As The Boss, sometimes it’s your job to initiate and lead a change. This is a big responsibility and requires you not only to think about the change process, but consider how people will react to it.
The first step is to determine whether your new idea is evolutionary or revolutionary.
What’s the difference?
Evolution suggests the change will happen in a sequential, slow, orderly fashion. Think about the theory of evolution. According to it, life is its current state after millions of years of small, incremental adaptations.
Revolution is very different. Revolution happens quickly and the intended state is radically different than the previous state.
Think about air travel today. When flights resumed about a week after 9/11, security had changed radically. I know. I had a flight that day. My colleague was detained because of a wire (not the recording type) in her bra. National Guard troops with menacing dog stood everywhere. Nothing was as it was before 9/11.
Today though, if there are any changes to air security, they tend to be more evolutionary. Minor adjustments rather than radical ones. Yes, some of them are inconvenient but they aren’t all that different from the status quo, yet the process does change. It’s a little easier for the experienced traveler and a novice wouldn’t even know the difference.
As The Boss, you need to figure out what kind of change you’ve initiated. If it’s evolutionary or revolutionary, I suggest the following ways to communicate it so as not to cause panic or mutiny. The steps start out the same but the last one varies depending on evolution or revolution.
- Describe the current reality.The should already know this.
- Describe the desired state.They may know this.
- Explain why it’s important to change.Spend lots of time with this one. Describe specifically how the status quo and the change will affect them personally.
- Reveal the timeline.Be as specific as possible.
- Identify who does what.The more structure you can put down, the less chance of anxiety.
- Talk about what will NOT be changing.The more you can link what won’t change with what will change, the less chance of anxiety…THEN:
(a) Ask, “what questions do you have for me” (for evolutionary)
(b) Tell, “here are some concerns I personally have. What concerns do you have?” (for revolutionary)
Yes, you have to lead the change but only a moron hides their own concern. If you want people to buy in, you’ll have to sell them on the fact that things will be uncomfortable but we’re in it together.
Remember, whether evolutionary or revolutionary, any change will make people uncomfortable. By thinking it through and communicating often, your chance of having a successful result goes up significantly.