Every leader will at some point be responsible for leading their organization through change. And when that happens, it’s not uncommon to discover that the experience is far from business as usual.

Leading change requires different mindsets, skills and techniques than many leaders practice regularly. Responsibilities like managing budgets, milestones and metrics are only part of the process. It’s understanding and managing the people side of change that is the key to adopting and sustaining any change.

Leaders: Some Food for Thought as You Lead Change

Since the start of the pandemic, organizations of all sizes navigated unprecedented challenges and changes along with their employees. Some were surprised at what they were able to accomplish during this critical time. In fact, we heard several examples of multi-year change programs that were accomplished in a matter of months after the pandemic upended everything.

So how did they deliver change at a pace they didn’t know was possible? The circumstances of COVID-19 were a big driver; ideas that may have seemed optional or not time-sensitive before the pandemic became necessary and urgent.

Change is hard for organizations, for employees asked to change, and for leaders responsible for guiding employees through the change. Each person must process their own feelings and work through the stages of change in their own way. However, leaders have an important role in the process.

As a leader, you not only must provide guidance and information to employees; it’s equally important that you listen to people’s concerns, show support, and serve as an anchor for them throughout the process.

Serving as the Change Navigator

Following are tips to remember as you help members of your team successfully navigate change:

Whatever your level or tenure in an organization, when you lead others, you’ll be the first person they’ll want to hear from in times of change. In addition to managing day-to-day priorities and motivating your team, you have an important role in explaining the vision and reasons for a change, giving employees line of sight to the organization’s strategy and helping them understand how the change will affect them.

The amount and type of communication needed will depend on the extent and timing of the change. Often there will be a high-level organizational announcement of what is changing and why, outlining plans and timing for key milestones in the process. The rollout of the plan typically involves sharing more information on what’s changing for specific teams, including training opportunities and details relevant to each role.

Help Build Understanding and Support for Change

As a leader you will likely receive updates before your team members and be looked to as a resource for them. Consider these ways you can help employees understand and support a change.

Every company deals with difficult problems and issues each day. Starbucks’ issue of racial profiling in one of their stores; United Airlines forcibly removing a passenger from a flight; countless companies having issues with data breaches; leadership teams finding themselves in the hot seat for not following through on diversity and inclusion pledges, to name a few.

Over the past year and a half, the COVID-19 pandemic proved that no industry or organization is free from the risk of a crisis. As companies worked their way through workplace and workforce implications of the pandemic, we all learned more about the critical importance of communicating during crisis. So, how can corporate leaders apply these lessons when something goes wrong?

4 Steps to Effectively Communicate in a Crisis

We all know that change is part of business and isn’t going away any time soon. Yet that reality can be hard on employees, who are constantly bombarded with so much information of all kinds that they can’t digest it. That’s why it’s so important to place any big change in context to help employees adjust.

By context, we mean the “why,” or the background and reasoning behind a change that needs to take place. For instance, the context could be industry or financial concerns that put pressure on the business. Most recently, the pandemic and racial unrest presented new and obvious challenges, prompting significant changes or adjustments to the overall strategy and approach for many businesses.

Nearly 18 months in, many of us can say we have been changed by the pandemic in some way or another. Yes, we have adapted to different ways of working, learning and living, but we also may have emerged with a new perspective on life and a realignment of priorities. This is true of many leaders who share their stories in David Grossman’s new book, Heart First: Lasting Leader Lessons from a Year that Changed Everything. Just as individuals and leaders have had to adjust as a result of the pandemic, businesses of all sizes have flexed, adapted and changed like never before, and many are grappling now with what reforms they will adopt moving forward.

In times of change or uncertainty, organizations need leadership more than ever. That means the quality and amount of communications need to increase.

I used to work for a manager who said, “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.” Times of change are a litmus test for leadership, which means sharing with employees what we know and what we don’t know. This is the time for courageous conversations and straightforward communication. This is the time to talk about how our organizations are well positioned for the future and/or how we’re making changes to set ourselves up for future success. Most important, this is the time to share with employees what we need from them. 

Change of any kind in a company can bring uncertainty. And when things feel uncertain, it’s more important than ever to be proactive in communicating. Everyone will have lots of questions about the future, and it’s important not to ignore these questions or pretend no one’s asking them.

What’s the best way to talk about change? Here are four tips for addressing change successfully: