Managing in times of change 24 lessons for leading individuals and teams through change

“When change affects an organization, the leaders of the organization—from the top executive to line supervisors—need to demonstrate leadership skills as never before The role of the manager becomes critical in leading teams and employees through the change process so that the organization can implement new ideas, and maintain its customers while retaining and engaging talented employees.” This page intentionally left blank “Significant organizational change has a powerful impact on people Change creates a tension between the past and the future, between stability and the unknown Despite business rationale, logic, creativity, planning, and strategies associated with change, this tension comes down to people doing different things in different ways Asking people to change behavior on behalf of organizational goals creates an automatic emotional reaction.” This page intentionally left blank Managing in Times of Change 24 Lessons for Leading Individuals and Teams through Change M I C H A E L D M A G I N N McGraw-Hill New York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher 0-07-149027-2 The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: 0-07-144911-6 All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners Rather than put a trademark symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark Where such designations appear in this book, they have been printed with initial caps McGraw-Hill eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions, or for use in corporate training programs For more information, please contact George Hoare, Special Sales, at george_hoare@mcgraw-hill.com or (212) 904-4069 TERMS OF USE This is a copyrighted work and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc (“McGraw-Hill”) and its licensors reserve all rights in and to the work Use of this work is subject to these terms Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976 and the right to store and retrieve one copy of the work, you may not decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, reproduce, modify, create derivative works based upon, transmit, distribute, disseminate, sell, publish or sublicense the work or any part of it without McGraw-Hill’s prior consent You may use the work for your own noncommercial and personal use; any other use of the work is strictly prohibited Your right to use the work may be terminated if you fail to comply with these terms THE WORK IS PROVIDED “AS IS.” McGRAW-HILL AND ITS LICENSORS MAKE NO GUARANTEES OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE ACCURACY, ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF OR RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM USING THE WORK, INCLUDING ANY INFORMATION THAT CAN BE ACCESSED THROUGH THE WORK VIA HYPERLINK OR OTHERWISE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE McGraw-Hill and its licensors not warrant or guarantee that the functions contained in the work will meet your requirements or that its operation will be uninterrupted or error free Neither McGraw-Hill nor its licensors shall be liable to you or anyone else for any inaccuracy, error or omission, regardless of cause, in the work or for any damages resulting therefrom McGraw-Hill has no responsibility for the content of any information accessed through the work Under no circumstances shall McGraw-Hill and/or its licensors be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, punitive, consequential or similar damages that result from the use of or inability to use the work, even if any of them has been advised of the possibility of such damages This limitation of liability shall apply to any claim or cause whatsoever whether such claim or cause arises in contract, tort or otherwise DOI: 10.1036/0071449116 Professional Want to learn more? We hope you enjoy this McGraw-Hill eBook! If you’d like more information about this book, its author, or related books and websites, please click here For more information about this title, click here Contents Managing in times of change viii Personally refocusing for managers: Understand how change affects you Understand the “from-to” Choose a productive response Seek the opportunity Gather your assets and resources Forge personal goals Walk the talk Make friends with ambiguity 11 13 15 Lead the team through: How adaptable is your team? Paint a picture of what is happening Build new rules for a new game Remember what is still important Improvise, adapt, adjust Measure and celebrate progress Hold the team accountable Squash the rumor mill Get team members involved Reward the team for progress 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 Show a path to individuals: Help people get unstuck Understand natural reactions to change Customize help for struggling individuals Offer empathy Actively surface dissatisfaction Pinpoint the positives for individuals Tailor positive tasks for individuals Encourage individuals to let go of the past Stand up for people if they are right vii 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53 ✓Managing in times of change A basic fact of business life is that an organization either changes or withers away Look at the powerhouse companies in today’s world Where were they 10 or 20 years ago? Have they grown, changed business models, or emerged from nowhere? What’s happened to some of the brand names with which you grew up? Which established airlines, banks, car companies, or heavy manufacturing companies have struggled to match lower cost, more efficient competitors? It’s either nimbly and creatively adapt with new products, processes, and business ideas or go into marketplace decline Whether a company is on the upside of the growth curve or fighting to survive, one thing is common: The people working within those organizations are experiencing change in a very personal way Employees have to stop what they have been doing and work in different ways with different—or fewer—team members They may have to work away from home more frequently or move to another facility in a strange, new city They have to work with new technologies that require new skills, say new things to customers, meet with each other more or less frequently, or more with less When people face these kinds of dramatic changes in the way they live and work, the reaction can be negative and unproductive viii Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Click here for terms of use This page intentionally left blank “Powerful organizational changes contain an underlying loss Gone is our comfort zone Gone is the predictability and certainty of the past We don’t know what to expect We feel at odds with the future; our sense of security goes down At the root of this sense of loss is fear That is what makes change so difficult to deal with People become fearful when certainty goes away.” This page intentionally left blank “The managers of an organization provide the bridge from the old way of doing things to new work practices Paradoxically, these managers are also employees who experience the same reactions as everyone else.” This page intentionally left blank “The manager needs to paint a picture for the work unit about the hows and whys of change, bringing the messages clearly and honestly to the team When the task is done well, confusion, stress, and worry about the future is more under control And the manager becomes identified as a change champion.” This page intentionally left blank “Demonstrating empathy sets a tone for the climate of the work unit The manager is sending a signal that he or she is interested in people, cares about their experience with change, and is willing to listen to their issues, concerns, complaints, and grumblings From this simple act, the work unit feels like a friendlier place.” This page intentionally left blank “Resistance comes from many sources: confusion about what to and how to it, wondering about the future, new role ambiguity, and stress from increased work, worry, and lack of information Even high-performing employees and devoted team members can experience these kinds of individual reactions.” This page intentionally left blank The McGraw-Hill Professional Education Series The Welch Way: 24 Lessons from the World’s Greatest CEO by Jeffrey A Krames (0-07-138750-1) Quickly learn some of the winning management practices that made Jack Welch one of the most successful CEOs ever The Lombardi Rules: 26 Lessons from Vince Lombardi—the World’s Greatest Coach by Vince Lombardi, Jr (0-07-141108-9) A quick course on 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Marshall J Cook (0-07-143529-8) Today’s most effective coaching methods to dramatically improve the performance of your employees Making Teams Work: 24 Lessons for Working Together Successfully by Michael Maginn (0-07-143530-1) Guidelines for molding individual team members into a solid, functioning group How to Manage Performance: 24 Lessons for Improving Performance by Robert Bacal (0-07-143531-X) Goal-focused, commonsense techniques for stimulating greater productivity in the workplace and fostering true commitment The Handbook for Leaders: 24 Lessons for Extraordinary Leadership by John H Zenger and Joseph Folkman (0-07-143532-8) A workplace-tested prescription for encouraging the behaviors and key drivers of effective leadership, from one of today’s top training teams Project Management: 24 Lessons to Help You Master Any Project by Gary Heerkens (0-07-145087-4) An overview for first-time project managers that details what is expected of him or her and how to quickly get the lay of the land Persuasive Proposals and Presentations: 24 Lessons for Writing Winners by Heather Pierce (0-07-145089-0) A short, no-nonsense approach to writing proposals and presentations that sell Finance for Nonfinancial Managers: 24 Lessons to Understand and Evaluate Financial Health by Katherine Wagner (0-07-145090-4) This guide offers a bundle of lessons to clearly explain financial issues in layman’s terms Managing in Times of Change Order Form 1–99 copies 100–499 copies 500–999 copies 1,000–2,499 copies 2,500–4,999 copies 5,000–9,999 copies 10,000 or more copies copies @ $7.95 per book copies @ $7.75 per book copies @ $7.50 per book copies @ $7.25 per book copies @ $7.00 per book copies @ $6.50 per book copies @ $6.00 per book Name Title Organization Phone ( ) Street address City/State (Country) Fax ( Zip ) Purchase order number (if applicable) Applicable sales tax, shipping and handling will be added VISA MasterCard American Express Account number Exp date Signature Or call 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bonnie_chan@mcgraw-hill.com [...]... picture sets the context for why individuals will be asked to do new and different things Stay in touch with your manager He or she can often be the source of the latest news and information as well as a gateway to other parts of the organization Activate your network Getting things done and finding out information informally may be more efficient Keep in touch with old friends and acquaintances Support the... Communications, training, structured meetings, and presentations are your tools to use Understand them and use them to help yourself “Become a student of change It is the only thing that will remain constant.” Anthony J D’Angelo 10 Get through it ✓Forge personal goals Change and opportunity go hand in hand When work shifts and jobs change, there is a need for leadership, influence, technical understanding, and skilled... Make the most out of an ambiguous situation by getting colleagues and coworkers involved You may find you can bring clarity and definition by talking things through “Uncertainty will always be part of the taking charge process.” Harold Geneen 16 “Regardless of the changing situation, the change leader has to take the team through the labyrinth while still meeting goals.” LEAD THE TEAM THROUGH: How adaptable... The change leader has to cheer progress, hold the line on standards, and generally get the work done Leading the team through describes how to manage the team in times of change “Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature’s inexorable imperative.” H G Wells Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Click here for terms of use Get lost in the fog of change ✓Paint a picture of what is happening... moving to a sales orientation, for example, will train engineers and technicians in customer service skills A manager needs to understand what the organization is providing, what the purposes of these different elements are, and how he can take advantage of them Finally, an often-overlooked resource is the rationale for the change itself A manager has to be able to understand and clearly and convincingly... difficulty in performing in the past? Where do you need more practice? Look at implementing change and managing the team in changing times as a laboratory for your personal improvement Be bold; have courage Change situations need champions, managers who go the extra distance to embrace what is new Make yourself into a change champion; earn a reputation for effective change management Pick success indicators... leadership to provide direction, a degree of clarity, and sense of progress when there aren’t clear answers to questions and rumors begin to fly The manager needs to help the team adapt to and cope with newness Show a path to Individuals Individuals react to change in different ways Until a change has taken root within a work group, some individuals may need extra coaching and advice on how to cope The manager... words and deeds Don’t be shy about becoming a cheerleader for the change process Be the first; take on the most Show up early for meetings, do more than others, and keep talking up the benefits of change Make a decision that you are going to personify the change “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” Walt Disney 14 Wait for perfect clarity ✓Make friends with ambiguity Imagine that... project teams remain assigned to these projects? Or, what about this situation in which you manage a newly formed group of customer coordinators? The coordinator’s role is either to solve customer problems directly or to hand them off to experts within the company It is becoming clear that the distinction between which tasks are handled directly and which are handed off is blurred The risk of answering... requires ingenuity, creativity, and a strong feeling for what makes sense in your company and for your customers Making decisions like this can feel like a “seat -of- the-pants” approach, improvised and instinctive Many managers will find this process exhilarating To others, it can be intimidating The point is that work has to go on despite ambiguity—decisions have to be made, customers served, and processes ... behalf of organizational goals creates an automatic emotional reaction.” This page intentionally left blank Managing in Times of Change 24 Lessons for Leading Individuals and Teams through Change. .. becomes critical in leading teams and employees through the change process so that the organization can implement new ideas, and maintain its customers while retaining and engaging talented employees.”... individuals Offer empathy Actively surface dissatisfaction Pinpoint the positives for individuals Tailor positive tasks for individuals Encourage individuals to let go of the past Stand up for people