Change

Managing Change

The purpose of this section is to help you understand the challenges you may face whenever you ask people to change the way they do things-the confused looks, cynical murmurings, stumbling around in a cloud of confusion and sabotage that can turn a good plan into a disaster.

You will be led through a few strategies and tactics designed to minimize the “pain of change” and help people cope.

Let’s face it, change is necessary in today’s competitive market involving technical and process changes designed to maintain the stability and profitability of your business. How well your people are led through the transition will determine the success or failure of change.

Objectives:

• Understand the difference between Change and Transition Management
• What to recognize and prepare for when implementing a change
• The four “P’s” of Transition Management
• The main reason most people resist change
• Three basic categories most people need help with when asked to change
• The four stages of learning something new
• Behavioral reactions
• How to manage the transition

Change versus Transition

Changes are situational: The new house, the new car, boat, school, price-book, boss, etc. Transition is the psychological evolution people go through when asked to change.

Change is external while Transition is internal.

When business plans or new processes fail, the reason for failure is rarely due to a poor plan or process. More often than not, the failure is because there was not a successful transition to the new way of doing things. (Lack of execution of follow-through)

When people are asked to change, they are expected to “leave home” and venture out into the unknown to something new. That can be a scary thing for a lot of people. Scary because by doing so, they must first decide to give something up, to let go of familiar places and things.

People need a reason to “leave home” and venture into the unknown.

Rule number 1: A successful transition begins with letting go of the old.

Rule Number 2: Understand the dynamics involved with the Neutral Zone

The Neutral Zone: The Neutral Zone is that period of time between the old and the new. This is the time when people must make the decision to leave the past behind and embrace the new, decide to go back to the way things were and fight change or remain in a state of confusion. Those who embrace the new way of doing things usually fall under the following categories:

They have never been exposed to the methods of performing the task and view the new process as a “life-line” because it gives them a structured method for performance. They are struggling with the way things are and are excited about trying something new. They have been given a good reason to move to the new way of doing things and have an effective “coach” to help them with the transition.

Those who do not embrace a new way of doing things resist change for the following reasons:

• They view the change as a form of punishment
• They have not been sold on why things should change
• They may not feel appreciated for they’re past contributions & effort.
• Encouraging people to embrace the transition of change.
• Identify what will be given up.
• Write down exactly what is going to change
• Think through what effect that change will have on every aspect of the business.
• Document what processes may need to change to support the transition.
• Recognize and document what you will need to let go of
• Determine who will need additional training to support the new process
• Be prepared for overreaction

Change causes people to transition. People will have to give up things they are comfortable with to make any transition. More often than not, when people overreact to change, they are reacting to the things they are being asked to give up.

Three things that will cause people to overreact:

• Lack of understanding a process.
• Lack of technical competencies necessary to perform the new process.
• Poor mental attitude or behavior.
• Poor behavioral reactions stem from fear.

Task-oriented fears:

Someone will find out that I don’t know how to do something.

Someone will find out that I don’t understand how to say something.

Someone will find out that I don’t know how to do what I’m being asked to do.

If I try to do something new, I may not get the same result I did the old way.

Personal loss fears:

The unknown

Loss of ownership

Loss of self-worth

Feeling unappreciated for past contributions

Personal fears can be minimized with an effective transitional plan.
Most managers attempt to put a new process in place and expect their people to magically jump from the old to the new. As leaders, we must recognize that it’s not as simple as doing something different. Change also involves the journey of transitioning from one identity to another.

Zig Zigglar put it best: “You have to be before you can do and do before you can have.”

An effective transitional plan will give people a reason to “leave home” and venture into the new while recognizing their past contributions and efforts in a positive way.

Task-oriented fears are best dealt with one-on-one by effective coaching.

Implementing the transition:

Objective: Minimize personal loss fears before they happen

Explain the purpose or reason for the change. In other words, sell the problem.
(Why are you asking you people to make a change?)

You need to sell the problem or opportunity to your people from their point of view before you can expect them to be motivated to change.

Recognize and express appreciation for past performance and efforts. (Make sure that people don’t walk away feeling unappreciated)

Build your people up by pointing out specific talents or behaviors each team member has demonstrated in the past that helped your team reach your current level of success.  (Build the teams self-esteem)

Clearly define the problem, Challenge or opportunity.

Show evidence

Define what would happen if no one acted to implement change

Define what could happen to the team if that occurred

Paint a picture of what will be. People need to visualize the positive outcome of the change before they venture into the unknown.

People need a vision of the desired outcome of change before they throw themselves into a difficult transition. They need something to visualize.

What will your people experience that’s going to be different?

• Keep it simple
• Keep it practical
• Make sure the picture or vision is structured in a way that will benefit them.

Layout a step-by-step plan designed to phase in the change. People need a clear understanding of how they can get to where they need to go.

Layout a step-by-step schedule in which people will receive the information, training, and support they will need to make the transition.

Discuss what will be different:

• What things will they be asked to stop doing?
• What new things will they learn to replace the old tasks?
• When will they be expected to transition to the new way of doing things? (Let your people know upfront how and when their worlds will change)
• Give each person a part to play in the transition. People need a tangible way to contribute.
• Plans serve as a security blanket for most people. It sends the message that someone is looking out for them. But the existence of a plan in and of itself isn’t enough.
• If any member of the team feels like they do not have a role to play in the transition, they may feel unappreciated, intimidated or in extreme cases, afraid that their job is at risk.
• Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each team member.
• Determine who has a talent or strength in specific areas of the transition.
• Once identified, encourage them to help with that part of the transition.

Example:

Let’s assume that you are ready to implement a new sales process for your sales team. Part of the training involves a comprehensive understanding of heating & cooling load calculations. You have been given a self-study step-by-step program designed to teach your Comfort Advisors how to perform the task.

After evaluating the strengths of your sales team, you recognize that one team member has a talent for math, a good understanding of the technical side of sales and an ability to communicate effectively. (Let’s call this person “Joe”.)

Explain the purpose or reason

Joe, as mentioned earlier with the team, we will be implementing a sales process.
The training and preparation involve some pre-work such as completing a heating & cooling load, Projecting operating cost of comfort systems and itemizing price options for our customers.

Recognize and express appreciation for past performance and efforts.
(Make sure that people don’t walk away feeling unappreciated)
Build your people up by pointing out specific talents or behaviors each team member has demonstrated in the past that helped your team reach your current level of success. (Build the teams self-esteem)

Joe, you have a very strong technical understanding and an ability to apply that knowledge to sales in a very productive way.

The team looks to you as a leader in this area and you have always been willing to help them when they have trouble in those areas. Thank You.

Paint a picture of what will be. People need to visualize the positive outcome of the change before they venture into the unknown.

You obviously understand the importance of performing this type of service for our customers. In fact, you’ve helped me understand the importance of these things as well.
One of my goals is to ensure that every customer we visit is given a complete and proper technical assessment. I believe that those are the things that will set us apart from the competition and help take this company from being good to great not to mention a huge competitive edge.

Layout a step-by-step plan designed to phase in the change. People need a clear understanding of how they can get to where they need to go.

Here is an outline of how the training will be rolled out along with dates.
As you can see, our challenge is to bring the team up to speed within the next 10 days on these technical competencies before they go to the Sales workshop.

Give each person a part to play in the transition. People need a tangible way to contribute.

Joe, would you be willing to help the team in these areas? The team looks up to you and I would really appreciate your help.

I have a complete self-study course that will walk you and the team through each step along with a series of tests and quizzes.

It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, I believe that we can accomplish the task with two or three 45 minute to one-hour training sessions.

Thanks for the help, Joe.

By the way, Bill seems to have a good handle on the presentation. Would he be a good person to help with assembling all of the presentation materials?

It is important to cover all of these steps when rolling out a new process, or when asking your people to make a transition.

Recap:

Implementing the transition:

Objective: Minimize personal loss fears before they happen.

Explain the purpose or reason for the change. In other words, sell the problem. (Why are you asking you people to make a change?)

Paint a picture of what will be. People need to visualize the positive outcome of the change before they venture into the unknown.

Layout a step-by-step plan designed to phase in the change. People need a clear understanding of how they can get to where they need to go.

Give each person a part to play in the transition. People need a tangible way to contribute.

Become an effective coach

Objective: Develop the capabilities of your people to perform by leading them through their task-oriented fears.

The four stages of learning something new:

Objective: Understand what your team may be experiencing and why.

Stage One: The Unconscious Incompetent:

The “UC” is a person who has a natural gift such as a natural athlete or a person who has the natural ability to sell or communicate effectively. They have reached a certain level of success but if you ask them to teach someone how to do what they do, they can’t because their talents and abilities are a part of who they are. They don’t have to think about it. It comes to them naturally.

Stage Two: The Conscious incompetent:

The “CI” is a person who becomes aware of specific steps or processes they may or may not be practicing at this time. They understand the value, however, they may not understand how to do it or the reason those steps are important.
This stage may conjure up behavioral reactions such as Anger, Anxiety, Sadness, Depression, Disorientation, feelings of being overwhelmed or attempts to negotiate or “bargain” their way out of the situation.
For the first time in their professional career, this person may come to the realization that someone else will have the ability to evaluate their performance on a different level.
That can be a very uncomfortable place for some professionals to be.

Stage Three: The Conscious Competent:

The “CC” is a person who makes the “leap of faith” and decides to “own” the new way of doing things. They become engaged in the process. After practicing the new steps, they become increasingly confident in their abilities to deliver the process.
However, they still have to think about it. They haven’t practiced enough for the process to become a natural part of who they are. They may skip a few steps along the way and if they are not recognized for small quick victories such as their ability to deliver a message, handle an objection or respond to a customers question as taught with the new sales process, they may decide to go back to the old way of doing things.

Stage Four: The Unconscious Competent

The “UC” has mastered the new process so well that it has become a natural part of who they are. They don’t have to think about it anymore. They have successfully made the transition from the old to the new.

Coaching:

If you are fortunate enough to have a top-performing salesperson who has a natural gift, and that person does not follow a game plan or process that can be reviewed and evaluated, how can you help that champion when they hit a “sales slump”?

You may attempt to talk to them, pump them up or find out what’s going on in their life causing the “slump”.

Without a clearly defined selling process, it would be easy for this Champion to avoid this uncomfortable situation by making excuses:

• The leads are bad
• No one is buying
• The weather is not cooperating
• The marketing promotion isn’t working
• The prices are too high
• The market is flat

In fact, you may even begin to believe that their failure to perform is your fault!
You may even react by:

• Changing your marketing strategy
• Dropping your prices
• Spending more money for the same level of performance

Reality is, the leads are there. The price reflects the value your company offers the customer people are buying because every customer bought from someone.
The question is: Why didn’t they buy from your salesperson?

The Dynamics of a “game plan” or sales process:

With a clear sales process that can be trained, evaluated, coached and duplicated, the above scenario may have been dramatically different. The Sales process will give you the opportunity to evaluate performance, identify the areas causing the “sales slump” and help coach the salesperson back to the top of his or her game.

You see, as an Unconscious Competent following a well-defined process, I may forget a few steps. Those steps may result in a Sales “Slump”.

An effective coach who has the ability to analyze performance, identify the areas that may be causing the “slump” and point me in the right direction possesses the ability to keep performance on track.

A “UC” who forgets a few steps and hits a “slump” will quickly slide into the Unconscious Incompetent performance phase because they are Unconscious of the steps they may be skipping. That’s where an effective “Coach” must step in and help.