Change Management – For Change Haters
“But we’ve always done it this way,” are said to be the seven most expensive words in business. And it’s a common expression when change is being introduced. For many, they’re fine going through change, as long as they know why. To make a change just to make a change is not a good or valid reason. Especially when it’s already ingrained into the employees’ daily duties.
Depending on the change, when it comes to business, the vast majority of people will not resist it. But there’ll always be those who’ll dig in their heels in defiance. They’ll complain and/or give their reasoning for not making the change. All in the hopes of preventing the change from occurring. When that doesn’t work, they’ll continue to complain and/or use excuses. To include blaming the change for their low performance.
Change is inevitable.
Please understand, change is inevitable. At the same time, there are instances where change is not necessary and shouldn’t be taken. It’s imperative for business leaders to see the whole picture. To have a strategic vantage point and not looking through a single lens.
Years ago, I worked for a company that required me to travel around the US and into Canada. I’d travel to different location and train store managers on the point of sale systems they’d just purchased. After the week-long training, I’d continue to support them over the phone.
One day, I received a call from a lady in distress. She was having problems with her backroom computer. During the call, she must’ve complained about the new system at least five times. After a while, I realized that the problem wasn’t the system. It was her resistance to using it.
During the conversation, she informed me that she didn’t want to learn anything more than what was necessary. She’d be retiring soon and didn’t feel the need to learn it. For years, she’d done everything by hand. And she didn’t want to know any other way.
Trying to force change will incite resistance.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to learn something new. Her need for control was being infringed upon. She only wanted to embrace change when it suited her.
What do I mean? I’d assume she hadn’t driven the same car since she began driving. Based on our conversation, that would’ve been roughly fifty years. I’m sure she’d driven multiple vehicles in her lifetime.
When driving a different vehicle, whether it be a car, truck, van, etc., we have to learn the length, width, turning radius, and braking distance of it. Not to mention how to use the windshield wipers, gear shifter (automatic vs standard transmission), and so forth. All have to be learned in order to drive safely.
Learning a new system imposed on her desire to keep the status quo. She was an expert in the old way of doing things. And she was losing control of that. The rest of the employees had already learned and embraced the new system.
Explain how the change will benefit them. Answer the “what’s in it for me?” question.
To help her get past the resistance phase, I began to explain how the system would help her. Even in the short time she had remaining. Since I wasn’t the one who trained her, I started with how the system worked. Because she had certain tasks to complete, I showed her how it would help her accomplish them.
I asked her what her greatest pain points were, both in her daily work and with the system. After she answered me, I walked her through how the system could address her problems. Being a natural teacher, I broke it down step-by-step. Then I reinforced what we had just gone through.
At the end of the conversation, she felt more comfortable with the system. Though she’d already made up her mind, she didn’t want to give up her sense of control.
What about those who are resisting buy-in, but aren’t retiring soon? It’s said the fear of the unknown is the number one reason for resisting change. That means, as change leaders, we should take the unknowns out of the mix first. This can be accomplished through communication.
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate.
Communication not just from senior management. Team supervisors/managers need to actively engage the associates in the coming change(s). Whenever possible, have visuals of what the change will look like and/or function. Give them a sneak preview or even a test environment.
Include milestones in the communications. Having target dates will eliminate the surprise when the change occurs. During and after the change, it’s important to continue to provide support while receiving feedback. If you want to help them through this, the employees need to know their concerns are being heard. Remember, the front-line associates know the intricates better than senior management that’s five steps removed.
Once the feedback is received, do something with it. If you ask for their opinion and do nothing with it, they will not believe their voices are being heard. Use the feedback for future changes. Even better, use it in the current change environment.
Hold a Retrospective.
After the change, have a retrospective of the project as a whole. This is done with the key stakeholders. Identify what went well. As well as what could/should be changed for future endeavors. In the military, this is known as the after-action review (AAR). In business, this is sometimes referred to as the 3-L’s: Liked, Lacked, and Learned.
Liked equals what went well. These are the things that should be used again. No reason to get rid of something that’s a good thing.
Next is Lacked. This could include both things that were none-existent or could’ve been better. These might also include those things that were either overlooked or unseen circumstances. As much as we’d love to plan everything out in advance, it’s not always probable. On paper, everything works perfectly. In reality, things happen that are unexpected.
And the third L is Learned. These are the activities that we learned along the way. It doesn’t have to be good or bad necessarily. But it does have to be something we can draw from. Lessons learned for the next change venture.
Be sure to share these lessons learned with your management team. If your company is fully transparent, you’d refine and provide this to all of the associates as well. The more transparent an organization is, the better they stand at getting buy-in.
There is a possible fourth L which is Longed. These are the wish list items.
Remember, Change is Inevitable.
When the time comes to implement change, it’s important to understand that forcing change will only cause revolt. Communicate often and as early in the process as possible. Long before implementation. One year would be good, but no less than a month whenever possible. The bigger the change, the more advanced notice is required.
Walk the employees through the change and then ask for their feedback. Once they give it to you, use it. Put it into your lessons learned for next time. Better yet, use it in the current change environment if possible. And go through a retrospective with the key stakeholders. Find out the good, the bad, and the ugly. Make sure to use the gained experience for the next change. Because it will happen, change is inevitable.