How to Sucessfully Drive Change

I’m always fascinated by the dynamics of leaders and their organizations. Some leaders are able to successfully drive major changes without a backlash and others simply can’t. This past week, there was a local organization that handled some changes exceptionally poorly. Here’s the background:

A local church implemented sweeping changes which included the firing of half of its employees and the elimination of music during services. In communicating this, the Bishop sent a five page letter to the congregation. According to the Kalamazoo Gazette, the letter “rebukes the church community for retribution, name-calling and dissent.” The letter also stated, “Some of you might feel compelled to leave the congregation and, if that’s what you choose, may God bless you on your journey.”

The result? The letter ignited a long simmering conflict and subsequently resulted in an assault charge filed with the police after a 78 year old member of the congregation claimed she was shoved by the priest. The priest has since resigned.

Certainly there are times when leaders can and must make tough calls. However, when you do, there are some steps you can follow to minimize the disruption and bad feelings, including:

• Communicating the problem in advance: Chances are your employees already know what’s happening. Keeping them in the communications loop will ensure that they perceive the problem the same way you do.

• Asking for suggestions: There are several advantages to this:

1. You might just find a great idea you hadn’t previously considered.

2. People will be more willing to accept change if they have a voice in making those changes – even if you don’t pick their suggestion.

If you have to do something really unpopular, try this:

• Explain why the change is necessary
• Apologize for the necessity of the action
• Whatever you do, don’t blame the members
• Do provide an opportunity for them to vent and provide feedback (small groups or individual discussions are best for this)
• Communicate a plan for moving forward to better times

The moral of the story? When you lead or have responsibility for controlling an organization, you can’t make arbitrary decisions without negative fall-out. If you attack and blame your members, they will fight back. It’s always better to engage them in implementing the solution than to arbitrarily force a change. That’s a waste of everyone’s time and energy and just might be enough to force your calmest employees to lose control.

Change is Inevitable

There’s an old saying that “Change is inevitable except from vending machines.” While change certainly is inevitable, it isn’t something that comes easily. Change is coming at businesses faster and more frequently than ever before. Unfortunately, people usually react poorly to change. The question for us is: “How do companies implement change without scaring employees and losing valuable productivity?”

A few years ago, the company I was at had a recreation committee which organized company events. The Christmas party was traditionally the best attended event and the format had remained basically unchanged for several years. The committee, of which I was the treasurer, decided to change things up and go with a disco theme. When the disco theme was announced, people were angry. Letters were sent to the president and some employees promised to boycott the party.

The anti-disco rebellion reached the executive committee and I was asked to defend this particular party plan. Being a relatively well organized pack rat, I brought with me the letters that had been written to the president about the party. Not the disco version, but the five year old letters from the last time the party format was changed. Interestingly, they contained the same themes: This idea is bad, no one will come, why would you change our party?

So how can employers make change go smoother? First, the topic matters. Ironically, areas that I call “comfort items” like the cafeteria, company events, office arrangements, and the dress code bring forth the most emotional responses. Business plans? Not so much. Here are a couple of tricks for successfully communicating change:

• Share information about potential changes in advance
• Ask for employees to provide feedback
• Actually listen to employee concerns

Then, pick the right thing (not necessarily the most popular) and do it. Communicate how you came to that decision and don’t waiver once you’ve done it. Remember, being a leader isn’t a popularity contest, but it is about leading, listening, and setting a vision.

Curious about what happened with the party? After it was over, our executives said it was the “best ever”. So, put on your tight pants, unbutton your shirt, and play that funky music. Change can and should be fun.