A lesson for many situations
A lesson for many situations
You can adapt this approach to consider your reactions as an employee, friend or consumer of services. In each instance, you’ll likely identify different emotions, behaviours and language that you can recycle positively into preparing for the upcoming change.
To make the exercise even more potent, facilitate a small group session that goes through each step. It isn’t that people don’t like change; they don’t like being changed.
A small focus group as a one-off or part of an ongoing engagement activity can be hugely beneficial. After all, each of us lives a slightly different version of reality; we all bring different experiences, backgrounds and languages to the table, even if we don’t talk about it. This technique works with a staff group, but can also work with customers or patients.
And if you have a significant change to make, why not engage with local voluntary organisations, your local surgery patient participation group, or even the local branch of Healthwatch to create a safe environment to explore evolution?
Use the opportunity to describe the change you’re implementing – ideally concerning the long-term goals of the community you serve. Demonstrate your desire to handle the transition well and to ensure that as many people benefit as possible.
“A small focus group as a one-off or part of an ongoing engagement activity can be hugely beneficial”
Keep focused on the outcomes
In a healthcare environment, we often focus so much on solving the issue of the person in front of us that we lose sight of the broader mission we serve around population benefit, around the need for healthcare above sick care. Using this approach can help to demonstrate that there are no favourites or power games in play, where some gain and others lose.
When I’ve made changes to team and individual job descriptions, I’ve focussed on the reduced stress and pressures, the recognition of the value that someone brings to their day, and a desire to learn from and reinforce the best practices that people have developed over time. This outcome-based approach can escalate the conversation beyond budget cuts or staffing pressures.
Reinforce that resources are scarce if you need to – sometimes, knowing that options are off the table brings acceptance quicker. I’d encourage you to look more deeply at the benefits – other than a bottom line or a performance measure. Metrics are great at charting change, but their misuse and over-use tend to dehumanise all those in a system. Organisations, after all, are a group of humans led by humans and serving the needs of other humans.
Humans are messy and complex, and human systems are even more so. It’s no wonder that when you add change to the mix, it begins to feel out of control.
These exercises bring you towards the human aspects of change, rather than pure process. They remind you that you are human and have experienced positive and negative changes in your life so that you can choose your framing of the change ahead. It reminds you that everyone has a different lens on reality, and that by stepping out of your ego, you can find empathy, compassion and practical steps that will help you inspire your team to follow wherever you lead.
References
- McKinsey, 2021 Transformation Survey Report – Losing from day one: Why even successful transformations fall short
- Your body language may shape who you are Amy Cuddy.