…..Businesses go through periods of change – and knowing how to manage employees through one requires patience, intuition, and strong leadership and communication skills. Successful “change management” will not only help businesses transition smoothly, but may also help leaders earn their stripes among their team members; but botching an opportunity to effectively lead a workforce through changes will definitely have negative consequences for the organization. Needless to say, it is of incredible importance to know how to manage change in the workplace and keep things rolling through tough times. Here are five ways to do it:
- Identify the Changes – Changes can be difficult to predict – but constantly updating your personnel of the changes when they are made is very important for the awareness of your workforce. Without official updates that keep your people informed, the tendency is for rumors to emerge which can be detrimental to your employees, and ultimately, your entire organization.
- Note the Challenges – All transition periods bring challenges that need to be endured and/or addressed by the organization. The best way to handle this is to inform the workforce about any challenges they may encounter – and what the company is doing to deal with them. Keeping employees “in-the-know” is a sign of good communication between management and workers, and is greatly appreciated by members of both parties.
- Create New Goals – Going through changes means having to realign goals to suit them. Workers need to understand how they will be evaluated in order to keep them from guessing on what they need to work towards. Outline a new set of goals for everyone to see, then adjust them should changes continue to persist in the organization as long as you keep everybody in the loop.
- Influence Your Workers, But Listen To Them, Too – You can expect a flurry of concern, questions, doubt, and feelings when changes happen in a company. It helps to have leaders in your workforce that can be trusted to influence your workforce into doing what is needed for a smooth transition. More importantly, these leaders ought to be open to suggestions, criticisms, thoughts, and complaints coming from your employees. It is important for your people to feel like your company “hears” them – and you just might benefit from knowing the thoughts, opinions, and perceptions of those who work in your system.
- Remember Where You Came From – When moving on from the way things were, it always helps to properly honor and remember old programs, strategies, and policies that got you where you are today. This is important because you do not want to insult or alienate the employees who worked on those in the past. Recognition is something that your workers want, so motivate them by giving it.
…..It can be tough to endure adjustments during a time of change – especially when you are bogged down with mountainous workloads that require attention. But that is why Tukko Labs exists, to carry your load while you focus on the more important aspects of your business.