Looking after your team during a restructure

How can managers keep performance from dipping during a transition?  Ensuring your team stays engaged throughout the change process can be a tricky job. 

People look to their manager during transition to provide guidance, advice, information and support.

So, here are some tips for managers about how to do a great job of looking out for your team during a transition.

 

 

1.      Listen - Spend time with people in your team, just listening.  Hear their concerns.  People may be experiencing anger, frustration or feeling confused about how the changes will impact on them.  Some people may need to “let off steam”. Taking the time to listen to your employees helps them feel valued.  In fact one of the most important indicators of employee satisfaction is often whether they feel their managers listen to them and value their opinions.

 

2.      Get the facts – As the manager it’s important that you have a good handle on the facts around the restructure and communicate these as soon as they come to hand. The more your staff understand and accept the need for business change, the more positively they'll respond to the change process.  Find out as much as you can about the process of the transition, timings, whether any employees will be retrenched and other key information.

 

3.      Provide stability where you can – During a transition, many employees report that uncertainty is one of the key issues that leads to stress.  Having weekly team meetings, regular email updates and one on one meetings with team members are all great ways of making sure your team feels supported and “in the know”. 

 

4.      Be creative about stress reduction – If your team reports they are feeling particularly stressed, why not have a team building session on stress reduction?  Ask everyone in the team for their ideas on what works for them to reduce stress. Following this up in your team meetings can be a good morale booster and a great way of building team spirit.

 

5.      Deal with negative attitudes head on – If a team member is particularly negative about the change process, meet with them directly to work through their issues and ask for a constructive approach.  Taking their concerns seriously can go a long way to getting difficult people on board.

 

6.      Create support networks – There are other areas in your organisation that are available to help employees during transitions.  Your HR department may be a helpful source of information.  Perhaps you may have access to 3^rd party counselors for employees who are feeling particularly stressed.  Find out about other sources of support for your team and make sure people know where to go to if they need additional assistance.

 

7.      Take care of yourself – Managers often put themselves last during difficult times at work. Equip yourself so that you have enough resilience to be a great leader throughout the process.  Make sure you are getting enough sleep, recreation and good food to stay healthy, optimistic and energetic throughout the transition period.