Incoming employees, departing bosses, new software, company merges, new initiatives… these are all changes in a company that cause both employees and processes to go through transitions.
These changes can lead to stress, a host of unknowns and chaos to break out in the workplace.
Not everyone likes change; however, resistance to change can lead to disaster in the professional world. A company must evolve in order to stay competitive, and everyone needs to be onboard when change is on the horizon.
Imagine coming to work one day to find that you have been transitioned to work in an entirely new team, have to learn a completely different system to work on or answer to a new boss.
This would be incredibly nerve wracking and would likely prevent you from fully accepting the changes and trying your best to get used to them.
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Change is one of the most difficult things you’ll have to deal with as a manager, especially if you know that the changes you have to implement will cause anxiety or dissention amongst team members. Take a look at the following change management scenario:
Imagine that your company has grown successfully and that you are about to open a second branch office two towns over. The new office will be smaller and the corporation does not plan to hire a second office manager until the new location grows. You will now be responsible for both offices.
In order to make the new office function you must split your team in half. They’ve all worked together well for quite some time, but you must now take a look at the team and determine how it is best split. You’ll hire new employees for both offices, but the new office will need to have staff that is already experience as well.
If you were in this situation, what criteria would you use to decide which employees would move to the new office and which would stay behind? What would you do to ensure that all of your employees were as comfortable as possible with the changes? And, finally, what would you do to make sure that your current employees and the new ones you hire are able to work well together?
Leave your thoughts in the comments. I’d love to hear your approaches to this difficult situation!
