The rate of change in our world is constant and ever present. Change fatigue is real and in both our personal and work settings we are assaulted by endless changes that can take a toll on our productivity and success.

To help us understand this phenomenon at work, we’ll examine the following:

• The “Gap” – How leaders and employees view change differently
• Common mistakes leaders make in leading change
• 3 Keys to Overcome the Pain of Transitions

How Leaders View Change?

Leaders have the benefit of advanced notice for most change initiatives. In fact, they are often involved in the original ideas and discussions taking place in an organization long before the decision is made to launch a plan.

Imagine a group of leaders talking about a change process for their organization – over a period of many months, they discuss, create options and slowly craft a strategy. Through the rigor of this planning process, they have weighed numerous options and had the benefit of ownership for the final result. They have also had the advantage of time.

However, they’re also tired. It’s taken a long time to get to this point and they’re anxious to implement this plan. Now they need to tell their teams and get going …

How Employees View Change?

The employees of this same organization are blissfully unaware of this time consuming and often exhausting process.

The leaders assemble the teams and announce the plan. There are no decisions to make. No discussion needed. The leaders anticipate (and frankly expect) the employees to comply.

However, there is little to no ownership of the plan by the employees. In fact, they’re just hearing about it (they haven’t had the advantage of time). There are a million questions. And concerns. (You can almost hear them say, “And isn’t this what always happens? Our leaders present the final product without asking us, the people who will do the actual work? Typical!”)

There are two other “Truths” about Change in our organizations:

• Truth #1: All change is personal
  • Although change takes place at work, our experience is very personal and emotional. What if I can’t handle the change? Will I be successful in the new environment? Will I still have a place here?
  • Each person views change through this lens of “how will it affect me?”
• Truth #2: Change creates fear
  • Closely related to being personal, change is very scary. And when we’re afraid, we don’t always make the best decisions or respond appropriately to situations.
  • As cavemen, this served us well. The adrenalin that surged through our bodies when confronting the saber toothed tiger allowed us to run – fast – to safety. Our adrenalin saturated brain in modern times actually impedes rational decisions.

Common Mistakes Leaders Make

We’ve looked at the “gap” between leaders and their employees experiencing change. In addition, there are common mistakes leaders make in leading change.

• Mistake #1 – Fail to create a powerful Vision for the change
• Mistake #2 – Under-communicate the change by a factor of 10 (or even 100).
• Mistake #3 –Fail to create short term wins
• Mistake #4 – Declare victory too soon

With all of this information, it’s not a surprise that recent research shows that 70% of all transformations fail. (McKinsey and Company: Forbes – July 25, 2017).

This failure has a high cost in our organizations. Not just the obvious impact to our budgets and fiscal resources. But our employees can be severely affected as well. Imagine the effort and energy given to a project, only to have that project fail? How will this impact morale of our employees? Will staff be hesitant to give their best efforts to the next project if they fear it will not be completed?

3 Keys to Overcome the Pain of Transitions:

Even with the bad news about creating effective change, there are several steps leaders can take to make change projects successful. Here are three steps to accomplish our goals:

• Slow down
• Create a Communication Plan
• Make it stick

1. Slow Down– earlier, we identified the “gap” between the time leaders and employees have to become comfortable with a change plan. One step to increase employee buy-in is to allow them to experience some of the process time that was necessary to make the decision. Examples are:

• Walk the staff through the decision-making steps. Allow them to see the twists and turns it took to finalize the plan and encourage questions and discussion.
• Include employees in planning the steps for implementation. Although the “big picture” has been established, staff can be involved in the steps to achieve the desired results.
• Give teams time to process the change announcement, then return with questions, comments or concerns. These can take place in large or small groups or even individually. Listen carefully to these issues and make changes when possible.

2. Create a Communication Plan – this is by far the largest and most important component of the change process. It has several distinct parts:

• The large, all-encompassing method:
  • Meetings with all staff to announce the change – this gives everyone a chance to hear the news together and is often a more formal presentation.
  • Details of the plan can be presented and a Q and A portion may be included (depending on the size of the group and the culture of the organization).
  • Written versions of the presentation can be distributed for employees to review and published in the company newsletter or website, if available.
• Regular opportunities/meetings for updates:
  • Department meetings for smaller groups to answer questions for their specific area.
  • Regular updates allow progress to be tracked as well as opportunities to ask questions about new issues that have arisen.
  • Other methods for this category are Executive Visits or “Coffees” –leaders drop by to talk at department meetings or offer an open forum for the leader to answer questions from anyone who attends.
• Individual meetings:
  • One-to-one meetings with staff to include time to discuss the change process. These individual check-ins give employees the chance to talk about concerns they might not be comfortable doing in a larger meeting.
  • Leaders can offer “office hours” or drop-ins to ask a question or get an update on an issue.
• Visual updates:posters, graphs or pie charts with current results in a central location can also be effective to keep people motivated and aware of the progress of the project. If the group is in several physical locations, these can be kept in a virtual location such as shared folders or an internal website.

3. Make it Stick – to help with a change “culture” there are several steps leaders can take:

• Celebrate successes – even (or maybe especially) small ones. Your team needs to see themselves in this positive light throughout the change project.
• Be courageous and consistent – and encourage your employees to do the same. Debrief each stage of the project and answer the questions, “What went well?” and “What should we do differently next time?”
• Realize that change is the “new normal” and help your staff to do the same. Keep the communication flowing throughout the project and beyond. When possible, involve your employees by asking, “What’s next?” for future changes in the organization.

In whatever ways you determine your organization will be served best for their change initiative, be aware that the many steps needed for success can be exhausting. Many leaders are surprised at how much more effort is needed after the decision process for the change is made. Implementation is the real work – but well worth the effort for true success for your organization and for your employees.