Whether you realize it or not, change is happening all around you every moment of every day. Conversations shape opinions, challenges encourage solutions, decisions alter relationships. Personally and professionally, you are subtly and blatantly transformed by every single interaction you have. You will wake up tomorrow as a different person based on the situations you encountered today, and so will every member of your team.
As humans, we are resistant to change. We seek the familiar because it’s safe. We are hard-wired to protect ourselves, and change typically causes an uncomfortable uncertainty that immediately triggers a reaction of self-preservation. Because of this type of reaction, change in the workplace is often met with distrust, frustration, and opposition. When implementing a new system or policy, altering department or organizational structure, or even introducing something as simple as a new recognition program, use the 5 P’s of Change Management and use them purposefully to create a smoother transition:
Prepare – As soon as you know that something is changing, you need to prepare both logistically and culturally. How is this change going to affect your employees, your product or service, and your customers? What is the necessity for or purpose of the shift? Determine the “why” behind it as well as what steps are necessary to execute the change
Plan – Make a specific, realistic, and actionable plan to bring the change to fruition. Ask yourself these questions to help you strategize and prioritize implementation:
What problem is causing this change to be necessary, and how will the change provide a solution?
Who is involved?
What are the potential roadblocks?
When will the change happen?
How will you communicate action items and expected results?
Perform – Put the plan in motion with purposeful intention. Begin the change initiative, and empower employees to participate and take steps toward achieving the desired outcomes. Be sure to celebrate and reward successes
Practice – Stay on top of it. Integrate the change within the organizational culture through updates and feedback. Hold people accountable to the plan you presented, and don’t let them backslide into bad habits or past processes. Practice doesn’t necessarily make perfect, but it certainly does make progress
Process – Conduct a “post-mortem” analysis to process what worked and what didn’t. Establish post-change dates to review advancement, make adjustments, and correct inefficiencies
“In life, change is inevitable. In business, change is vital.” – Warren G. Bennis
Change is essential to the health of any organism. Personally, you must continue to learn, grow, adjust, and adapt simply to stay alive. Professionally, you, your team members, your department, and your business must restructure, reorganize, reconsider, and react in order to stay relevant, maintain productivity, and increase profitability.
Prepare. Plan. Perform. Practice. Process. And then . . . do it again. The next change is just around the corner.
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