<ul>
<li>Having a culture that can absorb change is essential in leadership.</li>
<li>People need to trust who is leading the change to help understand the reason for it and trust that they will be successful.</li>
<li>For change to be successful, top-down communication and bottom-up feedback are also essential.</li>
</ul>

Leading With Change

<ul><li>Culture is an evolving creature, and the aspects of culture to look for are:</li><li>No change saturation (there isn’t too much already occurring)</li><li>People feel empowered. That is, people can either adopt the change when they want, they are involved from the onset, and/or they can voice their concerns freely.</li><li>You are in luck if you have an <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/creativity">innovation</a> culture, a fast-paced culture, or a culture that is excited by change.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>If you don’t have these, consider what alternatives or postponements you can do to allow for a better environment for your change.</p>

Have a Culture That Can Absorb the Change

<p>People need to trust who is leading the change to help understand the reason for change and trust that they will be successful. The following people are needed:</p><ul><li>Senior leaders who support change</li><li>An actual change team with training in change management</li><li>Someone managing the project</li><li>Someone managing the communications</li><li>Specialists who know the changing process (IT/finance) or people (HR)</li><li>Early adopters or advocates from the operations/business</li></ul><p>An effective change leader does not need to be the top leader in the hierarchy. It needs to be someone who can influence, and people listen to.</p>

Key People in Key Roles

<p>For change to be successful, it needs to be tailored to the individual by building out a “what’s in it for me” approach:</p><ul><li>Identify different types of stakeholders based on how the change impacts them.</li><li>Determine unique resistance for each stakeholder group and an appropriate mitigation plan for each resistance point.</li><li>Develop a communications plan per stakeholder group (medium, frequency, messenger).</li><li>Create a training plan per each stakeholder group (content, medium, instructor).</li></ul><p>The change team themselves may be a group, as are senior leaders, people leaders, and HR.</p>

Customized Approach

<p>It is essential that communication happens in two ways. That is, there is top-down communication but also bottom-up feedback. To make this happen:</p><ul><li>Default communication to live discussion (e.g. face-to-face)</li><li>Communicate frequently and consistently</li><li>Ensure you talk to the quiet people</li><li>Utilize existing structures/meetings to reduce adding additional work/change</li><li>Be positive but realistic</li><li>Place messages in the larger context, but tailor them to the individual</li><li>Stay aligned with other leaders/departments/functions</li></ul>

Over-Communicate

<h3>Key points</h3><UL><LI>Having a culture that can absorb change is essential in leadership.</LI><LI>People need to trust who is leading the change to help understand the reason for it and trust that they will be successful. </LI><LI>For change to be successful, top-down communication and bottom-up feedback are also essential.</LI></UL><p dir="ltr">Previously I discussed tips to <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/people-planet-profits/202108/how-lead-team-through-change" dir="ltr">help you lead through change.</a> I used a bus analogy for change, and one example is that buses are designed to accommodate different needs, and we need to do the same when leading change.</p><p>So listening to my advice, here is a different way to communicate how to lead through change. Specifically, for those who prefer a concrete process rather than an analogy, here is a checklist to consider before (and during) any change:</p><div dir="ltr">
      <span dir="ltr">article continues after advertisement</span>
    </div><img alt="Photo by Breakingpic from Pexels" height="456" src="https://cdn.psychologytoday.com/sites/default/files/styles/image-article_inline_full_caption/public/field_blog_entry_images/2021-11/postit-scrabble-to-do.jpeg?itok=wJoUbHQs" title="Photo by Breakingpic from Pexels" width="684"><div>Source: Photo by Breakingpic from Pexels</div><h3>1. Have a Culture That Can Absorb the Change</h3><p>Just because a change was successful in the past, it doesn’t mean it will be successful this time. Culture is an evolving creature, and the aspects of culture to look for are:</p><UL><LI>No change saturation (there isn’t too much already occurring)</LI><LI>People feel empowered. That is, people can either adopt the change when they want, they are involved from the onset, and/or they can voice their concerns freely</LI><LI>Bonus! If you have an <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/creativity" title="Psychology Today looks at innovation" hreflang="en" dir="ltr">innovation</a> culture, a fast-paced culture, or a culture that is excited by change</LI></UL><p>If you don’t have these, consider what alternatives or postponements you can do to allow for a better environment for your change.</p><h3>2. Key People in Key Roles</h3><p>People need to trust who is leading the change to help understand the reason for change and trust that they will be successful. The following people are needed:</p><UL><LI>Senior leaders who support change</LI><LI>An actual change team with training in change <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/leadership" title="Psychology Today looks at management" hreflang="en" dir="ltr">management</a></LI><LI>Someone managing the project</LI><LI>Someone managing the communications</LI><LI>Specialists who know the changing process (IT/finance) or people (HR)</LI><LI>Early adopters or advocates from the operations/business</LI></UL><p>An effective change leader does not need to be the top leader in the hierarchy. It needs to be someone who can influence, and people listen to. Sometimes, one person will play multiple roles in smaller organizations, but the more people you have involved, the better to have more input and build it together. </p><h3>3. Customized Approach</h3><p>For a change to be successful, it needs to be tailored to the individual by building out a “what’s in it for me” approach. Specifically:</p><UL><LI>Identify different types of stakeholders based on how the change impacts them.</LI><LI>Determine unique resistance for each stakeholder group and an appropriate mitigation plan for each resistance point.</LI><LI>Develop a communications plan per stakeholder group (medium, frequency, messenger).</LI><LI>Create a training plan per each stakeholder group (content, medium, instructor).</LI></UL><div dir="ltr">
      <span dir="ltr">article continues after advertisement</span>
    </div><p>If you think there is only one overall group, think again. The change team themselves may be a group, as are senior leaders, people leaders, and HR.</p><h3>4. Over-Communicate </h3><p>It isn’t possible to communicate too much. It’s also essential that communication happens in two ways. That is, there is top-down communication but also bottom-up feedback. To make this happen: </p><UL><LI>Default communication to live discussion (e.g. face-to-face)</LI><LI>Communicate frequently and consistently</LI><LI>Ensure you talk to the quiet people</LI><LI>Utilize existing structures/meetings to reduce adding additional work/change</LI><LI>Be positive but realistic</LI><LI>Place messages in the larger context, but tailor them to the individual</LI><LI>Stay aligned with other leaders/departments/functions</LI><LI>Speak on behalf of your team’s concerns</LI><LI>When people adopt change, reward them in a way that matters</LI></UL><p>These four aspects can help implement any change—big or small. The change will have an even greater likelihood of success if you involve people from the beginning and let them take on the change at their own pace—both of these further enhance a change-positive culture. </p><UL><LI><img src="https://cdn2.psychologytoday.com/theme-assets/icons/icon-share-round-facebook-md.svg" alt="Share on Facebook" width="36" height="36"></LI></UL>

Leaders should consider these four things when implementing a change.

Stashed ideas

<ul><li>Having a culture that can absorb change is essential in leadership. </li><li>People need to trust who is leading the change to help understand the reason for it and trust that they will be successful. </li><li>For change to be successful, top-down communication and bottom-up feedback are also essential. </li> </ul>

<p>Previously I discussed tips to <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/people-planet-profits/202108/how-lead-team-through-change">help you lead through change. </a>I used a bus analogy for change, and one example is that buses are designed to accommodate different needs, and we need to do the same when leading change. </p>

<p>So listening to my advice, here is a different way to communicate how to lead through change. Specifically, for those who prefer a concrete process rather than an analogy, here is a checklist to consider before (and during) any change: </p>

1. Have a Culture That Can Absorb the Change

<p>Just because a change was successful in the past, it doesn’t mean it will be successful this time. Culture is an evolving creature, and the aspects of culture to look for are: </p>

<ul><li>No change saturation (there isn’t too much already occurring) </li><li>People feel empowered. That is, people can either adopt the change when they want, they are involved from the onset, and/or they can voice their concerns freely </li><li>Bonus! If you have an <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/creativity">innovation </a>culture, a fast-paced culture, or a culture that is excited by change </li> </ul>

<p>If you don’t have these, consider what alternatives or postponements you can do to allow for a better environment for your change. </p>

<p>People need to trust who is leading the change to help understand the reason for change and trust that they will be successful. The following people are needed: </p>

<ul><li>Senior leaders who support change </li><li>An actual change team with training in change <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/leadership">management </a> </li><li>Someone managing the project </li><li>Someone managing the communications </li><li>Specialists who know the changing process (IT/finance) or people (HR) </li><li>Early adopters or advocates from the operations/business </li> </ul>

<p>An effective change leader does not need to be the top leader in the hierarchy. It needs to be someone who can influence, and people listen to. Sometimes, one person will play multiple roles in smaller organizations, but the more people you have involved, the better to have more input and build it together. </p>

<p>For a change to be successful, it needs to be tailored to the individual by building out a “what’s in it for me” approach. Specifically: </p>

<ul><li>Identify different types of stakeholders based on how the change impacts them. </li><li>Determine unique resistance for each stakeholder group and an appropriate mitigation plan for each resistance point. </li><li>Develop a communications plan per stakeholder group (medium, frequency, messenger). </li><li>Create a training plan per each stakeholder group (content, medium, instructor). </li> </ul>

<p>If you think there is only one overall group, think again. The change team themselves may be a group, as are senior leaders, people leaders, and HR. </p>

<p>It isn’t possible to communicate too much. It’s also essential that communication happens in two ways. That is, there is top-down communication but also bottom-up feedback. To make this happen: </p>

<ul><li>Default communication to live discussion (e.g. face-to-face) </li><li>Communicate frequently and consistently </li><li>Ensure you talk to the quiet people </li><li>Utilize existing structures/meetings to reduce adding additional work/change </li><li>Be positive but realistic </li><li>Place messages in the larger context, but tailor them to the individual </li><li>Stay aligned with other leaders/departments/functions </li><li>Speak on behalf of your team’s concerns </li><li>When people adopt change, reward them in a way that matters </li> </ul>

<p>These four aspects can help implement any change—big or small. The change will have an even greater likelihood of success if you involve people from the beginning and let them take on the change at their own pace—both of these further enhance a change-positive culture. </p>

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

Leading with a Change Checklist

Leading With Change

Have a Culture That Can Absorb the Change

Key People in Key Roles

Customized Approach

Over-Communicate

IDEAS ABOUT

MORE LIKE THIS

Five Rules for Leading in a Digital World

Mastering the connection between strategy and culture

How to Become More Comfortable with Change

It's time to

READ

LIKE

A PRO!

Bite-sized knowledgeto upgradeyour career

Leading with a Change Checklist

Leading With Change

Have a Culture That Can Absorb the Change

Key People in Key Roles

Customized Approach

Over-Communicate

IDEAS ABOUT

MORE LIKE THIS

Five Rules for Leading in a Digital World

Mastering the connection between strategy and culture

How to Become More Comfortable with Change

It's time to

READ

LIKE

A PRO!

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career