Mind over (change) matter – SmartBrief
All Articles Leadership Management
Many employees fear change, but Dave Coffaro offers five steps leaders can use to ease necessary transitions.
4 min read
LeadershipManagement
NicoElNino/Getty Images
At a recent Navigating Change® workshop, a regional manager shared that every time she introduces something new to her team, their first reaction is negative. It doesn’t matter if the change was beneficial (say, a new technology or tool that makes it easier to perform certain tasks) or not; her team members tended to react negatively and resist the change. Most participants in the workshop echoed this pattern of reaction to change with their team members.
This type of negative response to change is not unusual. In fact, the well-researched condition known as Negativity Bias is a psychological phenomenon where humans give more weight to negative perceptions, experiences, information, or stimuli than to equally intense positive ones. Negativity Bias can contribute to strong emotional responses and impact judgment and decision-making, particularly in situations involving risk or uncertainty. The origins of this bias may be a variation of the fight-or-flight human wiring that helped prioritize threats to survival millions of years ago. What was beneficial in the era of wooly mammals contributes to organizational hurdles to navigating change today.
While Negativity Bias is prevalent, it is not the only point of resistance to change. Change resistance refers to the reluctance or opposition of individuals or teams within a firm to embrace and adapt to changes in processes, technologies, strategies or organizational structure. Collective habits, routines, fears and cultural characteristics can play into change resistance. Lack of trust in leadership, poor communications and lack of training and support make resistance to organizational change more challenging.
In the business world, the track record for successful change management is mixed at best. When it comes to navigating change, we know a great deal about what doesn’t work:
Even with a well-documented body of knowledge about what doesn’t work, there is a dearth of success stories when it comes to change management victories. Still, every organization is faced with navigating a continually changing operating environment.
Five fundamental factors are needed to overcome the inertia that stifles change programs — a clear future state vision, engagement, communication, actualization and reinforcement. Every venture, be it a start-up or an ongoing enterprise, begins with a vision of what success looks like — what an organization wants to demonstrate. From there, engagement with key stakeholders — employees, partners and owners — gives the change endeavor traction and sustainability. Frequent, regular communication with stakeholders about where the organization is going and about progress and accomplishments toward the vision creates transparency. Actualization brings specific results to life and highlights progress for the organization to observe. Reinforcement means frequent re-articulation of the vision, the road map to fulfill it and progress.
Here are specific steps leaders can take to help your team navigate change:
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
____________________________________
Take advantage of SmartBrief’s FREE email newsletters on leadership and business transformation, among the company’s more than 250 industry-focused newsletters.
#change management#leadership communication#leadership development#leadership effectiveness#management#resist change
LeadershipManagement
By Dave Coffaro
Dave Coffaro is a strategic advisor, executive coach, keynote speaker and author. His area of expertise is guiding businesses and leaders in navigating change. Dave is a trained strategist (Peter F. Drucker School of Management) with deep experience in financial services. He helps clients develop and deploy innovative business operating models that bring their vision to life. Coffaro is the principal of the Strategic Advisory Consulting Group. His latest book is “Leading from Now: A Leader’s Guide to Navigating Change,” is available on Amazon.
Education
LeadershipManagement
Management
Management
A Future plc business.
Copyright © 2024 SmartBrief. All Rights Reserved.
A division of Future US LLC, Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY, 10036.
Cookie preferences
source
This is a newsfeed from leading technology publications. No additional editorial review has been performed before posting.
