11 Emotions that accompany Change efforts.. and how to deal with them

Organizational change is about Changing Mindsets. What this really means is that Change is actually about people rather than a process or technology or policy or any such. And, Where there are People, there are Emotions.

People go through various stages when confronted by change. These emotions and reactions are both natural and understandable.

As these reactions to change are somewhat consistent, it gives us a chance to prepare for these and address them in the most appropriate manner. Looking at the adaption of the Adams, Hayes and Hopson change curve, we can see the typical reactions to change as it progresses on its course and how we, as change agents, can help the impacted population deal with these emotions.

Stage 1: Stability/Contentment

"If it's not broken why fix it? Things are okay/not too bad now. This will go away."

• Persuade: We need to focus on Facts and Data and in a dispassionate manner try to prove to the individual that the change is neccessary.
• Focus on the Future: A great way of establishing the need for change is to consider the long term impact of change and how the future will look like. We may at this stage use comparisions with other organizations where a similar change helped them.
• Explore the consequences: Not just the positives, we should also focus on the risks of not embrace this change including the potential competitive and strategic impacts.

Stage 2: Anticipation

"Something is happening and I'm not sure if it's good or bad."

• Communicate: We need to communicate early and often and keep people informed as changes are planned. The ‘Elevator Speech’ at this point can be extremely useful to communicate to the wider audience.
• Involve: It is very important that we explicitly ask the impacted population about thier concerns and fears. We should seek ideas and suggestions from them as this will greatly help to assuage these fears.
• Be Open and Honest: It is very important that the change agent appears and is Open and Honest. A great tool to use at this time is the Threat opportunity Matrix where both positives and Negatives can be clearly laid out.

Stage 3: Shock/Denial

"I cannot believe this is happening. No - they'd never do that...it's probably nothing"

• Communicate: Communication is very important at this stage as well. We have to confirm what is happening and provide regular status updates. This will help in preventing rumours and hear-say.
• Stress Commitment: We have to make it very clear on what the organizations position is on this Change effort and the fact that this Change will not go away. Painting a clear vision of the future will be useful here.
• Encourage involvement: The fact that we are making it very clear that this change is here to stay and also communicating the organizations view of the future state should not mean that we don't involve the impacted population. We have to let them know the value of thier inputs and suggest how they can egage with the change.

Stage 4: Anger

"How can they do that to me/us? We've worked hard - it so unfair/not right"

• Listen: It is very important to be a good listener at this time. Dont interrupt or become defensive. Let them express emotions – set up one-to-one or group sessions where questions can be raised and addressed.
• Empathise: We should Recognise their right to be angry and try to understand their fears but, at the same, be very clear that the change will still take place
• Summarise: Summarising and replaying thier position will make them feel that you acknowledge and understand thier feelings and where they come from.

Stage 5: Blaming

"If they had run things properly this would never have happened. It management's fault not ours."

• Explore: We have to question to explore why they see it as a fault of the management and in-fact why do they feel there needs to be blame here. Understanding thier point of view is critical to bring them on board.
• Reposition:Shifting from the blame game, try to explain the business and economic rationale behind the decision. The 3 D (Data,Demonstrate, Dynamic Leadership) analysis can be a useful tool here.
• Confirm Acceptance: We should check acceptance that this is not about blame of either the organisation or individuals but an outcome of a business reality.

Stage 6: Fatigue / Depression

"I'm sick of this. I just don't have the energy or desire to do this any more."

• Explore Reasons: As a change agent, you should be careful of not undermining this stage. You should explore the reasons why people feel this way, how long would would they feel this way- is it temporary or a long term emotion. A well developed vision of the future state on how things would look once the change is successful can be used to energize.
• Explore Options: If there is still apathy, continue to engage with them and ask for inputs and choices of actions. Communicate the quick wins, progress updates and the success stories to show them the effort is moving in the right direction.

Stage 7: Acknowledgement

"It's not going to go away. It seems like a done-deal. There's no way back it's happening."

• Explore feelings: We dont really want unwilling participants as that will reflect in the behaviours that are displayed. Try to expore how they feeling now and how is it aligned to the behaviours that we want to encourage.

• Plan Actions: If the feelings are not in line with the desired behavioural outcomes, we should jointly discuss on how they can be involved in the process more and a plan of action can be built around it.

Stage 8: Bargaining

"I'll do this/get on board but only if... What if we keep part of it and let the rest go?"

• Listen to the If: Dont be averse to a bit of negotiation or bargaining. Understand what the conditions and framework is being proposed and the impact of these bragainings on the desired outcome. This is also very dependent on the Power of the individuals or group. Use the Power-Impact mapping tool at this stage.
• Test the veracity:Although we may make efforts to agree on some conditions but it is also important to know what the position of the individual or group would be if the proposed condition didnt happen.

Stage 9: Acceptance

"I have a future/no future here so I'll use it, do it or opt out and go elsewhere."

• Future Exists: The Change may be accompanied by an alternate organizational structure. If the role is part of the new way of working, you should discuss the role, congratulate the acceptance and agree on definite next steps.
• Future in Jeopardy: If the role is not a part of the new structure, we should discuss the choices, wiegh up the options and assist in decision making. It is important to keep the person seperate from the role in this case. Although there may be no future for the role but there would be options for the person.

Stage 10: Relapse

"See - I knew it wouldn't work. Their way doesn't work - we knew we were right."

• Discuss the bumps on the road: This is not a failure of the change but a wake-up call. We should try to understand what the issues are and why they happened. It is also a great opportunity to strengthen the contingency plan or the FMEA.
• Establish the facts: It is critical that we take a dispassionate view of the situation and concentrate on the facts and not the emotions while evaluating the size of the problem. I talked about the right metrics in my previous post, this is is the time to evaluate them.

Stage 11: New Stability

"Okay it works well. They do a good job. They are part of the extended team. I have new tasks to do now."

• Support and encourage: We should encorage the co-operation and support that the impacted population has provided and endorse thier acceptance of change.
• Communicate sucess: We have create a sense of sucess within the organization. We can do so by capturing and sharing the success stories of the change and also celebrating the success of the big effort.

In my last post I talked about how short cutting this Change Adoption curve is a Deadly Mistake. In this article, I have touched upon how do we deal with the stages of this adoption curve.

I would like to hear from you which stage you think is the hardest to deal with and why? Please feel free to comment if you think i missed out on a stage that you have encountered on your change journey

Disclaimer: These views are of the author and do not reflect the views or practice of any organization that the author is associated with.