This Week: Nov. 12, 2001

We've had a busy several months and apologize for the intermittent publishing of this newsletter. We've been busy delivering our Defusing Hostile Customers Seminar in the U.S. and Canada. This week's feature article is called: "Presto-Change-oh -- Uh-Oh".

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This Month's Feature Article:

Presto! Change-o! Uh Oh!
Some Help With Change in The Workplace

Change in the workplace is almost constant and challenging. It takes many forms. Perhaps it's something major; relocation, across the state, or city. Or, it could be something that appears trivial such as rearranging the office space. Changes in policy and legislation affecting your work can also put in motion alterations in work unit objectives, staff responsibilities and even pay. As a supervisor, you are "plum in the middle of it". Not only are you likely to be personally affected by changes, but you also have to deal with the fallout from changes that affect your staff, often in ways that are negative.

Supervisors and middle management are in the most difficult positions regarding change and change implementation. That's because you, as a supervisor, may not be the "author" of the change, or the original decision-maker. You're told, pure and simple, that tomorrow something will be different. It's like having your personal Captain Picard say: "Make it so". The fact that you may disagree with the decision is not relevant. Your job is to make it happen.

Even if you are the decision-maker driving a change at work, or agree with the changes, it still isn't easy. You may be perplexed or confused at the range of reactions your staff comes up with when change is implemented. Amazingly, even changes that are objectively "good" for people may be resisted, more for emotional reasons than logical ones.

While managing change is a complex task, we are going to outline some hints and suggestions to help you make sense of the process, and to become better at it.

Put Away "Magical Thinking"

Magical thinking refers to a mindset that confuses announcing a change with making the change happen, efficiently and effectively. Supervisors, particularly with respect to what appears to be trivial changes, tend to use a "fire and forget" approach. Announce it, set the wheels in motion, and then forget about it. It's like waving a magic wand.

Unfortunately, it's a recipe for disaster or certainly inefficiencies. Here's an example. An executive high in The Office of Motor Vehicles decided to rearrange office space to become more cost efficient. A seemingly unimportant change, the walls were moved, furniture reshuffled, and staff assigned new work areas. Simple, right? Wrong! The day AFTER the alterations were completed, the fun started. Paul, the supervisor had a steady stream of visits from staff. Not one staff member was pleased and many seemed to have worked really hard at finding fault with the new arrangements. This process went on for many weeks, eating up time and Paul's stomach lining.

Why did this happen? First, understand that most change upsets the sense of familiarity and comfort people need. That generates anxiety and upset, even if the change is a "good thing". Also, many changes bring some good things, and some bad things for people involved. Apart from that general rule, "the magic wand didn't have no magic in it". This particular change "happened to the staff". More biblically oriented people would probably say it was like a swarm of locusts visited upon the staff. And that's certainly how it was perceived.

So, the key point here is that smooth changes don't "happen". Neither are they ordered or visited upon staff. Supervisors and managers have to be involved, and they need to plan to minimize the negative outcomes of change IN THE PLANNING STAGES. That leads us to the next point, which is involvement of staff from the beginning, so the change isn't perceived as a plague.

Employee Participation & Involvement

In today's workplace, many feel they are hurtling out of control of their work lives, particularly in work units with high change levels.. That tends to make them less able to contribute to change initiatives, particularly if they feel they have no involvement, no power and no part in the process. It makes them resistant.

The antidote is employee participation and involvement during the planning stages, the implementation, and after implementation. Assuming you are a savvy person, you are probably asking" "How can I involve staff in the change process, when most of the time, I'm not even involved in the decision about the change. I'm told. I tell them. That's about how it works!"

In a sense you'd be right. It may be you can't involve staff in the decision to MAKE a change that is passed to you by your particular Captain Picard. What you can do is involve staff in the HOW, the GETTING IT DONE, and the FOLLOW-UP after change implementation.

Let's go back to our office rearrangement example. Since the decision to change the office didn't originate with Paul, he assumed that staff couldn't be involved in the process. He didn't consider that staff could participate in the planning of it, the details, a discussion of the pro's and con's, and could actually contribute to a smooth transition.

When dealing with an imposed change from above, ask yourself these questions:

How can I involve staff in the planning of the change?
What contributions can they make to the details of the change within the imposed constraints?

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