People react in different ways to change that can be both unpredictable and irrational. If you are a team leader or the person that is responsible for the overall implementation of a change, how you manage the change within your team will have a major impact on the overall success and final outcome.
Change is important to every business and although it can be upsetting and cause numerous issues, it is for many businesses vital for them to succeed. Sunrise Software is a leading software company that has worked with many businesses implementing new software. They have learnt that there are many ways that you can help your team throughout a change process.
In recent history LloydsTSB underwent a huge corporation change when the bank reverted to two banks, Lloyds Bank and TSB. We have highlighted below some of the fears that people experience during a change process that may help you if you are leading a team through a change period.
More work
Those that are helping with the change will undoubtedly experience a heavier workload due to various reasons such as testing and helping to note down processes. Recognising that they may need to spend more time on this by reallocating other work will help keep them on board and reduce feelings of resentment and stress.
My way or the high way
Communication is key to all procedure changes and ensuring that your team is aware of the pros and cons and is able to discuss the impending changes openly and honestly, will again help to make the project a success. You won’t be able to keep all of the people happy all of the time but you will hopefully give them a good understanding of why changes need to be made.
Old systems
Another reason that people maybe resistant is if they were involved with a previous change that is now being archived. If they thought that the previous change had been the answer to sliced bread then they could be reluctant to accept that anything else could be better. Remember to talk and discuss openly the whys and wherefores with them.
Time
If new ideas are suddenly implemented within a very small timeframe the likelihood is that people will dig their heels in. As people don’t like change at the best of times, rushing through a different working method quickly will only make things harder. Give your team time to readjust and think about how it will affect them, hopefully for the better, and let them learn new systems through adequate training.
The unknown
Better the devil you know…. we all know that sometimes working with what we know even if it is chaotic, cumbersome and labour intensive can be more appealing than the unknown. Make sure you inspire your team and give them a great vision of why the change needs to happen and how beneficial it will be to them in the future.
You may not always get everybody on-board but by communicating with your team from the beginning as well as being as open and as honest as you can be, you will help to minimise fears and hopefully have a happy, united, informed team at the end of your change.