Leading in Chaotic Times

It’s hard to read the headlines today without being rocked by what’s going on in the economy. The stock market has tumbled to historic lows, while home foreclosures and unemployment levels have reached historic highs. With the financial markets in turmoil, virtually every business around the world is experiencing the impact. Although some businesses (like those that sell home safes) are thriving, most businesses are reeling from the global impact of the financial meltdown. The pace at which this is all happening is stunning. It seems every hour there is some news that will change the way we do business, forever. We are reminded of the words of W. Edwards Deming, “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” In the midst of all this chaos, one thing seems crystal clear. The way we did business in the past won’t work in the future. If we keep on doing what we’ve always done, we’ll always get what we’ve always had . . . and that’s not working now. Those organizations that can successfully manage change will be the only survivors. Follow these guidelines to help your employees navigate through these turbulent times and ultimately position your organization for success.

1. Tell it like it is. We are fond of saying, “Employees may like reading a mystery, but they don’t like working in one.” Don’t ever underestimate your employees’ depth of awareness regarding what’s going on in your organization. They read newspapers, listen to the news, talk to your customers or clients, and more importantly, talk to one another. Despite what leaders may think, employees typically have a fairly accurate picture of reality. When employees raise concerns, answer their questions honestly, to the best of your ability. In many cases, you won’t have a complete answer for them. Tell them what you can, even if you have to preface your comments with, “Based on what I know today, which could change tomorrow, . . .” During these uncertain times, you will maintain your credibility if you address employee concerns honestly and to the best of your ability, based on what is currently known.

2. Over-communicate. Chances are, during these turbulent times and the resulting impact on your business, normal communication channels in the company won’t be working as well as usual. Employees will be hungrier than ever for information. Give them an opportunity to provide input. Ask questions to get their opinions and reactions to the changes. Maintain your visibility and make it clear that you are accessible. Immediately clear up any rumors and misinformation. And if you don’t have any new information, let them know that too. During chaotic times, employees rarely complain that they get too much information.

3. Involve employees. There is generally a lag between the time management discusses organizational changes and the time they are implemented. Although managers like to believe they are the only ones who know about the upcoming changes, employees usually get wind of them through informal communication. Unfortunately, that informal communication often tends to be negative. The sooner you get employees involved in the change process, the better off everyone will be. A formal communication channel is much more effective than a negative, informal one.

4. Know the climate. Leaders who successfully steer their team through difficult times in an uncertain world understand the emotional impact of organizational change. To ensure success, these leaders talk to their team members. Asking questions like, “How are you feeling about these changes?” and “What do you need from me to be successful?” keeps the leader in touch with reality, from the employees’ perspective. It is only when you accurately understand employees’ feelings about the change that you know what issues you need to address. It is difficult to effectively sell employees on change without understanding their needs, concerns and fears.

5. Ask, don't tell. Employees who do not deal well with change are generally the same ones who cannot be "told" anything. There’s an old saying, "You can tell tough employees, but you can't tell them much." For this reason, it’s a good idea to ask employees questions rather than tell them why the changes are taking place. One organization, in an attempt to improve both profitability and customer service, decided to move from having a specific individual responsible for satisfying a specific customer to having a team of individuals responsible for satisfying many customers. This altered the way the organization had done business for thirty years. Management tried many times to tell employees why the change was needed, but the employees remained adamantly opposed. As a last resort, Management switched strategies and asked the following question: "If we keepgoing without any change, is our organization going to flourish in the next ten years?" Ninety-five percent of employees stated that not changing would lead to the company’s demise. With this feedback, Management proceeded to involve all the employees in designing the specific change strategy to be implemented.

6. Involve both negative and positive informal leaders. Every organization has informal leaders - some positive and some negative. Positive informal leaders have a reputation for supporting management. Most managers and supervisors get these positive leaders involved in implementing changes, but avoid involving the negative leaders. This is a mistake, since leaders who are not involved lack commitment to the change, and may even try to sabotage it. It’s better to get the negative leaders involved in the change early in the process, find out what their objections and concerns are, and then use this knowledge to design your change strategy. If you can meet the concerns of the organization’s informal leaders, they will help sell the change to the rest of the employees.

7. Don't cover all the bases yourself. Too often, supervisors try to police all activities. It’s better to concentrate on effective delegation during the early stages of the change process. Delegation helps you manage and maintain your workload and gives your employees a sense of involvement, which positions them to share in the responsibility for change. Delegation expands skill sets and gives you more time to focus your efforts on leadership, not day to day routine.

8. Raise expectations. With all the media coverage of layoffs, buyouts, mergers, retirement packages, etc., employees understand that employment is not the given it was even five years ago. Most employees expect to do more work during these challenging times. While it may be more practical to expect less in terms of performance, this is actually the time to raise the performance level. Employees are likely to be changing their work habits to accommodate the changes anyway. Take the opportunity to push employees to try harder and work smarter. Require performance improvements that make the process challenging, but keep goals realistic to eliminate frustration.

9. Ask employees for their commitment. It’s important to personally ask for each employee's commitment to the success of the change effort. It is equally important to tell employees that you want to hear about any problems. If a negative employee does not tell you about problems, you can be sure he or she will be telling other employees about them! Your employees’ commitment will be vital to see change through to completion. Abandoning it halfway through destroys your credibility.

10. Stay positive. Your attitude will be a major factor in determining the attitude exhibited by your employees. Maintain a positive vision of both your team’s and organization’s success. Try to remain upbeat, positive and enthusiastic, but also empathetic and supportive. Foster motivation in others. Compensate your employees for their extra effort. Write a little note of encouragement on their paychecks. Leave a nice message on their voice mail. Take them aside and tell them what a great job they are doing. Listen to their suggestions. Finally, encourage them to view organizational change as a personal challenge!

Peter Stark is president of Peter Barron Stark & Associates – www.pbsconsulting.com. His firm works with organizations to create aculture where employees love to come to work and customers love to do business. They offer a complete range of services including employee opinion surveys, customer service surveys, leadership training, negotiation skills training and management consulting. He can be reached at 877.727.6468 or peter@pbsconsulting.com.

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