Plow the Ground Now
Plant the Seeds for Change Management

You have all heard that the only constant in life is that things will change. If your company is working to grow and prosper, and you haven’t had any major changes in your organization lately, then you are due. Some people will be dismayed at this. They like their comfort zones. They may not be aware that companies need to change to stay competitive. Your competition is not standing still, so neither can you.

Change is inevitable. It is also reputed to be difficult to accomplish. Fortunately, there are things that you can do now to smooth the path. Changes usually involve both a work component and a people component. If change is not imminent in your organization, you may not be able to point at the work and know how it will change. But you know it will involve people. 80% of any change effort is the people. You can begin to cultivate the organization so that the people are ready to contribute to the change and management is prepared to support their participation.

The key levers for successful change all are people related:

1. Leadership involvement and visibility
2. People participation
3. Recognition of the emotional needs and responses of people

Leadership Visibility
Leaders should be visible to the people on a regular basis. MBWA (Management by Walking Around) is a good way to start. Leaders should make an effort to talk to people in the people’s workspace or a neutral space, like the lunchroom. Conversations in these locations are a little more relaxed than conversations held in the boss’ office. This allows them to see the leader as a real person. People relate more to a real person than they do to a figurehead. Establishing relationships now will be very helpful when the need to enroll the people in the change effort becomes real and immediate.

People Participation
It is an axiom of the 21st century that allowing the people to participate in creating the change lowers resistance and improves the quality of the change. If you do not already operate this way, start now! Allow them to contribute their knowledge, ideas and observations to the work of the department and the company.

Institute a process where managers frequently ask questions of their people. Encourage their feedback.
-Ask questions relevant to their work.
-Ask about the parts of the job they like best.
-Ask about things they would like to see done differently.
These types of questions give the manager insight to the people in his/her department and a feel for their job satisfaction. It will also give the manager a better handle on the work flowing through the department. This information is valuable now and even more valuable if this work becomes the focus for the change.

Ask questions irrelevant to their work. Get to know the people better.
-Ask what they like about working for the company. (Some managers will be afraid of the answers to this question. But I contend that it is better to know. Some employees will be afraid to let the manager know what they are really thinking. Begin the process anyway.)
-Ask what is important to them and why. (You will get some fuzzy answers here. However, the people know that you asked them and it may get them thinking.)
- Ask about things outside of work. Families, hobbies, sports and TV shows are usually good topics.
This type of question helps the manager to better understand the people as people. The answers add a little background to the person. It should give some insight into what each person considers to be important. This will become a major factor in a successful change effort.

(NOTE WELL! If you do not get any real answers from your people, this means that they don’t trust you enough to give you good, truthful information. This is not good. You need to so something about it!)

Emotional Needs Recognize that people are emotional beings. They are motivated by their emotions. Resistance is fueled by emotion. Energy is created by emotions. Unfortunately, most companies resist dealing with this aspect of their employees. Emotions are way too messy and challenging to deal with. Yes, they may be. But guess what? Your people have them whether you choose to recognize them or not. Remember that there are positive emotions and negative emotions. Emotions like pride; joy at a job well done; feeling of competence: and liking the people you work with; create energy and enthusiasm to propel the organization forward. Emotions driven by mistrust, not being considered a valuable contributor or frustration can make the workplace more difficult and put the company in a downward spiral. If you learn what makes them feel good now, it will come in handy when you are planning and implementing your change.

Another advantage of dealing with emotions now is that people get some practice in this under-explored sector of employee-management and peer-to-peer relations. It is better to work with this dimension when the stakes are lower. Some people will not be sure how to deal with these issues. It is better to have this feeling now than when the company’s future may be at stake. If you have ever seen negative emotions explode during a change management project, you know that it isn’t a pretty sight and can have a detrimental impact on the project.

Benefits
Initiate these practices now.
You and your people will gain experience.
Your people will gain familiarity while contributing more of themselves to the organization.
You establish relationships that will be valuable both now and later.

Start Now! You’ll be glad you did.

Now that you have begun to plow the ground, you should look ahead to the next steps leading to a major change. 8 Keys To Leading A Successful Change describes the most effective strategy to consider as you begin to plan for change. The “8 Keys” shows you “How to increase your success by increasing the number of people helping you to succeed.”