I’m hoping you’re reading this because the title piqued your interest – because, to be honest, if I’d called this “Change Management” or “How to Manage Change”, you’d probably have switched off and got on with the hundred and one other more important things you could be doing right now.

But I’d like you to just give me the 5 minutes of your time reading this article will take you – because as we launch into the new year I passionately believe it’s the organisations who most effectively and appropriately change that will be thriving at the end of 2012. And I also believe if your first line management aren’t mentally and physically fit to manage change then forgive the misquote but: “ Houston, you have a problem.”

So let me start by asking you the question posed in the sub-heading.

When was the last time you changed your mobile phone or phone package?

Well, I’m guessing that, apart from the minority population that marketers affectionately call “the laggards” (you know, those people who only got a flat screen TV or went digital, when their TV broke down!) most of you have changed either your package, phone or both in the last two years.

Unless you live in the ark and you never watch adverts or see them in newspapers etc, you can’t fail to notice that companies are always coming up with something “new” to entice us to part with our money, or to remain with them as customers.

Facts (and a question) about change.

Fact 1: As a customer or client YOU probably EXPECT to see better services or products when you’re in buying mode.

Fact 2: When you are in buying mode, any product or service which doesn’t improve on what you have right now is more likely to be sidelined.

QUESTION: If you were seeing the same old products or services being peddled by a company year in, year out, would you walk away, and find someone offering something better?

ANSWER: Highly likely!

Fact 3: As consumers, we tend to expect the services and products we buy to be an improvement on what we had. We understand companies need to change, and that failure to do so is probably financial suicide.

BUT.....THE PROBLEM IS:

Likely fact 4: As workers in a company or organisation, we resist changes which might help keep the business afloat and ahead of the competition in favour of staying in our comfort zones.

It’s the “not in my back yard” approach to change management!

According to Jerry Haney, author of “Making Culture Pay”, one of the 3 keys to the most successful organisation is their ability to successfully adapt to changing conditions.

How the best organisations perceive change....

I’d take it a step further – and say the outstanding organisations don’t just adapt – they create the changes which others follow. (Think Google, Facebook and Apple.)

I passionately believe the line manager makes the difference between success or failure

But to reach this level of willingness to change requires a special breed of manager. I don’t care how much you preach about the need for change from the top – there are two things which will seriously hinder your chances of success when it comes to making changes in your organisation:

1) If your managers at first line level aren’t confident, competent, inspirational and skilled at bringing people with them, and managing change effectively, then you have a problem.

2) If you don’t build change into your culture, so it’s a continuous, expected process, you’ll lurch from one change to the next – reacting to changes instead of proactively looking for ways to constantly improve and serve your customers better.

Quick case study!
I recently coached a senior board who were facing incredible market pressure to change the way they did things, and the services they promoted. They could clearly see that, unless they did something, then not only were they going to lose out on new business to increasing competition, but existing clients were leaving and would continue to haemorrhage. They were convinced certain ways of working needed to change, as well as improvements in product design, customer service and relationship building.

But they faced tough opposition from some of their senior managers as well as more junior staff about these proposed changes: so much so that working relationships were, in some case so strained there was incredibly high and negative emotional charge within the board and the wider team.

When I started working with them one of the comments the MD said which struck me was: “We just need to be able to get this sorted in the most effective way, so we can get to the end of the tunnel”

My perspective?

There is no end of tunnel! But there IS a light!

And that light is building a culture where your people understand that change is an inevitable and necessary part of growth – not only for the business, but for us as individuals too, if it’s approached with the right mindset. It’s about managers helping their team fear change less, see it as a normal process, and even relish it!

Crazy and impossible?

Ask those who work for Facebook, Apple or Google! Those guys have cultures where people are constantly looking for innovations to products, services and processes, and they build a framework to help support such constant innovation. Their employees are totally “up for it!” They are excited about the prospect of finding new and better ways to do things: they are actively encouraged, in dozens of ways, to do so.

So, what changes might YOU need to implement to stay afloat/ahead in 2012?
And how “fit” and capable are you to make those changes?

The trouble is, all humans are wired to want to remain relatively “stable”, because stepping into any new territory feels scary. (Adrenaline junkies might relish more risk than most, but that doesn’t mean they don’t feel scared – they just have a different mindset about stepping out of their comfort zone).

And when we feel scared – we pull back.

We resist.

We self-sabotage.

And that includes YOU – the manager.

So, as a manager – how do YOU feel about likely changes in your organisation?

Anyone who’s worked with me knows one of my mantras about managing others is: “It starts with you.”
Because if you’re unconvinced about a change, guess what your people will be? If you’re feeling negative – guess what your team will be?

If attitudes are infectious – is yours worth catching?

Research seems to show, and my experience certainly bears this out, no matter how well the senior management communicate about the need for change, it’s their first line managers, those closest to the coal face, who will shape how the team responds to the challenge.

So, how confident, skilled and comfortable do you feel about managing your people through any changes you have planned for 2012? When I coach managers dealing with change I refer to the three areas of focus which can help them and their team cope with the change more effectively and productively.

3 areas of focus when you’re managing change

1. Focus on meeting the emotional needs of your employees
I believe the first area you need to consider when taking people through change (and therefore out of their comfort zone) is the emotional reaction to the change. What opportunities do you give your staff to be able to talk about the changes openly? (And remember, how you feel is also important. You need to reflect on how this might affect or impact on the team or individuals within it)
I talk about this more in an article I wrote back in 2009 which you can access at: Managing Organizational Change Effectively

2. Understand there are types of resistance you are likely to meet and plan your strategy to deal with these
There are some fairly typical reactions to change it is useful for a manager to be aware of. Understanding these types of reactions helps a manger identify which types they are currently facing, and to plan more strategically how they will handle the specific situations they are facing.
(If you want to know more about what these types are and how to deal with them, I’m running the first two monthly webinars of 2012 on the topic “Change without tears”. You’ll find more information about these in the membership area of the site)

3. Build your team’s resilience for the future
This is the longer term, but most important part of your role! This is about developing ways in which you can support and encourage constant innovation and a collective team mindset which is about actually seeking out problems, and searching for innovative solutions.

Then change won’t be such a scary place to be – for anyone.

Ever heard the saying "hire for attitude: you can teach the rest?"

The rest, of course, is "skills and knowledge" which CAN indeed be acquired and developed.

Those who know me know I'm a huge fan of the Gallup research and their fascinating book "Now discover your strengths" would suggest you might hire for something else other than attitude: talent.

Gallup suggests that where you already have latent talent, learning that knowledge and practising those skills will be enjoyable and relatively easy for you. You will get better, faster – and your performance is more likely to become a “strength” – ie near-perfect performance.

Gallup argues talent CANNOT be acquired. You either have it or you don’t and that forcing people to develop a “non-talent” is doomed to failure, de-motivation, frustration and mediocre performance.

As someone who has spent years in eduation and management, I'd wholeheartedly agree! And yet our performance management systems often focus on people's weaknesses when it comes to offering them development, and we also expect people to be "well-rounded".

Well, research is showing, that if you want excellence, developing "all rounders" is NOT the way forward. Here's what Gallup found outstanding managers do.

Those of you who know me know I'm the sad person who takes management and psychology books on holiday! For those of you who are interested to learn how to more effectively inspire and coach your teams , and build a great team spirit, I'd highly recommend “Inspirational Manager” by Judith Leary-Joyce.  This great read outlines 5 steps the greatest managers employ to effectively develop (and consequently motivate) their people and achieve outstanding performance. Those steps are:

In an intensive study of 40 senior executives whose drive to excel was actually damaging their performance  and prospects, Robert  Kaplan identified behaviours  which were threatening to derail teams. In his book “Beyond Ambition”, he describes these behaviours, and sets out to show how personality traits can be  changed so people can achieve more effective performance as leaders.

The  phrase “blind spot” is used to describe a situation where an individual behaves in a certain way, but is unaware of the impact of that behaviour on others.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m passionate about the importance of managers to the success of an organisation.

If you have any doubts that the quality of management can make a significant difference to your bottom line, just take a moment consider the devastating effects of poor management:

• demoralised staff;
• high staff turnover;
• high incidences of tension, conflict, absenteeism and stress related problems;
• difficulty recruiting into the team and
• low productivity.

Effectively Managing Former Peers

But you're still the same person, just with a bit more authority. Suddenly, though, the things you say have more importance, and your former teammates look to you for answers, not just ideas.

What do you do with this newly found power?

How do you get the balance right between retaining those friendships you  had with those former peers and getting things done?