Leading in Chaotic Times

By Peter Barron Stark

With the financial markets in turmoil, virtually every business around the world is being impacted. The pace of change right now is staggering – it seems every hour there is some news that will change the way we do business, forever. I am reminded of the words of W. Edwards Deming, “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.”

Those organizations that can successfully manage change will be the only survivors. And the leaders within those organizations will be the ones to make it happen. What can you do as a leader to successfully guide your employees through these turbulent times and ultimately position your organization for success?

1. Involve employees. There is generally a lag between the time management discusses organizational changes and the time they are implemented. Although managers like to believe they are the only ones who know about the upcoming changes, employees usually get wind of them through informal communication. Unfortunately, that informal communication often tends to be negative. The sooner you get employees involved in the change process, the better off everyone will be. A formal communication channel is much more effective than a negative, informal one.

2. Interview employees. It is only when you accurately understand employees’ feelings about upcoming changes that you know what issues you need to address. It is difficult to effectively sell employees on change without understanding their needs, concerns and fears.

3. Ask, don’t tell. There’s an old saying, “You can tell tough employees, but you can’t tell them much.” Employees who do not deal well with change are generally the same ones who cannot be “told” anything. For this reason, it’s a good idea to ask employees questions rather than telling them why the changes are taking place.

   One organization, in an attempt to improve both profitability and customer service, decided to move from having a specific individual responsible for satisfying a specific customer to having a team of individuals responsible for satisfying many customers. This altered the way the organization had done business for thirty years. Management tried many times to tell employees why the change was needed, but the employees remained adamantly opposed. As a last resort, management switched strategies and asked the following question: “If we keep going without any change, is our organization going to flourish in the next ten years?” Ninety-five percent of employees stated that not changing would lead to the company’s demise. With this feedback, management proceeded to involve all the employees in designing the specific change strategy to be implemented.

4. Involve both negative and positive informal leaders. Every organization has informal leaders-some positive and some negative. Positive informal leaders have a reputation for supporting management. Most managers and supervisors get these positive leaders involved in implementing changes, but avoid involving the negative leaders. This is a mistake, since leaders who are not involved lack commitment to the change, and may even try to sabotage it. It’s better to get the negative leaders involved in the change early in the process, find out what their objections and concerns are, and then use this knowledge to design your change strategy. If you can meet the concerns of the organization’s informal leaders, they will help sell the change to the rest of the employees.

5. Don’t cover all the bases yourself. Too often, supervisors try to police all activities. It’s better to concentrate on effective delegation during the early stages of the change process. Delegation helps you manage and maintain your workload and gives your employees a sense of involvement, which positions them to share in the responsibility for change.

6. Raise expectations. Employees expect to do more work during the change process. While it may be more practical to expect less in terms of performance, this is actually the time to raise the performance level. Employees are likely to be changing their work habits to accommodate the changes anyway. Take the opportunity to push employees to try harder and work smarter. Require performance improvements that make the process challenging, but keep goals realistic to eliminate frustration.

7. Ask employees for their commitment. It’s important to personally ask for each employee’s commitment to implementing the changes. It is equally important to tell employees that you want to hear about any problems. If a negative employee does not tell you about problems, you can be sure he or she will be telling other employees about them!

8. Over-communicate. Chances are, during the change process, normal communication channels in the company won’t be working as well as usual. Employees will be hungrier than ever for information. Give them an opportunity to provide input. Ask questions to get their opinions and reactions to the changes. Maintain your visibility and make it clear that you are accessible. Immediately clear up any rumors and misinformation. And if you don’t have any new information-let them know that too.

9. Be firm, but flexible. It’s vital to see change through to completion. Abandoning it halfway through destroys your credibility. But remain flexible and be prepared to adapt to a myriad of situations to successfully implement the changes.

10. Keep positive. Your attitude will be a major factor in determining the climate exhibited by your employees. Try to remain upbeat, positive and enthusiastic. Foster motivation in others. Compensate your employees for their extra effort. Write a little note of encouragement on their paychecks. Leave a nice message on their voice mail. Take them aside and tell them what a great job they are doing. Listen to their suggestions. Finally, encourage them to view organizational change as a personal challenge!