The ancient saying “this too shall pass is believed to originate from the Persian Sufi poets who describe the temporary nature of the human coned and that neither the bad, nor good, moments in life ever indefinitely last.
In another term, change is inevitable.
The trees around us change colour through the different seasons and our physical and emotional abilities also change as we grow older and face different realities in our lives.
People around us sometimes change the way they feel toward us and that is a part of life.
I remember when I returned from my training abroad, I suggested a few changes to the teaching curriculum that we provided to our medical students. Not surprisingly, this was met with resistance from both senior and junior members of the team.
I remember how difficult it was to hold meetings and prepare evidence that the new system I was suggesting is better than the old ways.
Change is common in the corporate world as companies combine, evolve join together, or rebrand to address changes in the market. Yet some employees find it difficult to accept this change for several reasons.
Some may hold the attitude that “if something is not broken why fix it”, others may worry that change would bring them long working hours and more responsibility or have lost passion for work and would rather do the same work over and over instead of challenging themselves with new responsibilities.
Some people fear change because they do not understand the reason for it so they resist it because it pushes them out of their comfort zones.
The following tips are suggested to manage change. The main step is to communicate changes to the team members by holding meetings and providing opportunities to answer their questions and clarify the main objectives of this change.
It is essential to involve members in the change process, which would ease any feelings of lack of control and, where possible involve them in redesign of tasks, roles, and responsibilities.
During or following change, team members may feel uncertain about what their role involves or what their current priorities are.
Sometimes change creates conflict between different aspects of a person’s role or between the roles of different team members therefore you should hold regular follow-up meetings to see how change is impacting your workers and check that your team members know what they need to do, how they can do it and when it needs to be done by.
Make sure your team has the resources they need to effectively deliver their tasks and help them understand how the delivery of their work affects the work of others and how they can work together to achieve good results for all.
As a leader, you should remain positive and welcome feedback and innovations in the change process.
Finally, one needs to acknowledge that resistance to change is a psychological reaction that should be expected and in order to manage it you would need to understand why people resist change, and then identify the causes of their resistance, before considering your strategic approach and formulating the tactics and techniques for reducing resistance to change.
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