How to Coach Your Team Through Organizational Change
Posted April 13th, 2017
Organizational change isn’t easy to manage. Not only does it require a significant commitment from leadership, but it also needs employee support. As a manager, you need to work to make sure your team sees the change as being possible. Additionally, you need to show you possess the initiative to see it through.
To help you coach your team through organizational change, here are some tips for making the process manageable.
Define the Change
Most changes come about because a problem was identified and a solution is desired. To help employees understand why the change is taking place, you need to clearly define the reasoning driving things forward. Identify the challenges involved in the process and get input from workers who will be directly affected along the way. Once everyone has a full grasp of the situation, it will be easier to get everyone working together to make the change happen.
Stay Focused
Large, sweeping changes are hard to organize and difficult to visualize. If you take on a large project with numerous objectives, it is easier to fall off track. Instead of doing everything at once, try to identify the most important points that need change. Look for areas that cause a notable impact and favorable returns. Then, make sure to get the initial changes in place before starting on others. That way, your approach is functionally incremental, but each is treated as a separate entity.
Clarify Responsibilities
Employees are more likely to support your efforts when they understand their role. While explaining the reason change is necessary is helpful, identifying each team members’ responsibilities make it actionable. Help them create goals regarding their contribution to the larger objective and make sure they understand how their piece of the puzzle fits into the rest.
Find Metrics
All projects need methods for tracking success, and organizational change is no different. Make sure there are clear metrics for the process so that employees can see how things are moving forward and whether everything is on target. This can help coordinate efforts across different functional areas while also serving as a touchpoint for ensuring things are progressing at a reasonable pace.
Communicate Often
Change can make anyone nervous, and it will be worse if your employees don’t feel well informed. Keeping secrets or not sharing critical information can lead to distrust, which will affect their opinion of the project. Instead, make sure you provide regular updates, discuss challenges, and recognize accomplishments.
Additionally, take the time to listen to your team throughout the process. That way, you can understand their concerns and see the change from their perspective. This lets you become aware of issues that may otherwise be missed by management and gives you a chance to intervene before a small concern turns into a bigger problem.
The change is affecting everyone, so make sure the process doesn’t leave anyone unnecessarily in the dark.
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