“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to Change.”
---Charles Darwin
Today organizations and teams are changing like never before. The economy, globalization, mergers, acquisitions and many other factors present challenges that force people to be both flexible and nimble if they want to succeed and remain with the team/organization. However, embracing change is the best way to ride through it and come out ahead on the other side.
One way to embrace change is to work as a team to understand and discuss the inevitable circumstances that are about to occur. Change is frightening to people when they do not understand the implications. Simple communication from leadership about the “knowns” and “unknowns” would be helpful in relieving some of the fear or stress related to change.
Another way to embrace change is by meeting as a team and discussing some questions related to the change:
- What is our organization/team moving from and moving to?
- What is happening around us that created a need for our organization/team to change?
- How important is making this change to our organization? (Rate this question on a scale of 1-10, Low to High)
- How actively are people in the organization/team working to make the change happen? (Rate this question on a scale of 1-10, Low to High)
- How will our team/dept benefit from the change?
- What would keep our team/dept from benefitting from the change?
Also ask each person on the team to think about the following questions:
- How could I benefit personally from the change?
- What would keep me from benefitting from the change?
Then ask each person on the team to picture what the ideal results would be for the team. What can the team do differently to ensure that the ideal results come through?
By having these discussions and answering some thought- and discussion-provoking questions, the team will be better prepared for the change that will be happening. At the very least, some questions may be answered and some fears laid to rest as the team works together to deal with the change.
