Change Management and How to Implement It to Change Your Life (and others)

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We as humans naturally fear change.

I fear change.

You might fear that too.

Why do humans resist change?

According to Kanter (2012) in her Harvard Business Review article, we fear change because we are afraid of losing control. We are afraid of uncertainty.

Georgia State University research in 2019 also shows that “Monkeys are much more open to switching to more efficient strategies to achieve their goals, outperforming humans when it comes to tests of cognitive flexibility.”

Both the human and monkey participants were taught strategies to achieve simple goals and receive a reward. They were then shown a shortcut that would help them reach their goal and receive their rewards sooner. The monkeys were significantly more likely to adopt new and more efficient shortcuts to attaining their goals than humans. — McQuillan (2019)

Even when humans decided to use a shortcut, however, it took them much longer to accept and use the new strategy than the monkeys.

Surprising right?

Our world is changing really fast due to technology. Change is inevitable.

2 years ago, I couldn’t even imagine myself working in the IT field let alone taking any leadership position in an IT company. I don’t even have any IT background. But now, here I am.

Move to a foreign country, marry a foreign man, far away from friends and family in Indonesia.

Is that scary?

Oh yeah. It is scary.

Then how to solve this problem? How can we face our own fear?

Before we go to the how part, let’s define the why first.

Why should we change?

Each person’s answer might different with each other. Maybe my reason will be different from yours because we face different circumstances. Or even maybe some of you think that there’s no need to change because you are already happy with who you are. Then so be it. You are the one who know more about what is the best for you more than anyone in this world.

But if you choose to change, you need to face that fear.

How? By implementing the methods called Change Management.

One of the greatest benefits of using change management is that it allows you to have a comprehensive understanding of why changes are being made.

Change management helps you to identify resistance early in the process.

Change management begins with a plan. Start by identifying what outcome you wish to achieve as a result of all upcoming changes. Just write down your goals on the paper.

Referring to Toastmaster International Article about Change Management, There are four steps you can follow through.

1. Analyze circumstances — make list of potential effects that might happen if you change then imagine what will happen in the future if you don’t change or take any action. For example you want to change your career path. List the potential effect that might occurred whether it positive and negative. Maybe you will have difficulties in finding the new job or maybe you will get the job but the pay might not good enough. Then compare that to what will happen if you don’t take any action.
2. Determine your objective — review the last step and adjust or redefine your objective.
3. Consider your option — if you have another option you need to consider that too. Maybe asking to be moved to different department and keep your current career can be an option too.
4. Collect and analyze data — a well-organized data will help you to face your fear of change. We fear what we don’t know so when we gather a lot of data, it might ease our fear.

These foursteps of change management are valid for the organizational change too. If you a leader of the team, manager, or even the executives, you can implement these four steps for your organization. However, please remember for the organizational change you need to make communication as a part of your plan since the one who will be affected is not only you but other people too. So be sure to plan steps to communicate with your team.

Once you have decided what you will communicate, to whom, and when, it is time to share information. Communicate change in person whenever possible. Every communication must have enough information, but not so much as to overwhelm. With each communication, include a set of clear, specific actions for stakeholders to accomplish. A well-organized outline of actions can make a transition easier for those impacted.

To conclude, changes are inevitable. We need to prepare and plan for change. By analyzing circumstances, determine objective, considering other options, and collecting data you can face your fear of change easier. Remember, if the change might impact another person, you need to communicate with whoever impacted with the change.

So, are you ready for the change?

References:

Kanter, R. M. (2012, September 25). Ten reasons people resist change. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2012/09/ten-reasons-people-resist-chang

McQuillan, S. (2019, October 21). Why do humans resist change? Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/cravings/201910/why-do-humans-resist-change