I have been asked to put together a one day workshop on Coping with Change for a group of approx 30 people, who are a high performing group of teachers and advisors who are not specifically based in one school or location
The change (to working practices and possible locations) is driven by demand for greater flecibility by one of the busienss partners
Whilst there is alot on managing change/processes and stress management, I wondered if anyone has any ideas from the angle of coping or empowerment of the individuals involved, so as to maintain their motivation and keep them -on-side.
Thanks!
Susan Wright
5 Responses
communication is the key
Susan
Mercer did a survey in 2002 which asked 17,000 or so people, who had been in organisations undergoing change,
“What were the 5 best practices?
and
“What were the 5 worst practices?”
Most of the outcomes relate to communication and involvement.
I ran a series of seminars with similar objectives to yours where I got the delegates to actually assess their own situation and make plans to use the 5 best and avoid the 5 worst.
Feel free to get in touch if you’d like to know more.
Hope this helps
Rus
Attitude
I think coping with change and empowering individuals is about looking at their mind set when it comes to change.
You can basically react to change by:
– Taking no part, neither embracing it or rejecting it
– Silent resistance, offering no help or assistance and putting up barriers indirectly
– Vocal criticism and an assumption that all change is bad
– Or you can ask what can I use this change for to make a positive impact on the things I do, even if I am uncomfortable with the change or pace of change
And it’s this last mindset that will get the best from change.
You need to be able to get them to acknowledge how they feel about a change and then decide to embrace the change anyway. It’s a challenge but not an insurmountable one.
furthering Nik’s contribution
Nik’s comment reminded me of a grid that was used on a change management programme I went on in 1995.
People were asked where they sat on the “graph” where the horizontal axis was action (do nothing to do lots) and the vertical axis was acceptance (be positive to be negative).
The analogy was a ship on the sea so the categories were
Freight (negative/do nothing)
Passenger (positive/do nothing)
Pirate (negative/do lots)Crew (positive/do lots).
Of course whether people are + or – depends on their perceptions which often come down to the levels of communication before and during the change!
Rus
Coping with change
Hi Susan
I am currently running a programme for up to 200 staff on managing themselves through change. Please feel free to email me or call me and I can let you have a copy and talk you through some of the responses I get.
suebeatt@hotmail.com
07766 422376
Leading people through change
Hi Susan
See this really good free article on change:
http://www.ontrackinternational.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=138&Itemid=5
Many thanks
Laura