What are you doing about change exhaustion?

With the level of business rescue and turnaround currently taking place, one would assume that there would be a growing role for Chief Transformation Officers and that companies would be prioritising the appointment of these individuals to their C Suite. Employee buy in is important.

However, as a manager so eloquently told me once: when you assume you are making an ass out of you and me.

The reality is that companies are well aware of the disruption that they are facing and the fact that they may be ideal candidates for business rescue or business turnaround. However, managing this and the impact that disruption has on the company is done externally. This means that business rescue professionals become the disruption managers of the company.

Change is one of the biggest disruptors to a company (outside of loadshedding). Yet, companies need to be agile enough to deal with challenges as they present themselves. This may mean that every day is different within the company. And, as Sheldon Cooper (the lovable character from The Big Bang Theory) points out, many people don’t deal well with change.

What are you doing about change exhaustion?

Pause to acknowledge change, and the discomfort that comes with it

The article points out that navigating uncertainty requires that we push back against our natural impulse to run from discomfort. When faced with anxiety, we tend to immediately jump into action-mode. Psychologists call this “anxious fixing,” and it doesn’t help us, or the people around us. Rather than addressing the root cause of our anxiety, we work ourselves into exhaustion trying to find immediate relief.

Say a team is changing its return-to-office plan. If you’re a leader, you may react by trying to drum up excitement and send a flurry of emails with new dates and timelines, without stopping to acknowledge the emotional toll the shift might be taking on your people. Chances are your team is weary of new announcements and another plan for coming back to the office. Make it a priority to set aside time in an upcoming meeting for people to share their feelings, voice concerns, and ask questions.

The article adds that this practice can be helpful outside of Covid-related uncertainty, like when someone joins the team. Gartner’s study found that smaller scale, personal changes — getting assigned to a new manager or moving to a new team — were 2.5 times more fatiguing than larger transformational changes like mergers or acquisitions. But how often do leaders pause when changing team assignments and give voice to the discomfort that employees may feel from these changes? We recommend having an employee’s former manager meet with both the employee and the employee’s new manager to  talk through the details of the change, acknowledge the anxiety the employee may be feeling, and create space for the employee to share their emotions and ask questions.

Adopt the mantra, “I am a person who is learning _______”

The article points out that sitting with uncertainty helps us confront the fact that we don’t have all the answers. Of course, that can be frightening, especially if you’re someone who likes to feel in control. To help yourself and your team shift from anxiety to a growth mindset, reframe the situation. When we tell ourselves, “I am a person learning to ______” versus “I can’t do this” or “I need to have this all figured out already,” we start to see ourselves as empowered agents of change.

Here are a few examples of how you can reframe the not knowing with an employee:

• Instead of “I don’t know enough to manage people in a remote environment. I can’t do this,” tell yourself, “I’m learning to be a great manager in a remote environment.”
• Instead of “I’m a nervous wreck about doing in-person presentations again” tell yourself, “I’m learning how to present in front of live audiences again.”

The authors of the HBR article recommend doing this as an exercise with your team by asking them to fill in the phrase, “I am a person learning to____” or “We are a team learning to _____.” It can be helpful to hear what others are navigating, so individual team members feel less alone and can more easily support each other. It can also be useful to better understand each person’s comfort level with uncertainty. (You can take our uncertainty tolerance assessment here.) If you know everyone on your team prefers to avoid uncertainty, for example, you can take extra steps to ensure that everyone understands the path forward.

Make a plan from which you will deviate

The article points out that, in the face of uncertainty, we have to work extra hard to figure out what we should do next. Our brains are hardwired to recognize patterns. When confronted with a known challenge (e.g. filling out a quarterly report), we can simply think, “Here’s how I did this last time. I’ll do that again.”

Uncertainty breaks that mechanism. “You feel you have to pay closer attention to everything that’s going on, because you’re not confident about what you should do,” psychologist Dr. Molly Sands told us. “That’s why uncertainty is so exhausting.”

The article adds that’s also why it’s easy to get stuck in analysis paralysis: our minds are swamped as they zig and zag through a million future possibilities. So how can you figure out a path forward under these circumstances? Can you earn employee trust?

At NASA, Dr. Laura Gallaher told us, teams refer to plans as “Plans from which we deviate.” Dr. Gallaher explained, “The benefit of planning is doing the thinking around what we will do when something happens. The value is in the process and the journey, not in the specific agenda.” In other words, the key is to plan, but not see our plans as set in stone. Instead, view them as reassurance that we’re prepared to face what comes next.

The authors of the HBR article recommend using similar language with your teams. By adopting a more flexible mindset while planning, you can help your people get less frustrated when things inevitably shift and be more willing to see the journey as a learning experience.

Invest in rituals

The article points out that ttudies show that rituals or habits can go a long way towards reducing our stress levels during times of uncertainty. In fact, researchers have found that it doesn’t even matter what the ritual is. Simply doing the same thing at the same time can improve our mental health. Don’t believe us? That’s okay, studies have also proven that rituals help people feel better, even when they don’t believe that rituals work! Employee buy in will follow

It can be hard to stick to rituals as an individual within a larger organization. We’ve often added meditation or lunch breaks to our calendars, only to have another meeting scheduled over them or to find ourselves unable to tear ourselves away from our constantly pinging inboxes.

The article adds that organizational consultant Amy Bonsall, who helps organizations collectively achieve well-being, suggests teams ask: How can we incorporate rituals as part of our days? Bonsall says it doesn’t matter what specifically teams do, as long as it is collective and centres on what matters most to that team (for example energy boosting, creativity, or connection). She suggests starting each meeting with a short centring practice, like collectively closing your eyes and breathing for a minute. Or doing a daily 15-minute stand-up where everyone shares something that is inspiring them.

There is no doubt that uncertainty is anxiety-inducing. The key is to not let employees struggle alone, but to collectively acknowledge and address the challenges. With the right tools, you can help your team gain confidence in your ability to better handle whatever comes next together — whether that means establishing a “plan from which you’ll deviate” or putting into practice a few new rituals (even if you don’t believe in them).

It is time to sharpen up your skills

When it comes to change, many people are resistant. Therefore, your job as a change manager is to ensure that all of their fears and concerns are adequately addressed.

It is also your job to make sure that KPIs are adhered to. However, be prepared for the talk with management, where KPIs are re-addressed and re-aligned in line with the disruption that the company is facing. For example, the growth of 20% may need to be revised down to 10%.

Nobody said change management is easy. However, the external environment is dictating that it is necessary. It is time to sharpen up your skills on employee engagement.