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Change Management – Change and how to deal with it

Dealing with the Anger of Others

14 May 2010

Whenever anyone acts rudely or cruelly to you keep this in mind: if a person dislikes you without good reason, it’s not because she/he doesn’t like you but because he/she doesn’t like himself very much. Therefore, you can change a lion into a lamb by changing how she feels about herself, which then changes how she feels about you.

There are three major motivations for people to act rudely toward you:

• He thinks you don’t like him. Maybe you unintentionally ignored him or gave him a look he interpreted incorrectly.

 • He feels threatened by you and will therefore amplify any small flaws he sees.

• He sees traits in you that he dislikes in himself.

Three lesser reasons include:

• Plain old garden variety prejudice.

• He wants to help you but can’t so he’s frustrated.

• Really likes you but doesn’t want you to know that (shades of school all over again).

A strategic solution would be:

1) Establish mutual effect by telling a third party something you honestly like or admire about this person and let that compliment filter its way to him. Yes, you could tell him directly, but a compliment we hear from a third party always seems more likely to be honest, and it has a bigger impact.

2) Allow the other person to give something to you. We often think a person will like us more if we do nice things for them. However, the reality is that a person actually likes you more after he’s done something for you. This is so for a variety of reasons: they have now invested energy in us, they feel better about themselves, and finally, doing something for someone else engages a psychological phenomenon called “cognitive dissonance.” This is where we begin to believe we have made a favourable impression on the other person.

3) Finally, we must show our human side. Often, in an attempt to get someone to like us, we try to enhance our own behaviour, brag ourselves up as it were. However, when you are dealing with someone who feels threatened, self-depreciating behaviour—offering information about yourself that isn’t flattering—shows honesty, humility and trust, and works more in your favour.

To review the complete Change Management – Change and how to deal with it workshop Outline containing Dealing with the Anger of Others for 2007:Click here.

The Response to Change Chain

13 May 2010

Top Management In a traditional company, top management has a hard time coming to grips with the direct implications of the change. They often underestimate the impact that change has on their employees. They tend to isolate themselves. Often they engage in strategic planning sessions and gather information in survey reports. They avoid communicating or seeking bad news because it is difficult for them to admit they don’t know. They expect employees to go along when a change is announced and blame their middle managers if people resist or complain about the change. They often feel betrayed when employees don’t respond positively.

Middle Management Managers in the middle feel the pressure to make the organization change according to the wishes of top management. They feel pulled in different directions. Middle managers often lack information and leadership direction needed to focus on multiple priorities. They are caught in the middle and often fragmented because they don’t have clear instructions. They are besieged with upset, resistant, or withdrawn employees who no longer respond to previous management approaches, and they feel deserted, blamed, or misunderstood by their superiors.

Employees/Workers/Associates Workers often feel attacked and betrayed by changes announced by management. They are often caught off guard, not really believing that “my company could do this to me.” Many respond with resistance, anger, frustration, and confusion. Their response can solidify into a wall of “retirement on the job.” They become afraid to take risks, be innovative, or try new things. They experience a loss of traditional relationships, familiar structure, and predicable career advancement patterns.

To review the complete Change Management – Change and how to deal with it workshop Outline containing The Response to Change Chain for 2007:Click here.

Managing Anger

12 May 2010

The Five Dimensions Change often produces a lot of anger. However, anger is a learned response, and the anger response can be unlearned, with commitment and effort. Self-awareness is a key element for managing your own anger because the use of anger management skills pre-supposes that you know when you are angry and recognize that anger as a cue that something is wrong.

To understand and develop the skills associated with anger management, think of anger as five interrelated dimensions, all operating simultaneously. These dimensions are:

1. Our thoughts when we are angry

2. The emotions that our anger arouses

3. The ways we let others know that we are angry

4. How we experience the world when we are angry

5. How we act when we are angry For example, what you think when you are angry influences how you feel; how you feel when you are angry influences how you communicate; how you communicate affects how you think; how you think affects how you behave.

To review the complete Change Management – Change and how to deal with it workshop Outline containing Managing Anger for 2007:Click here.

Dealing with Resistance

11 May 2010

Why do people resist change? Usually it is because they believe they are losing something. Does an employee resist an upward change in pay rate or increased vacation allowance? Do you hang on to a cranky old car and resist being given a new one? Does a supervisor resist an imposed schedule change that has him/her representing the department at an important reception for the new company CEO rather than finish the quarterly budget?

All these changes are likely to be warmly welcomed and be implemented with great cooperation from the people concerned.

• What makes these changes different from those that people resist?

• What might they perceive they will be losing? Status, comfort, authority, power, money or a chance for promotion.

• What might they gain? Status, more skills, authority, power, money, or a chance for promotion. If we want to help ourselves and others manage change, what can we do?

Empathy: The First Key to Successful Change Participation:

The Second Key to Successful Change Communication:

The Third Key to Successful Change Definition of Communication means to create understanding and not merely to send information.

To review the complete Change Management – Change and how to deal with it workshop Outline containing Dealing with Resistance for 2007:Click here.

The Trend of Change

10 May 2010

Traditionally, change was a short burst of disruption followed by a longer period of stable operations. Today, there are no longer any rest periods; change is continuous and enormous.

Reactions to Change People react differently to change.

The Innovators will be those who want to try new ways of doing things or who have responsibility for continuous improvement. They will be pushing for change.

The Early Adopters on the team will be the first to embrace the changes. They may even rush in before they fully understand the change and why it is necessary. They welcome change either because they immediately see the benefits or perhaps because they prefer variety to routine.

The Early Majority are those who are influenced by initiators and early adopters and who prefer to be ahead of the wave rather than swamped by it.

The Late Majority are more cautious. They hold back until they are sure they know what they are doing and until they believe the change has a fair chance of working. Only then do they come on board.

The Late Adopters are the last to come on board and they may not come willingly. They are not easily convinced of the value of change, but they can be moved to accept the change.

The Diehards resist the change. They do not come on board. They may be terminated, or they may be moved to a backwater position in the organization, where their resistance interferes with operations less. They can become angry and bitter about the way things are going.

To review the complete Change Management – Change and how to deal with it workshop Outline containing Reactions to Change for 2007:Click here.