Six tips for leading people through change

All companies undergo change, but few execute change successfully.

When leading people through change, the most effective leaders devote substantial effort in engaging everyone involved in the change, and understand that people need time to adapt to the change.

The magic six

There are six key competencies required to successfully lead people through change - communicate, collaborate, commit, support, influence and learn.

Communicate.

Communicate what the change is and the purpose and benefits of the change, this will increase buy-in.

Collaborate.

Bring people together to plan and execute change - encourage employees to break out of their silos and don’t tolerate unhealthy competition. It’s important to include employees in decision-making early on to strengthen their commitment to change.

Commit.

Display resilience, persistence, and willingness to adapt to challenges and remain positive and patient with results.

Support.

Remove barriers to employee success, including personal barriers such as wounded egos and a sense of loss, as well as professional barriers such as the time and resources necessary to carry out a change plan.

Influence.

Influence is about gaining compliance and commitment to drive change. Identify critical stakeholders and define what “buy-in” looks like from each of them to result in leading to a successful outcome. Communicate the vision for the change in a way that resonates with their value drivers.

Learn.

Never assume you have all the answers, ask questions, and gather formal and informal feedback. Input and feedback will allow you to make constant adjustments during the change.

Navigating change is not easy, hence it is critical for leaders of change to be resilient, because it helps people cope with the inherent pressure of change, uncertainty, and any setbacks.

Need to lead your team through change? Let us help.

Focused on delivering both commercial and financial outcomes, we take care of your people to ensure they remain engaged and excited. We understand that when it comes to strategy, execution is actually the hardest part, and so we roll our sleeves up and work with you to ensure we can deliver the required outcomes for your business. Our co-founders have a combined experience of over 50 years’ working as Executives in organisations delivering outcomes for shareholders. Reach out for a no obligation conversation on how we can help you, by emailing us on whiteark@whiteark.com.au