What moving house has to teach us about Change Management

Each day in the UK, over 1 million of us visit Rightmove to browse for a new home. Anecdotally renowned to be one of the most stressful life events we can experience, moving home is a huge change… which apparently more than a million of us are seeking out each and every day.

The same could be said about making the decision to start a family, apply for a new job or even have a radical haircut: We welcome these changes into our lifestyles.  After all, isn’t a change as good as a rest?

The old adage tells us that ‘people hate change’.  But, do we really? In our experience of helping organisations to change, it’s not necessarily change that people hate but rather unpredictability and surprise. In fact, numerous scientific studies link stress with uncertainty.*

So, how can we reduce uncertainty for our people in the context of change management and encourage a more positive response?  Here are three things to factor into your change plan:

Involve your people in change management

People support what they have helped to create, and if you increase the number of people who are involved in coming up with the answer, two things will happen:

• Your answer will be better
• You will have more champions backing that outcome to succeed.

Think of it this way: If someone else picked your new home for you and only told you about it once the moving date had been set, it’s unlikely you’d be overjoyed at the prospect! This is why most of us enter so enthusiastically into that online property search – because we want to make our own choices about the size of the bedrooms and that crazy paving (which we can live with, as long as there’s off street parking…)

Lesson: Involve as many people as possible in the design phase and demonstrate to people how their input has shaped the final decisions. It’s not the quickest way to do things, but it maximises your chances of successful adoption.

Increase predictability of the change

Business change is rarely linear and often difficult to predict.  But if we want our people to embrace change, they have to trust us not to spring surprises on them.  This might mean setting clear timeframes, or it might be a set of unfaltering principles about who will deliver messages and how.  Either way, focus on what you can control (rather than what you can’t) and deliver on your commitments.

During turbulent change, our people are hyper-vigilant to cues which might make them suspicious, so beware of making contradictory statements or promises you can’t keep.  In particular, set a regular cadence for engagement, and don’t miss a session even if there’s nothing new to say. If you don’t know, it’s ok to say so – but be clear on when you expect to know more. This will also help people to prepare for upcoming milestones and announcements in whichever way makes them feel most comfortable.

After all, nobody wants to pack up the kitchen only to find the removal van isn’t coming for another two weeks!

Lesson: Ask yourself: What are the things you can commit to? Then communicate those commitments clearly and stick to them.

Give people a choice in ‘how’ we implement change management

The easiest way to help people feel in control is to give them choice.

A choice about whether to change or not isn’t always possible – but there is almost always an opportunity to give people a choice about ‘how’. The format in which they receive their communication; the dates on which we schedule training or testing; the people they choose to represent them on consultation bodies; the implementation timeline… the list goes on.  Treat people like adults and empower them to be in the driving seat.

There are all sorts of reasons why a house move is inevitable. From new additions to the family, to a work relocation or a landlord serving notice, there are many scenarios in which the decision may be taken out of our hands.  But the uncertainty of that situation is reduced when we are able to make a decision about the next place, instruct movers and conveyancers we trust, and start making decisions about which colour to paint the downstairs loo (or maybe a statement wallpaper…)

Lesson: Resist the urge to define every last detail of the plan, and give your people choice on how change is implemented.

Want to find out more about how to manage the people side of change to maximise the success of your change management project? Speak to us at Project One by emailing theteam@projectone.com.

* For example:

– A UCL study, which you can read about and find a link to here, suggests ‘uncertainty can cause more stress than inevitable pain’.  

– A 1992 study by Wiggins et al finds that people awaiting test results for a degenerative medical condition have higher stress levels than those who have received their results, even if the results reveal the bad news that they have the condition

Unlock the full potential of your business with our expert insights. Contact us today to discover how we can help you achieve your goals.

theteam@projectone.com