Organizational Change - Running against the wind or Riding the wind...
To be in the middle of a reorganization or restructuring isn’t funny at all and adjusting to new circumstances is a drain on our psychological energy.
Some of us suffer emotional fatigue, others go even further and hit burnout.
Do you find yourself guilty of myths carried around during times of major change and organizational turbulence…?
MYTHS like:
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“Top management seems to be losing control. I think they could wreck this place”,
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“The organization is keeping us in the dark on purpose”,
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“The only thing worse than bad news is all this uncertainty”,
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“It isn’t fair. You think of all the years people have worked hard for this outfit, and this is the thanks they get”
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“Well, all these changes weren’t my idea. It’s not my responsibility to make them work”
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“Top management cooked up this plan. Now we’ll see if they can pull it off”
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“If they would just ask us, we could tell them what’s needed”
Are you declaring yourself guilty too? Here is what the reality says:
If the organization is changing, you probably need to be changing too.
Pay very close attention to what's going on around you - If the organization is changing at a faster rate than you are, you could be headed for trouble.
Management is being open and straightforward as the situation permits.
Think about it - If you're not able to get all the answers you want, maybe it's because higher management doesn't have those answers either...
Problems are a natural side effect of the change process.
Don't forget that frequently on the road, to getting better, things first get a little worse.
Management has to make some tough decisions and it's impossible to keep everyone happy.
It's easy to sit back and criticize upper management of not caring about people, when you don't like what' happening, the natural tendency is to look for someone to blame. It's very common to care deeply for others, and still not be in a position to give them everything they want.
You don't have to like the changes
You don't have to believe they were a good idea .... you don't even have to want them to succeed. BUT you are supposed to do everything you can, in your particular job, to make the changes a success story.
There is no school solution ...
... when it comes to managing transition and change. The biggest mistake of all would be for top management to wait until they could make changes perfectly free of errors and problems. That would paralyze the organisation.
Change is here to stay. So, choose your battle carefully as you will be faced constantly with a choice of running against the wind or riding with the wind....Ride it.