Your Staff Needs Leadership During Change!
Change is happening all the time, especially in business. There are new social media platforms, new rules for those platforms, new competitors, new markets, globalization, new software, new policies and procedures, and myriad other changes happening all the time.
Your staff needs your leadership most during these changing times. Said differently, your company will FAIL at change if you don’t lead them properly though it.
Here are five ways to win at change:
#1 Measure employee engagement & motivation
This must happen in advance of the change, during the process, and after the change is in place. You can do this easily (and for free) using google forms, survey monkey, or another online survey tool. Or, you can do it the old fashioned way, and hand out paper to your staff.
Either way, ask them how happy, engaged and motivated they are (before, during and after the change).
#2 Deploy effective leaders
Pay attention to the abilities of the individual leaders on your change team, and help them improve or replace them. The leaders who are helping you lead teams through change must be capable of compelling the team to follow them through change and achieve the desired outcomes.
We must assess them on their relationships with their reports, as well as their effectiveness. If your change leaders are not willing or able to be effective leaders, they must be replaced as a change leader. Change does not happen successfully without effective leadership.
#3 Plan out the Change
This sounds like a no-brainer doesn’t it? You would be surprised how many leaders just CHANGE something and hope for the best. It’s crazy!
This looks like detailed planning of scenarios, detailed planning of schedules, identifying all of the “what if this happens” situations, and planning with risk mitigation strategies.
A great example of this would be changing a schedule from five days per week to four. You should actually run through at least a week of what happened, and how it would work with the new schedule. You should try to think of every scenario that could happen, and what you would do about it. You should try to anticipate what could be confusing, and have answers for it. You must think of all the important people involved, not just your team; clients, partners, strategic alliances and others can all be affected by your change. Think it through, and include any important stakeholders in your consideration.
You’ve heard it a million times before, but it is SO TRUE so I’ll say it again: if you fail to plan, you plan to fail!
#4 Establish a Clear and Compelling Vision
The word “compelling” is so perfect for this topic. Your team must be COMPELLED by the vision of the outcome the change is designed to achieve! The vision must excite them and pull them towards it! Ensure your team:
- knows the vision
- feels that it is possible, and
- feels COMPELLED to achieve it!
If you’re the only one excited about the desired outcome, you’re in big trouble!
#5 Create a Sense of Urgency
Light a fire under their butts! Don’t scare or threaten your staff, but you do need to let them know why the change is important, and what will happen if the plan doesn’t work out.
Remember, change is happening all around us. The most intelligent leaders are SUCCESSFULLY LEADING THEIR PEOPLE through change, rather than just letting it “happen to us.”
If you feel you need some help to make your company more successful and more enjoyable, contact TMH Business Coaching today for a confidential, free, no-obligation consultation to propel you forward. Also, please feel free to add yourself to our weekly coaching tips email!
