged, inspired towards the organisation's purpose and goals and feelings of fear are addressed and talked about. Skilful management of change is key, regardless of the scale of the transformation that will take place - it’s so important that we put ourselves in other’s shoes and be empathetic throughout the journey of change, treating others as human beings rather than resources and understanding the implications of the upcoming change, not only from our own perspectives but also from the perspectives of other stakeholders, including them in the process as much as possible. The way I see it, there are three main phases to the lifecycle of change and it's so important that kindness is embedded in each: Phase 1 - The phase where the change has been announced. This is the time before the change happens and when people know that a change is coming. In my opinion, these are the most anxious moments of change for the people who will be impacted, this is because there are a lot of unknowns such as ‘What will life look like on the other side?’, ‘Will the benefits of the change sold to me materialise?’, ‘What might be the negative impacts?’ etc. As much as you assure people and put in place mitigating actions to minimise any risks, it’s human nature to worry about the uncertainties and the ‘what ifs’. As a leader, you can help individuals during this stage by supporting them, including them in open discussions and ensuring that the reasoning behind the need for change is clear - this will all give clarity and will enable your team to feel involved from the outset. Phase 2 - The phase where the change is happening. At this stage, people are going through the cycle of change and literally living it. This can take hours, day, months and sometimes even years. You may have the ability to take a peek into ‘the other side’, giving an insight into what's to come, which may fill some with fear and some with anticipation. This phase can be exciting, but can also be stressful at the same time as people may feel that they don't yet have the skills or abilities that are needed in the 'new' world. Individuals will react in a variety of ways, needing different levels of support. Individualising your approach, checking in often and taking the time to really understand the feelings, concerns and development needs of your team is the kindest thing you can do for people at this point. With my example of my upcoming house move, the move itself will only take a day or two and within a relatively short space of time I will get to see my new home filled with my family’s belongings - I’ll be living and enjoying the change within a matter of days, the benefits will very quickly be clear. However, when it comes to change in the workplace, this can take considerably longer, for example, the implementation of a new way of working, which can take a couple of months before teams see any benefit, it is vital to continue supporting individuals and teams through the period of change, ensuring communication channels remain open and that there are safe spaces for people to speak up about anything that might be concerning them. Phase 3 - The phase where the change has happened and reflection is taking place. At this stage, you will be reflecting on things such as: ‘How did the change go?’, ‘Were the promises made at the onset of the change announcement delivered?’, ‘Do the changes have the potential to deliver more and enrich your life?’ etc. This is a critical phase of the change because it’s very much dependent on whether the right amount of work was put in during Phase 1 and, more importantly, prior to that, along with the right approach in Phase 2. Phase 3 should be the best phase of all, where it’s joy, high fives and big smiles all around. However, if preparation and implementation was not done correctly, or did not go to plan, this can be a very anxious phase and can have a long-term impact on individuals, teams and the whole organisation - if this is the case, the individuals who have lived through the change, and have to continue to live with the consequences, may have lost some faith or trust in the decision makers and their ability to lead. Celebrating milestones along the way, no matter how small they may seem, will demonstrate that even though perhaps the transformation didn't go entirely to plan, there were some wins and learning points along the way and these will inform decision-making processes and change initiatives in the future - starting from a place of experience and giving your teams faith that lessons have been learned. It is so important to ensure that people who will be impacted by any change have a voice from a very early stage and are included in planning and decision-making processes wherever possible, these individuals might very well see potential barriers or issues that leaders don’t and their experience of day-to-day working practices will enable them to give vital insights. It will also aid buy-in as we all prefer to be involved with change rather than have change 'done to us'. The caveat I have with my take on the phases above is that those are the phases that I see when change is planned, however unfortunately in life there are times when change unexpectedly happens and where the outcome isn’t necessarily a good one. These are hard situations to deal with and that is a topic for another day, being kind to ourselves is important in these types of situations. This brings me back to my upcoming house move and to the question I have been asking myself: I was a major part of the decision-making process for us to move, so why am I struggling with the process so early on? I am in Phase 1 now. I have always prided myself on my ability to constantly embrace change in every part of my personal and professional life. I have moved countries and continents to work and study, I have been through situations where the rest of my team have been made redundant, but I came out of the difficult situation with a promotion, I have led large-scale transformations and I have always been an agent of change, looking at changes in life as being situations where opportunities exist somewhere in the midst, even when it is perhaps difficult to initially identify quite what the opportunities are! We are all creatures of habit and so I guess my current feelings are a sign of me getting older and of not practicing what I have always practiced and preached as a leader! So, time for me to dust myself off and get on with it, after all, as the famous quote goes: "Change is the only constant". Image taken from: https://sites.gatech.edu/admission-blog/2020/03/20/change-is-the-only-constant/ Thank you so much to our author for sharing this piece.
What do you think are the most important elements of managing change? How do you ensure that kindness is embedded throughout change processes in your organisation? We would love to hear from you. If you are not yet a member of the #BeTheRipple community, we would love you to join us. You can find us on Twitter: @BeTheRipple_ and/or in our LinkedIn community: Here If you would like to submit a blog for this series, please send your work via email to: hello@joannasuvarna.co.uk or send to me via LinkedIn. Stay safe Jo
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
