When change is imposed (as in downsizing
scenarios), clearly the most important
determinant of "getting through the swamp",
is the ability of leadership to...well,
lead. The literature on the subject
indicates that the nature of the change is
secondary to the perceptions that employees
have regarding the ability, competence, and
credibility of senior and middle management.
If you are to manage
change effectively, you need to be aware
that there are three distinct times zones
where leadership is important. We can call
these preparing for the Journey, Slogging
through the Swamp, and After Arrival. We
will look more carefully at each of these.
The Role of
Leadership
In an organization where
there is faith in the abilities of formal
leaders, employees will look towards the
leaders for a number of things. During
drastic change times, employees will expect
effective and sensible planning, confident
and effective decision-making, and regular,
complete communication that are timely. Also
during these times of change, employees will
perceive leadership as supportive, concerned
and committed to their welfare, while at the
same time recognizing that tough decisions
need to be made. The best way to summarize
is that there is a climate of trust between
leader and the rest of the team. The
existence of this trust brings hope for
better times in the future, and that makes
coping with drastic change much easier.
In organizations
characterized by poor leadership, employees
expect nothing positive. In a climate of
distrust, employees learn that leaders will
act in indecipherable ways and in ways that
do not seem to be in anyone's best
interests. Poor leadership means an absence
of hope, which, if allowed to go on for too
long, results in an organization becoming
completely nonfunctioning. The organization
must deal with the practical impact of
unpleasant change, but more importantly,
must labor under the weight of employees who
have given up, have no faith in the system
or in the ability of leaders to turn the
organization around.
Leadership before, during
and after change implementation is THE key
to getting through the swamp. Unfortunately,
if haven't established a track record of
effective leadership, by the time you have
to deal with difficult changes, it may be
too late.
Preparing For
the Journey
It would be a mistake to
assume that preparing for the journey takes
place only after the destination has been
defined or chosen. When we talk about
preparing for the change journey, we are
talking about leading in a way that lays the
foundation or groundwork for ANY changes
that may occur in the future. Preparing is
about building resources, by building
healthy organizations in the first place.
Much like healthy people, who are better
able to cope with infection or disease than
unhealthy people, organization that are
healthy in the first place are better able
to deal with change.
As a leader you need to
establish credibility and a track record of
effective decision making, so that there is
trust in your ability to figure out what is
necessary to bring the organization through.
Slogging
Through the Swamp
Leaders play a critical
role during change implementation, the
period from the announcement of change
through the installation of the change.
During this middle period the organization
is the most unstable, characterized by
confusion, fear, loss of direction, reduced
productivity, and lack of clarity about
direction and mandate. It can be a period of
emotionalism, with employees grieving for
what is lost, and initially unable to look
to the future.
During this period,
effective leaders need to focus on two
things. First, the feelings and confusion of
employees must be acknowledged and
validated. Second, the leader must work with
employees to begin creating a new vision of
the altered workplace, and helping employees
to understand the direction of the future.
Focusing only on feelings, may result in
wallowing. That is why it is necessary to
begin the movement into the new ways or
situations. Focusing only on the new vision
may result in the perception that the leader
is out of touch, cold and uncaring. A key
part of leadership in this phase knows when
to focus on the pain, and when to focus on
building and moving into the future.
After Arrival
In a sense you never
completely arrive, but here we are talking
about the period where the initial
instability of massive change has been
reduced. People have become less emotional,
and more stable, and with effective
leadership during the previous phases, are
now more open to locking in to the new
directions, mandate and ways of doing
things.
This is an ideal time for
leaders to introduce positive new change,
such as examination of unwieldy procedures
or Total Quality Management. The critical
thing here is that leaders must now offer
hope that the organization is working
towards being better, by solving problems
and improving the quality of work life.
While the new vision of the organization may
have begun while people were slogging
through the swamp, this is the time to
complete the process, and make sure that
people buy into it, and understand their
roles in this new organization.
Conclusion
Playing a leadership role
in the three phases is not easy. Not only do
you have a responsibility to lead, but as an
employee yourself, you have to deal with
your own reactions to the change, and your
role in it. However, if you are ineffective
in leading change, you will bear a very
heavy personal load. Since you are
accountable for the performance of your
unit, you will have to deal with the ongoing
loss of productivity that can result from
poorly managed change, not to mention the
potential impact on your own enjoyment of
your job.
Post your comments at
amin@aiminlines.co.th
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