Brent Engel
Contributing Writer
Direct Energy Solar

Change is a part of everyday life.  Sometimes it’s large such as when a business adopts a new policy or organizational structure.  Sometimes it’s small such as a closed road or the coffee maker being broken.  Over time the effect of change can be dramatic.  It’s like weight gain, we may not notice it until someone posts a picture of us on social media.  That’s why it’s important to consider and manage change.

There is a physical part of change.  Biologically, change is a threat.  In the old days when we lived in caves and tents, any change in the environment was analyzed to determine if it was a threat.  For example, a new person entering the settlement could help the settlement or could be coming to attack.

Based on our assessment, certain biological functions trigger.  Basically, it’s our fight or flight path that is triggered.  Messages are sent to the brain, chemicals are released and our body prepares for the change.  The reaction to large or small change is the same—the heart beats faster, blood flows to muscles, cortisol is released to increase energy and other reactions happen as well. You may recognize these as reactions to stress.

I’d like to pause our discussion for a moment and do a short activity.  I’d like you to think about those things/events that affect your attitude on a given day.  What happens as you get out of bed and go to work and arrive at the office that shapes your attitude?  Think of five to ten things/events and write them down if you can.

Did you finish your list?  Look at it.  What is the tone?  Is it mostly positive? Is it mostly negative?  If you’re like most people, it’s mostly negative.  I only asked you to think about things/events that shape your attitude, not those that shape a good or bad attitude.  Based on that, what kinds of assessments are we likely to make about a change?  Did you say threat?

So if are likely to assess change as a threat and go into our fight or flight stress mode, there are some long term impacts.  As mentioned, when we are under stress, we release cortisol.  Cortisol is good when helping us deal with an immediate threat.  Long term, not so much.  The long term effects of stress are a higher incidence for heart disease, the memory center of the brain shrinks, the immune system suffers and many other bad things.

There are even short term effects that can make our reaction to the situation worse.  In the short term, with the blood flowing to your muscles and not your brain, your judgment and thinking become clouded.

Over time, this wear and tear adds up.  Constant change means constant stress.  The effects of stress are additive, so a several small stresses can have the same effect as a big stress.

My company is no different from yours.  We have a lot of change going on.  Fortunately, for the project I am on, we are helping our employees deal with change and helping them deal with stress.  Here’s how.

First, we did an assessment of the change.  We determined who the change would impact and in what ways.  We Considered the impact.

Next we Held a meeting to let everyone know of the change.  As much as we could, we told everyone about the change and why we were doing it.

Third, we Asked for the benefits.  We helped employees see the benefits.  If they couldn’t see any, we explained what the benefits could be and asked the employees to discuss how the benefits would impact them.  We just didn’t let the employees fall into the “change is bad” trap.

Fourth, we Negated the negatives.  We addressed the employees’ fears.  We asked them their thoughts about the change and its impact.  We did regular assessments.  Since people aren’t always willing to speak up, we collected this information anonymously as well as in group discussion.  You can do the same through Survey Monkey or having questions sent in or handed in before your meeting.  Included in this, we also asked employees to help us make the change so they were a part of it and not a victim of it.

Fifth we Got the leaders on board with the change.  We prepared the leaders to lead the change.  We gave leaders knowledge they would need to manage their people through the change and we gave their people the skills and knowledge they would need.  We also provided a support network.

Finally, we Evaluated our efforts.  We looked for signs of back pedaling that often comes with change especially when it starts.  We let people know we were available to help, provided tools and support, reminded them of the benefits and thanked them for their help in making the change.

We basically followed a CHANGE model.  We Considered the impacts, Held a meeting, Asked for benefits, Negated the negatives, Got the leaders on board and Evaluated our efforts.

Not every change you face will be system wide, and you can use these same techniques.  Suppose you want to hold a team picnic to increase the feeling of team.

Consider the impact – While a picnic may seem like a great idea, consider who might not be thrilled with this idea.  Are there employees splitting child care duties with spouses while working different shifts?  Are there some who just don’t like these things?  What can be done to help them feel part of it?  How will people feel about those who don’t show up?

Hold the meeting – Explain to your team the idea and why you are doing it.  Maybe when you mention you are trying to increase a sense or team and other suggestions come up that could be more effective.  You can listen if possible.

Ask for benefits – Get people to tell you why the picnic is a good idea and how it will benefit them.  You may have to help some people see the benefits.  For example, I am not a fan of such things, but I like trying activities like boating or volleyball or baseball that I can’t do on my own.  Some people may see the picnic as an opportunity to have significant others meet some coworkers.

Negate the negatives – Hopefully you thought about the objections people might raise and are prepared.  Sometimes you can ask the person what they can do to overcome their objection and give them that task as part of the team.  For example, someone may say they don’t like picnic food or have allergies.  You can ask them to help coordinate some of the dishes.

Get the leaders on board – The leaders may be informal leaders or they may be supervisors.  The leaders may not even work for you.  In this instance, you might have a flyer to explain the purpose and activities and details of the picnic for the employee’s family who will attend.

Evaluate the efforts – As time gets closer for the picnic, some will send in their regrets.  That’s a good time to remind them of the benefits they will miss and ask for help at the next team building event.  In other instances, you may see a regression to the old behavior. Follow the same tactic. Remind the person of the benefits and commitment made.

Change is part of business and life and it is often overlooked.  Left unchecked, it can have harmful physical and psychological effects.  The impact of many small changes can be just as great as one big change.  The good news is now you have a tool to manage CHANGE.

 

Brent Engel is Head of Training for Direct Energy Solar, a solar installation company.  Brent joined Direct Energy Solar in 2014 and built the training platform for that line of business.  He has been in training and development for over 18 years in service and construction industries.  He has created several training programs for management training and development, sales, customer service and technical skill training.  He has founded a corporate university to teach new franchisees.  He has created and delivered training for multi-unit supervisor development as well.  Brent lives in Louisville, KY with his wife and three daughters.  He enjoys biking with his youngest daughter, marathon running with his oldest and chatting with his middle.  He works in Columbia, MD and has a long commute to work where he enjoys reading.