Part 3 of 4 Are there stages to change?

Part 3 of 4 on Leading/Managing Change - Today's Norm!

Are there stages to consider when managing change? Yes, and effective leaders will understand them for successful outcomes to any change effort. We deal with change in our lives daily on lots of fronts, so the more we can learn, the better we can help ourselves and our team members cope with that constant of change. Change is our NORM, isn't it!

This is from Wm. Bridges, Managing Transitions:  Making the Most of Change (Reading MA, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company): We can begin to understand the transition that accompanies change:

Whereas change refers to external phenomena or events – things that can be tracked on a calendar, the internal experience of change is a transition that has distinct phases, that is highly subjective, that doesn’t necessarily align itself with dates on a calendar.

ENDINGS

The initial phase of the transition involves grieving for the loss of things as we have known them – even when the change that is taking place is likely to benefit us personally or professionally.

THE NEUTRAL ZONE

A kind of limbo between the old and the new, this phase is characterized by a sense of disorientation and the inability to cope – things just don’t click.  This phase is, nevertheless, an important time during which the old and new become integrated and consolidated.

BEGINNINGS

Emerging from the two previous phases, this phase represents a reorientation that involves new understandings, new values, new attitudes, and new identities.

I’ve always thought these stages and the explanation of the transitions we make through change were helpful to understanding my own reactions and to helping my team members.

And I’m one of those people who often just create change to see it happen – I LIKE it! I also know that approach makes some people absolutely crazy, so it’s not fair to impose change without the pre-planning, acknowledgement that others will be affected in different ways and that’s it’s my job as team leader to help everyone not only get through it, but make the change successful.

Tomorrow, we’ll wrap up the change discussion with a look at some tips for successfully facilitating change.