Career
Sola Amadi: The Emotional Angle of Change Management
“Every successful change management effort has an emotional angle to it. What you’re really trying to do is create buy-in from your team” – Dan Sirofoglia, CEO and founder of Change Management Group
It’s no secret that change is one of the most difficult challenges organisations face. Change in strategies, policies and in every sector in an organisation. These days, almost everything is moving at an unprecedented pace and that is forcing heads of organisations to review policies and strategies. At the same time, there’s a growing concern about how employees are coping with the pace and scope of change.
Change management is an integral part of any project. It involves planning how to handle the inevitable changes that occur during a project or within an organisation. And one of the key objectives of change management is mitigating its effect when it hits an organisation.
Additionally, change management can help reduce risk and uncertainty by clarifying roles and responsibilities. It can also increase efficiency by reducing communication barriers and removing distractions. In the end, change management is all about making sure that everyone is ready for what’s next.
The emotional angle is a critical component of the change management process. Experienced leaders understand that this emotional aspect is one of the crucial processes involved in change management. They know that it is not enough to simply present data and facts, people need to feel heard and understood when bringing on any new idea.
This is not always easy to do; many people do not want to feel as if they are being forced to accept something they do not agree with. Therefore, it is important for leaders to make sure no one is alienated in the process by making them feel that their opinions and efforts are critically valued.
As a leader, if you want your people to embrace change, one of the most important things you can do is connect the dots. You need to address their fears and concerns. What are they afraid of? What do they think will happen if the change is implemented? You must understand and empathise with the people impacted by the change. You need to show them that you care about their success and that you are willing to take risks to help them get there. Often, all it takes is a little reassurance to get people on board.
Once you’ve built trust with them, you can start the process of change by providing clear direction, setting clear goals and creating a culture of accountability. If you want your team/workforce to be successful in implementing change, they must feel like they have a stake in the outcome.
For example, if they take part in training or meetings related to the new initiative, and you know they invested in the process, make it obvious in reports. These small gestures will go a long way toward building trust and improving morale within the organisation.
Change within an organisation can be hard, that’s indisputable. People are emotional creatures and when it comes to change, our emotions can have a significant impact. After all, change is not just about logistics or processes, it’s also about people. And when people are involved, emotions are bound to come into play.
That’s why it’s so important to take the emotional angle into account when managing change. By understanding and addressing the emotional needs of those involved, you can increase the chances of successful change. When people feel supported and understood, they are more likely to cooperate with the change and help make it a success.
Change management is important but often overlooked. That’s because it’s not always easy to change things, especially when it requires people to make it happen. We are creatures of habit, after all. But if you want your business to succeed, you need to be able to manage change effectively. And that means taking the emotional angle into account. People are not robots. We have feelings, and those feelings can impact how we react to change.
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