How To Get Really Good at Facilitating Change
“One of the greatest pains of human nature is the pain of a new idea...Naturally, therefore, [people] hate a new idea, and are disposed more or less to ill-treat the original [person] who brings it.” - Walter Bagehot, 1893
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Change. We all resist it on some level, whether the change in question is good for us or not. We can’t help it – it’s who we are as human beings. We prefer certainty and stability. When something in our environment threatens to disrupt the status quo, we tend to get up in knots about it. From an evolutionary lens, this is a clever survival mechanism meant to protect us from conditions we are unequipped to handle. But from a modern workplace lens, this resistance to change can be the bane of an organization’s existence.
It’s becoming increasingly necessary for organizations to be nimble, flexible, able to pivot and change quickly, and organizations are scrambling to keep up. This is underscored by the observation that in this day and age, a skill’s half-life is roughly five years. This means a skill learned five years ago is only half as valuable today. Add to this the fact that nearly half of the organizations on the 2018 top 100 list by revenue were not on that list in 2008. The world is changing, and it’s changing quickly, and organizations need to get really good at change or risk failure, which involves understanding and managing resistance to change.
It’s not just significant changes that meet resistance. It’s the seemingly small ones, too. Those tasked with creating change often overlook the art of “change management” because, hey, the change is clearly beneficial and straightforward, so who would resist it? Please don’t make this mistake. Successful minor changes enable more significant strategic changes to succeed, and not considering what people need in order to be willing and able to accept a change almost always guarantees failure. And when changes continually fail, people learn to hold their breath and wait out the next change until it goes away. This translates into them not investing commitment or energy into the change effort, leading to failure, and the downward spiral continues. As management expert Andrew Mayo put it, “Our organizations are littered with the debris of yesterday’s change initiatives.”
Organizational change doesn’t happen without individual behavioral change. Getting great at change requires learning skills in facilitating shifts from one set of behaviors to a new set of behaviors.
Whether you want people to start using a new data storage system or you’re fundamentally changing the strategy of the organization, there are key principles of change management that must be considered:
It’s not about making people change. It’s about helping them accept the change.
Sure, you could attempt to use force to try and make changes by coercing people, but don’t do that. It won't work. You could also cause pain by making people miserable if they don’t accept the change. This is called the “burning platform approach,” and it’s costly. You’ll lose many good people along the way and this approach should only be considered in an emergency when the outcome of not changing is worse than the cost. The best long-term approach to change is facilitating acceptance. This requires that the “change agents” (those tasked with seeing change through) slow down because it takes a fair amount of upfront time to effectively utilize this approach. As the saying goes, “pay now or pay later.” Failing to help people accept the change will have consequences down the road in the form of low morale, low engagement, higher turnover, and cynicism regarding future change efforts.
Helping people accept change includes three general actions:
1) Communicate the importance of giving up the old way.
2) Communicate the advantage of the new.
3) Prepare to listen, empathize, and coach people towards successful change.
When communicating the importance of giving up the old way and the advantages of the new way, it helps to know a little psychology. We all have a rational part of the brain and an emotional part. Psychologist Jonathon Haidt illustrates this through the analogy of a rider and elephant. The rider is the rational brain, and the five-ton elephant is the emotional brain. When the rider and the elephant have a disagreement on which way to go, the elephant wins. Our emotional brain dictates our actions more so than does our rational brain, and it happens subconsciously. When communicating the change, remember to engage people on an emotional level. Look for ways to express an honest and enticing vision, inspire people to embrace the change, and offer stories and examples that illustrate the desired future state. And to keep that elephant-rider happy too, you also provide data that supports the change.
And don’t forget empathy. Keeping in mind that many people will experience some level of grief due to the inherent loss that change brings will help us better accept and navigate people’s adverse reactions without taking them personally. Practice deep listening, show caring and understanding, and offer reassurances when you can.
Change isn’t an event. It’s a process.
Change takes time and is developmental. Sure, there may be an event that causes the need for change, but getting people to fully adopt it requires an understanding of how people develop through the process of change.
Professor and change guru Diane Dormant suggests there are five stages of individual change: 1) Awareness (“I heard there is a change happening, but I don’t know much about it.”), 2) Curiosity (“I have questions about how this change will work and what it will mean for me personally.”), 3) Mental Tryout (“I can imagine what this will mean for me and my job.”), 4) Hands-On Tryout (“I’m ready to learn how to do this.”), and 5) Adoption (“I get how to do this and have suggestions for making it better.”)
Some people may skip stages, and others may cycle through them or regress to an earlier stage. Give people time to move through them by, once again, listening, empathizing, and coaching. Regularly meet with people to understand where they are and provide tailored coaching to move them from one stage to the next. If people are given adequate support and reinforcement at each stage, they are more likely to integrate the change into routine use.
Lacking good information, people “horribilize.”
It’s simple: Knowing about a change isn’t the same thing as understanding it. Avoid creating a black box around a change by communicating clearly and often. If people don’t understand something, they tend to go to an ugly place, and resistance increases. If you think you’ve communicated enough, communicate more to make sure everyone has their heads around what is happening. Communicate WHAT is happening, WHY it is happening, WHO is expected to change, WHAT is expected from everyone, HOW they will get there, WHEN the change is starting, and WHEN it should be fully integrated. Communicate this through multiple channels such as group meetings, emails, intranets, and one-on-one meetings. Ensure you are consistent with the messaging from person to person. And keep communicating.
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Change is complicated and involves many considerations. It’s certainly not easy, but it’s necessary. Adaptability is one of the most crucial skills an organization can develop as it learns to evolve with the ever-morphing demands of the changing world. The good news is that it’s a closely examined topic, and there are plenty of great resources out there to help. (See below for some of our favorite change management resources.)
Here's the bottom line – people resist change not because the change is bad or wrong, but because people feel comfortable and safe with the status quo. It’s human nature. There are cases of long-time prisoners of war being freed who begin to miss their captors! Resistance alone isn’t bad – it just is. But failing to take actions to help people work through the resistance is bad for current and future change initiatives. As psychologist Robert Mager put it, people don’t change just because they’re told, “you really oughta wanna.” They need to see and feel and fully internalize the benefits of the change. And that’s where you, their manager, come in! Communicate, empathize, coach, listen, and involve those being asked to change so that your hoped-for change can withstand the inevitability of resistance.
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CHANGE MANAGEMENT PRO TIP: ASK QUESTIONS
We know that listening, empathy, coaching, and involvement are key pillars for helping facilitate change and that it’s essential to understand the change from the perspective of those asked to change. So how do you do that? By asking excellent questions!
We get it – you’re busy, have plenty to manage, and this change project requires a lot of attention. It’s hard to find time to sit down with each person being asked to change. But remember, pay now or pay later. Invest time early on to understand where people are at regarding the change to avoid unforeseen (and costly!) roadblocks down the line.
Being intentional with your questions will help you understand how people feel about the change, their views on its benefits and downsides, and what they may need in order to be willing and able to integrate the requested change fully. If you’re a manager, a great place to have these conversations is in your regularly scheduled one-on-one meetings with your employees. If you’re not a manager, schedule one-on-one meetings with those that need to change.
Here are some questions to ask to help you understand what people need in order to adopt a change:
When the change is new, consider asking…
What do or do not you understand about this change so far?
How are you feeling about this change?
Do you see any advantages over the old way of doing things? Any disadvantages?
Do you think this change is a good idea? Why or why not?
What do you need from me to make this change?
What potential barriers do you see to making this change?
How can I help you get more comfortable with this?
Once the change process has been initiated, consider asking…
How are you doing with the change? How are you feeling about it?
What concerns do you have about the change? How comfortable are you with it?
How has this change affected your job? How do you think it will impact your job down the road?
What barriers are you facing to making this change?
What resources (i.e., training, job aids, technology) do you need?
How might you modify this change?
What feedback do you have for me on how I can better manage this change?
How can I help get you to where you need to be? What do you need from me?
When the change has had time to settle in, consider asking…
What opinions do you have about the change, including how it might be improved?
What obstacles are you facing regarding this change?
How are you doing personally with this change?
Since the change was announced, have any of your opinions or feelings changed?
What could I have done better to manage this change?
What resources do you still need?
How do you think the whole group is doing with the change?
How can I help you continue to be successful with making this change?
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Of course, empathy and listening skills will be critical at every step, and the two go hand-in-hand. Check out our post on effective listening skills and notice that empathy is a key component. Empathy means getting into the other person’s shoes and understanding a situation from their perspective, including what they may be feeling and experiencing. You can’t successfully manage change without empathy at every step.
Here are some great change management resources:
Diane Dormant’s Chocolate Model of Change
John Kotter’s Heart of Change
Jeff Kavanaugh and Rafee Tarafdar’s article Break Down Change Into Small Steps
Prosci, a leading expert in change management that offers courses, articles, check-lists, and more