Getting Employees On Board With Big Changes
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“How do I get my team onboard with big changes?”
There are several ideas I have around this, but they all mainly revolve around the same topic: communication. How and what gets communicated to teams before and ruing changes is critical to make it successful.
I understand that with changes there are a lot of factors at play including things like: how big is the change, the discretion around what is and isn’t possible to communicate with the team, whether you fundamentally have a culture that is ‘change agile’ and how much trust and goodwill exists between the team and organization, etc.
Regardless of these elements, here are five things that I think are a must.
1. Be proactive and communicate the change in advance.
Let folks know a change is coming. do your best not to surprise people at the last minute with a huge policy change or new technology rollout. Let people know as soon as possible so that they can get used to the idea, and so that you can have control of the narrative. ‘
2. Open channels for questions and feedback.
Open an avenue for employees to ask questions and give feedback to you on this new change. If you are making a massive change in your organization that you think is going to be unpopular or a big lift for folks, give them the opportunity to have their concerns heard.
Someone might have a concern or perspective about the change that you have not considered. It’s great to know where your team sees potential pitfalls, and valuable to give people the chance to have their voices heard.
This is also a smart thing to do 2 or 3 months after the change is put in place. It’s a great way to see if/how people are adapting, what they like, what they don’t, what’s working or could be improved, and how their perspective has changed.
3. (Gently) Let people know that buy-in is not optional.
I love this idea that Cy Wakeman talks about in this video. As a leader, it’s your job to let people know that while they may not be keen on a big change that’s happening, their buy in is not optional.
Let them know that you’re not asking for feedback to see if you should go through with the change or not, you’re asking them what they see as challenges and concerns in order for everyone to have success.
Empower them, support them, and also require that they take ownership for their role in the change. The context of this communication depends on the size and scope of what you’re doing, but it’s important to communicate this on some scale nonetheless.
4. Give employees access to the right resources.
This one is huge. Give employees resources for when mistakes are made or things go wrong during a big change. For instance, if you are rolling out a new data program, you should give your employees directions on who to go to, who to email, etc., if they run into any errors and obstacles along the way. And make sure that they will be heard and receive the help they need asap.
This can look different for every organization, but the point is to give people access to someone who can help when they need it. A lot of times, the resistance to change isn’t the change itself, it’s the discomfort of it, attachment to how things have been done, or a fear of failure on some level.
Letting employees know who to go to when things get messy, and reacting well and supporting them can mitigate a lot of this fear and reluctance to change. Which leads me to my next point…
5. Acknowledge that it’ll be at least a little bit messy.
Be honest with people, including letting them know that things probably won’t be and feel perfect right out of the gate.
As a leader, you want to be optimistic, but it’s important here to also be realistic when discussing a big, new change with employees. The reality is that big change will probably bring a big learning curve for people to get used to, plus it’s new territory and almost guaranteed that some things will go wrong. This will inevitably lead to mistakes and mess-ups, which is to be expected.
Letting people know that some parts might feel messy at first, and reinforce why and how this change will improve their experience or the company over time. Things never feel perfect, don’t expect them to and be real with your team about it.
“Change is inevitable, growth is optional.” — John C. Maxwell
Overall, be honest, real, authentic, and proactive about communicating. Be vulnerable and candid that a big change will probably mean mistakes will be made and you won’t start perfect. Change is inevitable in all aspects of life and work. Getting good at it is an incredibly useful skill and massively valuable for companies to strive for.
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This article was created by Galen Emanuele for the #culturedrop. Free leadership and team culture content in less than 5 minutes a week. Check out the rest of this month's content and subscribe to the Culture Drop at https://bit.ly/culturedrop