There is a often debate whether change fatigue is a reality or myth.  When change is not effectively managed or led well, change fatigue most certainly ensues. There are signs that a good leader keeps an eye out for when it comes to the impact on change to their team. 

Following are some of the key indicators a good Change leader picks up on:

1) Illness is on the rise: sick leave or general illness of team members and employees in the business is one sign of change fatigue. During the winter seasons, this can be blamed on bugs or flu's, however when a good change leader recognises the link between change and poor health. When individuals are under stress their immune systems suffer leaving them susceptible to catching and spreading these bugs. This doesn't necessarily mean team members will be taking more days off. A good leader notes who may not be coping well with change through physical indicators. Back issues and things such as migraines are other physical indicators of individua...

Happy new year and welcome to 2020. It certainly has been challenging in Australia with the worst bush fires across the country in living memory. It certainly has been a time of crisis. I hope going forward the impact of climate change, which has been incredulously denied by certain political parties will now be discussed with solution brokers coming to the table.

Crisis as a catalyst

Unfortunately sometimes it takes a crisis for change to be embraced. When the pain gets so much that something has to shift. This is very relatable when it comes to introducing change management into an organisation. Financial results (or lack thereof) become untenable for the leadership team. Projects don't deliver well, funding is cut or staff engagement results are at their lowest. All reasons for Change leadership and management to be embraced.

Leadership in times like these 

During this bush fire crisis, there have been some observations about leadership, where certain expectations on some leader...

Sometimes we can fall into bad habits when working in Change. At times it can be stressful and if these habits creep in your practice it will may compromise your reputation as an effective change manager or as a change leader. 

1. Thinking that people will just do as you tell them.

It makes me laugh when Managers expect their teams to simply do as they say. Many progressive organisations however are showing more emotional intelligence and understanding that people choose who they follow. All people go through an emotional process when any change occurs. A good change leader understands how to support their team through this and engage their people in the change. I won't limit this to just change leaders, as I do hear Change Managers say exactly the same thing. Only in unique organisations where hierarchy is necessary to survive such as in the Police or Military, would the 'people will do as I say' rule exist and apply. 

2. Taking the same approach to change every time 

Every cha...

'Every successful organization has to make the transition from a world defined primarily by repetition to one primarily defined by change. This is the biggest transformation in the structure of how humans work together since the Agricultural Revolution.'

– Bill Drayton

Change leadership is now part of the job description of being a people leader. In the fast paced business world where changes are being introduced. Engaging your employees and inspiring them to perform well in a changing environment is a skill. So what are some of the ways you can be an inspiring change leader?

1) Engage your people: Get to know them and who they are. Engaging your staff on the change is not the same as simply cascading key messages and informing your staff of the changes taking place. Ask questions, have the team work on what actions they would like to take to adapt to the change. Work with the project areas or business areas introducing the change to get ahead of the change curve.

2) Communicate r...

What would happen to a runner of the 110m hurdles who, if between one hurdle and the next had an official run out and move the next hurdle just that little shorter?

I am going to assume that the athlete would surely stumble with their rhythm being interrupted, probably fall and have to get back up. After dusting themselves off they would have to start again to try and get into a rhythm. That is what it is like in a business if a change is introduced suddenly and poorly.

So what if the athlete was told beforehand of the change at the eight hurdle, and could plan and practice for him or herself in advance, knowing when the change would take place and what impact it would have on his/her stride. Couldn't they then  could work with their coaches (leaders) on how to adapt and still finish the race, hopefully in the top three? 

That is the whole focus and intention of change management and of strong change leadership. A combination of both can decrease the performance 'gap' that may occ...

When introducing a change you need to assess the impacts to be able to respond with the appropriate change approach to be able to support all impacted stakeholders in an effective way.

Some project teams and managers will down play the impacts that a change has on a team. When asked 'so is this a big change' the response may be 'it isn't much of a change' and then as you unpack the impact you realise that the change is bigger than most thought. The driver often to down playing the change is the perceived inconvenience or the amount of perceived effort there will be in managing the change, however what is undermined by downplaying the effect of the change is the project or program's ability to effectively manage the change for optimal results.

The top 5 to ask

So my initial questioning is really to get an idea of the impacts of the change. And here are my top 5:

1) Who is impacted by this change?

2) What products or processes need to be modified as a result of this change?

3) What...

So you are a leader - and your team is about to experience a negative change that is going to impact them. You know about it and you also know that you have some people in your team who may not react so well.

In fact you know that they will challenge the change, whinge and be disruptive.. so where does that leave your stress levels? Change always brings with it different degrees of stress. To both workers and leaders. When you need to lead your team through a negative change, as the leader it can be more stressful for you than anyone else, not that you can ever say that to your team.  

What are the choices you have?

Yes, know that you always have a choice..

Sure on any given day, just give in to change resistance. But when you 'give in' and crumble in the face of resistance from your team, just know that you are creating inconsistency and this has everything quite frankly start falling apart at the seams when it comes to change. Remember this is simply a fact and I have seen t...

I shift in my seat whenever someone says 'that can't be measured' when talking about change management. I come from the school of 'everything is measurable' and I have yet to work on a project or program that I haven't put measures around so we could learn about what worked and what could have been done better.

Why are measures important?

Every time you bring a change into an organisation it is an opportunity to learn and improve. Organisations cannot afford to be stagnant in how they approach change, and the more organisations adopt a growth mindset the more competitive they will become.

Here are some key ways to measure change:

Enquiries and support needed for impacted 'end users' or clients to be able to adopt the change. For example calls to a Help Desk or Call Centre function. This helps you assess how effective training was, how effective the end solution was and how well the communication or campaign was received.

Typically these areas have a code they can apply to your pro...

When you are joining a project there are three priority things to do:

1) Don't assume that the project manager knows what a Change Manager actually does. Everyone knows that assuming anything makes an 'ass' out of 'me' and 'u', so be sure to ask the question of the project manager as to whether they have worked with a Change manager before. This will help you to understand their perspective and possibly past experiences - positive or negative when working with other Change Managers. One of the biggest negative gripes about Change Managers is that they don't 'do' anything. Unfair to say the least but it is also pointless being a Change Manager who decides to teach Change theory to a project manager who doesn't want to listen. You earn trust and respect by doing, delivering, listening and learning. So if that is the case it you will need to press the 'reset' button with the project manager, and agree on roles and responsibilities.

2) Meet with the Project sponsor to understand their ex...

What is the level of understanding of Change Sponsorship in your organisation? Chances are, if your organisation is not really familiar with Change, then Change Sponsors may not be really understanding their role and why it exists.

Usually Change Sponsorship aligns with the leadership hierarchy in an organisation. This is because there isn't normally an incentive as as an employee to listen to anyone other than their direct line manager. The only time this doesn't ring true is if the culture of an organisation is so collaborative that all leaders are seen as equal in voice.  In organisations of such high emotional intelligence, the leadership team will work together to create an aligned co-hort of enthusiasm or energy regarding the change. However, these are generally exceptions, not the rule.

Change Sponsorship - not an easy gig.

The role of a Change Sponsor for a project and Change leaders is to create enthusiasm regarding the change. Generating the awareness and the continually c...