I enjoy the debate about whether Change fatigue is really a thing or whether it is simply a myth. Change is a constant in business, however if it is not led well or managed well, frustration sets in. Remember what it feels like when something is just 'dumped' on you or your team without notice? Where your leader's instructions were pretty much that you had to suck it up and get on with it even though it makes no sense to anyone? So my hypothesis is that people aren't fatigued by change, but they will be fatigued by poorly led and poorly managed change.
Just imagine in an organisation where that happens over and over. Last minute briefings, poor information shared where someone presents to your team about information that isn't relevant to them and then they can't answer the questions that are sensible to ask?
Like groundhog day - no matter who you give feedback to, the people who are delivering change aren't listening and just keep releasing poorly developed fixes that continue to compound issues? I feel tired just writing about it, as I remember times in my own experience when this has happened.
So it may be labelled 'change fatigue', but I am pretty sure that it is exhaustion from poor leadership, lack of planning and lack of active change management. While there may be an element of pushing too much change too fast, a majority of the time it's not actually the change that is creating the fatigue. Now that mental health of staff is also now becoming important, if not managed well this also generates high levels of stress, which if recurring, can result in even high performers and good leaders making an exit from the organisation due to the unnecessary stress. Ultimately those who are looking to do a good job won't stay or if they do, they'll become negative and toxic over time.
Have a view of Change happening across your organisation and understand the impacts of that change. This is often missed, especially in small to medium sized organisations however with a change roadmap, you can better manage the impacts and get ahead of the game. This is a key document that is then linked to the next point.
Create a forum in which strong change governance exists. In this meeting forum, decision makers come together to discuss impacts of various change, manage risks of and also decide in some cases what is to be released and when. Change governance means that the link between change and people measures can be explored. Over time it can also assist in accelerating change in an intelligent way, and allows prioritisation to take place.
Ensure communication channels with leaders are clear, open and frequently used. Leadership engagement in change is critical to its success. The stronger the leadership co-hort is as a group, the more time they get to be engaged in changes coming down (and note that engagement does not mean an email) across the change the more they will be given the opportunity to excel in change leadership. Without effective communication channels, and engagement opportunities with leaders, your change will not be enabled effectively.
Make sure feedback channels exist and feedback loops that are closed. Often times change is one way and it needs to be a two way conversation and two way participation. This goes for both leaders and employees. And I want to emphasise genuine listening. There is often feedback is gathered and but the loop isn't closed with outcomes or changes that may have been made a result so that input or feedback. If there aren't feedback channels then create some, and when feedback is gathered, remember to acknowledge it and respond to it. When feedback is acknowledged and responded to, a new level of trust is created.
Why do these things support effective change deployment?
Many of these factors result in higher engagement at all levels of the organisation. Being planned with change, being clear in communication and giving leaders enough time to engage with the change before needing to lead it.
These are all effective as they also reinforce a basic principle called 'respect'. Prioritising the time to engage with the leaders shows that their role is important and that they are respected. Having two way feedback channels signifies that what people say matters and is acknowledged and respected. This builds trust and the greater the trust there is, the more agile and adaptable people will be. So if you don't have these things in place, they are worth trying and see what happens.
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When the Change overview is ready we will send it out. If you want to know the basics of change, then look no further.