Leading Teams: Leading Through Change
When it comes to leading change, there are two angles — guiding the change itself and guiding the people through the change journey.
Start here (5 mins):
Write down why the change you’re seeking is important.
Write down any background information and context that may be helpful for people to know. Aim for transparency, even if it doesn’t shine a good light on you or the organization.
Who is impacted by the change? Be specific about roles, tenure and other details that may help you differentiate between one impacted group and another.
Think about how each of these “audiences” may need to receive the news about the change and what some of their questions might be.
For each group, consider ways they can offer feedback and get involved in the change process.
For more on strategic communications, check out our blog “A Visual Template for Remote Communications Planning.”
Guiding the Change (Kotter)
John Kotter’s change model helps break down the change process into eight easy steps, but keep in mind that it’s never that easy.
Creating the Climate for Change
ESTABLISH A SENSE OF URGENCY: People need to know why this change is important. It doesn’t need to be a world-changing reason, but something as simple as, “here is why this is important right now.”
FORM A GUIDING COALITION: Create a guiding team. Talk to stakeholders and understand who is impacted and how. Bring together those who will be most impacted by the change, and whose experience and perspectives should inform the change.
CREATE A VISION: As a leader, what does success look like? If the change is going well, what do we hope to see? Give the people around you a clear vision of what the end goal is, so everyone has something to work towards.
Engaging and Enabling the Organization
COMMUNICATE THE VISION: Communication happens throughout the model. Different stages of the model will use different languages and have different messages.
EMPOWER EMPLOYEES TO ACTION: Every communication should feature a call to action (i.e., here are the next steps, here is what we want you to do, stay tuned and here is what you can expect, etc.).
GENERATE SHORT-TERM WINS: Change is hard and doesn’t happen overnight. It can be difficult not to see clear progress resulting from hard-work happening in the moment. Wherever there are small wins or small changes, communicate that with your team or organization. Not only can these wins serve as a model for future success, but they can illustrate progress and boost morale.
Implementing and Sustaining for Change
CONSOLIDATE GAINS AND PRODUCING MORE CHANGE: This stage is retrospective. Take a look at what you have learned, what worked and didn’t work, what the next steps are, what you will do differently next time, etc.
ANCHOR NEW APPROACHES INTO THE CULTURE: Apply what you’ve learned from the change experience to your regular practices within your team or organization.
It’s never that easy and clear-cut, so don’t follow this model religiously. The Kotter model is most helpful when used to provoke an approach. Many change efforts “flop” due to a lack of transparency behind the “why” of the change and lack of consideration for those impacted.
Now that you understand the steps of the change journey, let’s talk about understanding how others experience change and how you can best lead them through the process.
Guiding the People (Janssen)
Claes Janssen’s Four Room Apartment is another change management model that focuses on how people go through a change, rather than focusing on the change itself.
Imagine that the change you’re going through is a house. It can be a big house; it can be a small house. A team may travel through the house together or find themselves in different rooms.
Before a change occurs, we often find ourselves in a state of content or the contentment room. Everything is fine; there are soft lights, music and easy chairs. In this room, there is a sense of normalcy.
Then, something happens. Something is changing, and we need to take refuge. The easiest way out is through the door marked “denial.”
In the denial room, we still want everything to be fine, but that isn’t the case. The air in this room is thicker, there are no windows and we are sitting on our feelings. This is a room we pass through but do not live in. When you confront someone in denial, they will deny it.
Eventually, we acknowledge that something is happening and pass through the door marked “confusion.”
Anxiety tends to be the core decor in the confusion room. There is loud music that stops and starts at random, writing on the walls we can’t decipher and several doors to choose from. While living in this confusing space, we start to notice patterns and connections. This is a necessary and critical step in order to go through the learning that happens next. Slowly, doors to the renewal room will start to open and you can choose your path.
Once we arrive in the renewal room, we can begin to plant the seeds for our change. Here, we can appreciate the journey, begin to work through a new norm, step back to look at the big picture and recognize what we have learned. From here, we can travel back into the room of contentment.
Your Role Through Change as a Leader (Blanchard)
The Four Room model overlies nicely with the Tuckman model (form, storm norm, perform) as well as the Blanchard model for situational leadership. Knowing this can help you align your leadership behavior to the room you perceive your team or organization is in.
For more on the Tuckman Model, check out our blog post Leading Teams: Meeting Teams Where They Are.
Let's address the question: Where do you show up as a leader managing teams in this house?
When we are in a space of contentment and something happens to bring about a change, that is when directing, or Situational Leadership Level 1, is used. Directing is used to express the urgency of the change, form coalitions of key stakeholders, construct a vision and communicate that vision out.
Questions to consider about the change:
What outcome are we trying to achieve ("why")?
What are the big muscle movements ("what")?
How will I bring others along ("message")?
How will I reach them ("channel")?
When team members or employees experience denial, that is a time for coaching, or Situational Leadership Level 2. At this stage, it is most helpful to approach with curiosity and ask open-ended questions. When you can help people process the change, that will help move them into the next room of confusion.
Questions to ask your team:
What's coming up for you right now? And what else?
What do you need most?
What is most important to you?
Once we are able to get into a space of confusion, you can lean into your supportive role, or Situational Leadership Level 3. This is also the space where Kotter’s steps 5 and 6 can take place — empower employees to action and generate short-term wins. Knowing where you are already succeeding will make it easier to decide on the path forward or “pick the right door.”
Questions to empower employees to action:
What information do you need?
What feedback do you have?
What would gain your buy-in?
How would you like to be involved?
What resources are needed?
Questions to generate short-term wins
What is working well?
How might we scale that?
How might we let people know what's working?
Finally, in the renewal room, we are delegating, or Situational Leadership Level 4. This is where we see Kotter’s steps 7 and 8 — consolidate gains and produce more change and anchor new approaches into the culture. We want the change to be sustainable so we can once again reach our state of contentment.
Questions to consolidate gains and produce more change:
What's working?
What's not working?
What have we learned?
What can we do differently?
Tips to anchor new approaches into the culture:
Check-in with employees regularly
Remove obstacles by
Avoid burnout through
If your change does not happen in this order, it does not mean that it is not happening properly. Use these models instead as a thought tool to better understand where your employees are in the process (i.e., “Sarah seems to be in denial, maybe I’ll try some coaching with them” or “I have a big change planned that is going to be confusing. I’ll meet with my team and ask them questions about what kind of resources they need so I can support them.”)
Currently going through a work transition? Try This (5 mins):
What parts of the change process surprised you?
What room are you in? Your team members?
How can you use this model to lead?
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This blog is part of a series — 10 Steps to Grow Yourself as a Leader:
Listening Made Simple Part II: 3 Skills for Listening to Others
Self-Coaching Activity: Put Your Oxygen Mask on First (Energy Renewal and Self-Care)
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