Humans as we are, no matter how perfect we seem to be at any skill, there is still a possibility for errors in what we do
whether in writing or expressing ourselves or even in teaching or sharing our ideas. Despite the innovations in technology
that we’re experiencing today, we cannot totally predict where the future will lead us and what specific changes should we
prepare for in order to adapt and thrive will our changing environment.
With the existence of Artificial Intelligence, new technologies coming out daily and political strife, along with thousands of
other factors, the next five years will be highly unpredictable. All this chaos puts a lot of pressure on the leaders in truly
coping during the times of change. Change often causes anxiety for workers that may lead to disengagement, low
performance, and high turnover, if not managed properly.
In line with this, I’d like to share with you the six most common mistakes that leaders make in communicating change and
the ways on how to resolve the issue from the minds of the brightest leaders in the industry:
PROBLEM:
It’s in our nature to become defensive when people respond negatively to us while our brains tend to resist change at the
same time. Employees tend to resist changes that the management imposes. The management's natural reaction to that
resistance is to become defensive. It’s the worst thing ever that you can do when communicating change - as it gives the
impression that you don’t care about what your employees have to say & they just need to deal with it or else.
WHAT TO DO:
As you expect a negative reaction when announcing the change, you must be able to welcome it. It’s much better to know
employees’ concerns as quickly as possible so you may consider them. Stop yourself from responding to negative reactions
right away. There might be value in what your employees have to say. Instead, listen to their concerns genuinely so you can
create a solution that works for everyone in order to eliminate any myths.
PROBLEM:
In order to effectively communicate change, you have to allow open forums where employees are allowed to ask questions.
What’s wrong with this is that leaders sometimes answer the question instead of the concern behind the question.
WHAT TO DO:
Oftentimes people fail to communicate what’s actually bothering them. Instead, they’ll express other issues which support
their opinion. Let’s say you’re changing the way your sales team are getting paid to incentivize new business over existing
business; the salesperson who relies a lot on the existing business will likely point out various problems with this approach
through their questions. As the leader, you need to recognize the concern behind their questions and address it. Listen for
hidden intent & talk directly on the real worry that the person has.
PROBLEM:
For instance, your CTO is fired for sexual harassment. Many companies just send an email that the CTO was fired for
personal reasons and move on. This is not a good move at all because this will lead to rampant speculations and gossip
among your employees, along with legitimate concerns about what you’re doing in response.
WHAT TO DO:
Indeed these conversations can be uncomfortable - but it’s much better to be honest about them as opposed to trying to
sweep things under the rug. In the example above, you have to tell your employees about that situation & discuss your
efforts to ensure your employees are protected moving forward - this helps build a culture of trust and transparency.
PROBLEM:
Let’s say you’re changing your company’s healthcare plan that’ll affect all employees, you might have gone to the company
newsletter to announce the change there. That’s good, right? It’s actually not! Because the chances are, a good portion of
your employees will miss the news & hear about it from others with less-accurate information that leads to concerns among
your people.
WHAT TO DO:
It’s far better to over-communicate than under-communicate in as many channels as you can about the change you’re
making. Send out an email or hold workshops where people can come and ask questions. Put fliers throughout the office,
the more you can get it out the better. Even if no one comes to your workshop, the fact that you're having them goes a long
way & makes the change go smoother.
PROBLEM:
Leaders generally want to act strongly in times of change. For many leaders, this means never admitting any vulnerability
and robotically repeating the organization’s talking points. This results in a culture of distrust.
WHAT TO DO:
Expressing your own initial concerns over the change is powerful. For example, if you yourself took a couple of days to get
a grip with the change, it’s okay to admit that to your employees. Now that you believe this change, this makes your
argument for the change much more persuasive. More than this, it also emphasizes a culture of trust and transparency as
opposed to feeling like the company is throwing down mandates that the minions have to follow.
PROBLEM:
You want to frame your change positively but sometimes, that better direction has consequences including the loss of jobs.
Example, in changing strategy that’s crucial for your company’s success, this could result in layoffs for some people in your
organization. Many organizations tend to omit or intentionally be vague about the layoffs during the announcement. But the
reality is that people will find out about them, so you’ve ruined the excitement that people would have over this new strategy
with your inauthentic announcement.
WHAT TO DO:
In the same example, be real when announcing this change – yes, it will mean layoffs but it’s also crucial to the future of the
business. Layoffs are always going to cause some amount of trouble among your people but being truthful and authentic in
your opening announcement makes it easier to swallow. If people are going to lose their jobs, they’re going to lose their job
– but they’ll respect you a lot more if you are straight up with them about it.
Effectively communicating change comes down to telling the truth and listening to employees. When announcing a change,
the tendency is to do the exact opposite – to either skim over it or to tell employees the change is happening, deal with it.
Indeed it would be great if employees just accepted change and moved on but that’s not reality. The good news is that
change is a great opportunity. By being open and listening to people during a time of change, you have the potential to build
a lasting relationship with your employees.
To learn more on how leaders should handle change, or for your comments, suggestion, and other inquiries, you may leave
them below or check out our site at Streamline.com for further insights.
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