What should management expect when changes occur?

There are basically 2 types of change.

Firstly, there is normal change. That is the regular, ongoing, routine change which is common in life.

Secondly, there is the type of change which is out of the ordinary, unexpected and usually needs urgent action.

Normal, on-going, routine change and the management of it is a part of everyday life. We experience it all the time – a vacation, a new commute route to work, a local store changing management etc.

The seasons change and we automatically make changes in our clothes to suit the weather. Usually, a vacation is a welcome change – we look forward to it, plan for it, buy new clothes for it and get excited about it.

Those sorts of changes we take for granted and we don’t become anxious about them.

However, there are some changes which aren’t like that and they belong to the second type of change. We perceive them as a threat, particularly if:

• We don’t expect them
• We are not involved in the planning of them
• We are not involved in the planning for them
• We don’t have a strategy for dealing with them

..…and that is the heart of the problem of dealing with change and of change management.

What we expect, what is normal and what we feel we have control over – doesn’t make us afraid.
The corollary is that the unexpected, the unusual, things over which we feel we have no control, cause us anxiety and fear.

When people are anxious and fearful they exhibit:

• Indecision
• Suggestibility
• Loss of Confidence
• Difficulty concentrating
• A feeling of falling apart)
• Short term memory loss
• What’s the point? What’s the use?
• The struggle is becoming or has already become too much
• Feeling alone
• Being a perfectionist
• Little or no motivation
• Fear and fear of the unknown
• Feelings of unreality (such as detached from surroundings)
• Mentally Detached
• Compulsive actions
• Overreacting mentally / Emotionally / Verbally
• Becoming short tempered

Every human being has a desire to be involved in events which affect their lives.

Part of the project in the management of change must be providing people with the information they need and providing it regularly and at every stage of the processes.
It’s important to develop practices which support people and to give staff access to all possible resources and information they need to manage their own change strategies.

HR departments could organize personal development workshops to provide training for employees in dealing with change. Providing people with appropriate tools and resources to work with organisational change, can bring about a transformation in how people see change. It’s possible to see change as personal development and as beneficial continuous improvement.

Managers need to add coaching to the ever-growing list of skills they need to have in order to be a skilled manager of change.

Managing the change process successfully is an essential skill which all managers in any business have to master at some point.

If they do it badly, the result can be anxiety, uncertainty and de-motivation. To do it well, managers would benefit from learning from best practice in other areas of human resource management.

If a management team understands what to expect when changes occur, they can be good leaders, meet organizational targets and design a strategy to deliver the results which will benefit the company.

Managing change successfully is an essential skill which all managers have to master at some point. If it’s done badly, the result can be anxiety, uncertainty and de-motivation for everyone.

There are three articles on change management which will be delivered to you in your Manager Toolbox

Tips on communication with people in the workplace

Effective interpersonal communication isn’t just speaking – it’s listening, writing, demonstrating, observing AND remember that communication isn’t a one way street. An essential management skill is in ensuring two way organizational communication – employees to management and management to employees.

Your effective performance as a manager requires communication styles and techniques appropriate for different people and appropriate styles for different occasions. Only by employing a range of communication skills will workplace communication and workplace relations be optimized.

You’ll communicate very differently with the manager who only started on the job yesterday compared to a manager who started with the organization last year.

You’ll certainly communicate very differently with the guy on the team who always needs convincing, compared with the guy who’s an enthusiast and always ready to try a new idea.

In today’s diverse workplace, effective business communication in a key skill for supervisors and managers and particularly if conflict resolution is involved.

You almost need (and probably actually do need) a different style of communication for every person with whom you interact. I guess we all have many more styles than all the people we know because we communicate in a variety of ways with each person, depending on what the communication is about.

Human interaction is subtle, intricate and very complex. We all know that there is a huge range of styles of interpersonal communication with a spouse or close friend.

In the workplace effective communication is essentail all the time and by all methods -verbal and non-verbal, formal reports, letters and e-mail .

Plan ahead is a good rule for interpersonal communication at work. We plan ahead without conscious effort most of the time. “When I get to work, I must go see Joe about xxx and I’d better pick my moment if he’s busy so maybe I’ll take that diagram with me when I go to see him”.

Wherever you want to communicate an idea or give information successfully, the idea or information is best communicated in a logical sequence with an introductory sentence, a beginning, a middle, an end and a summary

An introductory clue at the outset about where you’re leading is very helpful so an employee can tune in. People find it much harder to actively listen when they have no idea where a conversation is going because our minds hunt around, trying to compute the words and signals in order to tune in and settle to what’s being said.

Use clear and concise vocabulary, particularly at the beginning of a conversation or training session. Don’t begin with similes or parables or anecdotes or any confusing vocabulary which may have a couple of meanings.

With co-workers, use an appropriate level of jargon. It’s not clever to show you’re an “old hand” by talking to new employees in incomprehensible acronyms. If you’re inducting staff and you’re going to use jargon and acronyms, say the names or words in full first and then add the acronym. Be sure you have the understanding of your listeners.

Writing reports is an essential skill in effective communication. Short sentences are recommended and also bullet points. An image or graphics can be very useful. They say a picture is worth a thousand words but too many images make it difficult to sustain a flow and are a distraction.

Test understanding and be sure a group with whom you’re communicating really get what you’ve said. Ask for feedback – don’t ask “Do you understand?” …..people will simply say “yes” and you have no idea whether or not they have understood.

Instead, ask appropriate questions… “So where shall we begin?” or “What do you think our first action should be?” etc to test understanding.

Email is a communication method which has become vexing. It’s a great tool which can improve the speed of organizational communication but it must be efficient and effective rather than a burden.

Appropriate is the key in communication – be sure it’s appropriate.

• Don’t be casual when you should be formal.
• Don’t be formal when you should be casual.
• Don’t be verbose when you should be brief.
• Don’t be brief when a lecture is what is needed.
• Don’t use jargon at an induction session.
• Use jargon in a meeting of old hands.
• Don’t use anecdotes in a finance meeting.
• Use anecdotes at a team member’s pre-wedding party.

Plan, be clear and concise and use images and diagrams appropriately. Use short sentences, short paragraphs and bullet points appropriately.

Appropriate, appropriate, appropriate

• 1:1 with People
• Meetings & Presentations
• Motivation

What is 360 Deg Appraisal?

A 360 degree appraisal is a performance review based on the inclusion of the views of a selected group.

This group represents all aspects of the work a persons does. In the case of a manager, the selected group could include e.g the person to whom the manager reports, a person from each team which the manager supervises, a customer and a supplier.

Trevor Smith helps us to understand the options available when planning a system of 360 Degree Appraisals. His full article is here

360 deg appraisal

“What does a good manager..”

….need to know?

Managers are expected to master a whole range of new skills.

There are some “Must-Have” skills without which it’s impossible to do the job. All managers need them.

Great managers know that these are the skills which they have to develop to a very high level. Great managers also know that they have to develop these skills quickly AND they work to continuously improve them.

The better your skills in these areas, the more successful you’ll be.

In our “Must-Have” Skills section, you’ll find the practical knowledege you need.

“What do other managers do?”

Everyone likes “stories” to which they can relate.

Case studies can be a great resource to learn from other people’s experiences.

Our Case Studies provide “real life” examples of the problems other managers have faced and how they solved them.

They are specific to a situation and to the people involved. However, the elements of the situation will be widely applicable to circumstances which many managers encounter during their career.

Case Studies offer detail – background, practical tips and suggestions and spotlight pit-falls to avoid in similar circumstances.

“I’m looking for a course”

Finding a training course that suits you is never easy.

Is it on offer the one week you CAN’T attend?

Is it being held soon enough for you?

Does it run at times convenient to you?

Is it on offer in your city or will you have to travel?

Can you afford the course right now?

Our “bite-sized” management training courses allow you to learn at time that suits you, at a pace that suits you and at no additional cost.

Hone up your management skills with one of our members’ training courses “a Bite at a Time”.

We split all the courses up into manageable sections so you can get started right away. By dividing the courses into bite size segments, you can take the part of the course you need – when you need it.

Most of the courses are provided in the form of downloadable PDF files.