Manage Change Well and Reap the Rewards

Part of our challenge in working with individuals, comes from witnessing how different people react to the same event.  Frequently we see more than one employee from the same workplace.  These employees may have come from a similar group, do similar work, and may have worked with the employer for the same amount of time.

Obviously there are a range of issues that can impact on how well people react to significant changes in their lives.  Personality type, personal situation and availability of support networks (such as close family and friends outside of work) can all combine so that one person handles a difficult situation better than another. 

Some of these elements are within our personal control and others less so.  Trevor-Roberts coaches use a range of strategies to help our customers focus on the issues that are within their control, such as understanding how and why they react to change. Some people have a more naturally positive outlook and choose to view life-changing events, such as a retrenchment, as an opportunity.  These individuals may be more comfortable with change and risk. 

Others see change as more of a threat.  The way we react to change can be a result of our individual circumstances, upbringing and past experiences.  However, changing our internal dialogue and focusing on the positives instead of the negatives, can make a major transition less stressful.

How do you do this? The strategies are different for each person. Some people find it’s good to use little reminders in their home or work environment, like post it notes, screen savers and alerts on their mobile phone.  Others practice pausing and reflecting before they react.  Some customers we work with find it helpful to meditate, exercise more or simply spend time with positive people.

At the end of the day, whatever works for you, works for you.  There is a mine of information available and theories abound about how to increase your positivity.  We focus on telling our customers to brainstorm and then actively seek out activities and people that make them feel better and simply actively avoid things that bring them down.  Sometimes it helps to write a list.

Improving the way you deal with change can help you to become more adaptable, more resilient and better able to take advantage of new circumstances in your team and workplace.  It’s a key skill to develop.  And the time to practice is now, so you can be ready to handle change well when it occurs.

Paradox: Complexity VS Simplicity

This week's blog was written by Edwin Trevor-Roberts, PhD.

I was recently discussing with the CEO of an NGO in the human services sector about their organisational structure which had been implemented two years previously.  As with any restructure, some parts were working well while other parts were not. The people the organisation serve - clients in need - were receiving fantastic service as seen in the increased growth of the organisation, however, internally there is a lot of noise.

We had facilitated a session with the broader management team to gather their feedback about what was working well and what was not. The themes that emerged were not dissimilar to what other organisations struggle with: systems and processes; volume of work; lack of capability in some leaders; lack of clarity on strategy; and decision making.

Viewed together, the challenges facing the organisation are complex. Throw in a shared services model and issues of accountability and responsibility become blurred.  Our conversation was far reaching and intense, as we fluidly used our systems approach to restructures to guide our thinking. The more we discussed the complexity, a fascinating paradox emerged:

The greater the complexity, the simpler the solution.

In this case the simple solution was to focus on the key goals that connect the purpose of the organisation with the operational strategies. Managers and staff knew what to do, knew the mission and values but lacked understanding of the connecting piece so that they could prioritise, and make, decisions.

I'm not suggesting that there won't be complications in implementing the solution, however, the focus is simple.

In viewing the next period of transition for your organisation, division or team, work hard to identify and create a simple focus. Creating complexity is easy. Crafting eloquent simplicity is not. As Mark Twain said: “Sorry I wrote you a long letter, I didn't have time to write a short one".

Two Emerging Trends in Leadership Development - A Perspective from Bill Andrew

This week's blog is an interview with Bill Andrew, Director Service Delivery and Leadership Consultant at Trevor Roberts.

Bill Andrew, our Director, Service Delivery and Leadership Consultant at Trevor-Roberts has worked as an Executive Manager and Consultant for over 15 years. His expertise is coaching CEO’s, leaders and their teams to assist them to acquire new perspectives on leadership. Here are his thoughts on how he helps Australian business leaders to improve their effectiveness at work.

“I enjoy using my experience to help leaders utilize new ways of thinking about their challenges and take a different perspective on their work role. My challenge is to be able to quickly grasp the key issues and then, using a holistic systems perspective, invite reflection on current practice and consider alternative actions.

The cornerstone of my work lies in Reflective Practice. This gives leaders the chance to reflect and build their own theory of action and work out ways to apply this in the future.

The rewards for me come from seeing leaders develop an awareness that they may not have had previously and seeing them apply this and get better outcomes for their organization and themselves.

Over the past few years I have seen two distinct trends in management thinking. One is driven by economic reality and we are seeing a trend towards “back to basics” driven by the fiscal climate. This can result in restructures, staff reduction and a focus on technology (often accompanied by a command and control mentality).

For leaders, the issue is to retain your organizational performance, strategy and culture throughout these processes. Any restructure causes uncertainty and a risk of loss of organizational knowledge. Leaders are under continuous pressure from their Boards to do more with less. So my role is to help them think through how they can review their structure and strategy and ensure alignment of the organization culture that underpins delivery of the strategy.

The second trend I see is around a shift to a non-traditional leadership model. As organisations become more facilitative and leader-follower integrated, we see a change in leadership styles. In the past we saw more acceptance of a leader who “calls the shots” but now it’s apparent this model is no longer effective.

Leaders need to be able to motivate their workforce to come on the journey with them. How does the leader mentally make that shift? What skills do they need? How can they evaluate their personal effectiveness? These issues are key for leaders who are looking to have a positive impact on their organization and their workforce, who are searching for a new way of interacting with the leadership model.”

Bill Andrew’s experience extends across line management and consulting with a wide range of organisations throughout Australia and New Zealand in a diverse range of industries including: Mining/resources, Science and Technology, Telecommunications and Transport, Infrastructure (Water and Energy), and Banking and finance and all levels of government. Bill leads our Delivery Team throughout Australia.

If you could go back in time and start a change project again…

“If you could go back in time and start a change project again, what would you do differently?”

This was the question we posed to some of our valued clients and through a frank interview process we recently undertook. Overwhelmingly, two critical aspects emerged for a successful transition.

First, the effective management of the change process.  When change programs are well managed, employees feel that they understand the reason for the change, how it impacts on them and what they need to do differently in the future. Stakeholders can see a positive impact on the business as a result of the project. For the management team, achieving these goals is often the result of months of preparation work.

 Second, leading people through the transition is vital. This involves the tools and development for our leaders to succeed in transforming others during the transition.

 These are just the first two aspects that emerged from our conversations. Click here to download our Leading Through Transition Tip Sheet.

Resilience

In a workshop this week there was a lengthy discussion about resilience.  The team described resilience in many ways including mental toughness, the ability to get back up after a failure, persistence and staying positive in tough times.

How’s the resilience in your team?

Having a resilient team means that you can rely on people to carry on through challenges and setbacks, it also creates better commitment to your team goals.

How can you create more resilience in your team at work?

The power of positive dialogue – Increase your awareness of how many positive conversations you have at work.  Talented leaders can highlight positive events and achievements no matter what the situation.  Taking the time to highlight learnings, achievements and small wins in a meeting can change the mood of the team enormously.  So often we focus on what we haven’t done and what’s missing.  Instead change the emphasis and discuss how much progress has been made and how much you have learned as a team.

Be supportive – Teams that feel supported by their manager are more likely to be proactive and achieve more.  We speak to managers who feel that they spend their days with a long line outside the office that never goes away.  Consider your management style. Do your employees know that you support them if they are proactive?  What is your approach when something goes wrong? Do you look for blame, or do you use failures as a learning opportunity?

Life Balance – Modeling a good life balance and encouraging others to do the same can create better physical resilience in your team.  Taking a short walk at lunchtime can often give you a better perspective on work.  Congratulate your team for the hard work they do during the day, instead of staying back night after night. 

Recognise good work – When team members know they are likely to be recognised for their work, they are more likely to persist with difficult challenges or a hard project.  There are many effective ways to recognise good performance.  Whether you offer recognition informally, as an agenda item in a team meeting, via a group email, or by telling more senior managers about your team member’s performance.  The important element is that your team knows that you see what a great job they do and that you appreciate it.

Creating resilience to help support high performance doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming.  Raising your own awareness about creating positive dialogue, searching for ways to give good feedback and supporting your team to be proactive can give them more confidence and create better morale at work.

The Private Sector: Missed Opportunity or Time in the Sun?

At the recent national conference of the CDAA, I presented on the opportunity and threats for career professionals working with the private sector.

The private sector is the ‘forgotten cousin’ of the career field caught between the size of the education market and the social imperative of working with those marginalised. Yet private sector career practitioners directly assist the largest at-need group: the ‘working wounded’.

It is here that the career field faces its greatest opportunity - and its greatest threat - as it struggles to maintain relevance in the face of a rapidly changing environment.

Whilst the Outplacement Industry in Australia right now is growing, with revenue at $130 m and figures up 2.5% on last year, it is critical for our industry to maintain our focus on continual learning, professional standards for our clients, and above all a willingness to reinvent ourselves to stay relevant and useful to our clients. Moreover, the world of work is rapidly changing and the career profession must continuously evolve to stay abreast of trends.

A brief summary of the key concepts in the presentation can be seen below.

Beyond Performance Management

Here’s a fascinating paradox. We’ve all heard that the annual performance review isn’t effective and that managers should instead provide regular feedback on performance. And yet, the annual performance review remains the dominant process used by organisations. There are two reasons for this. First, the notion of work remains stuck in the industrial age where a person’s ‘performance’ (read: productivity) could be measured by the speed at which they completed a defined and discrete set of tasks. In today’s post knowledge economy it is difficult to precisely measure performance when the inputs into work are vague and complex. Think about the emotional labour undertaken by a nurse where his or her effectiveness is as much about how they do it as what they do.

Second, performance management remains dominant within organisations because the Executive Leadership Team needs data with which to make decisions. Executives are focussed, among other things, on increasing productivity and minimising risk. Therefore metrics on performance are useful data to have.

Or are they?

Lets challenge this sacred cow for a moment. What would happen if we focussed less on the outputs of work and instead focussed on the environment to foster great work? In such an environment, managers would know the deep motivations of each of their team members and would help them develop and grow in the direction they wanted to. Senior leaders would reinforce the reason why the organisation exists and explain this purpose consistently and constantly often through great stories. Everyone would know why they come to work and how they will achieve the purpose.

“Performance Management” in its traditional sense wouldn’t occur.  Don’t get me wrong though – breaches of the behavioural expectations would be treated swiftly and strongly else a culture of mediocrity would arise.

Managers wouldn’t have the annual performance review, but instead have ‘enrichment’ conversations and jointly set agreed activities, such as specific development goals, to ensure a connection between what is done on a weekly and monthly basis nurtures their innate drive and motivation.

Great performance comes from believing in a person, not measuring them.