Our organization is about to undergo a "Re-Alignment" or re-org. So far there has been very little communication from the top down on what is happening as an outcome of this exercise - with the following 2 exceptions. A date for the announcement has been communicated (about 3 weeks from now), and, the Managers are to prepare their staff for changes.
Collectively the Managers - at this point - have no idea what the changes are. And in trying to find resources about helping our staff prep have found very little information on actually preparing staff for the change in advance of the change happening.
I am putting this post up to find out what other managers experiences have been. What has been successful? What has lead to failure or significantly increased staff anxiety? Basically - any insights on what works and what does not?
Many thanks
Book suggestion
I am in the middle of re-reading "Switch" by Dan & Chip Heath. The tag-line for the book is "How to Change Things When Change is Hard" It is an easy read with practical examples on how to apply their theories. I found it really resonated with me, thus I am re-reading it to practice their suggestions. I usually read books too fast the first time through to really learn the concepts.
I'd strongly recommend the book, even if you don't know what the changes are yet - this has given me a framework on how we might approach change & where the pitfalls are of each approach.
From my own experience, I was open about what I did know and what I did not. I asked my staff not to spend time speculating -wild theories generally make people more anxious. However, we sat down & helped each person recognize their strengths, find out where they wanted to grow & where I thought they could grow also. I did in in O3 settings, using my 10 min plus the last 10 min, so it wasn't a huge "sit down with the boss" deal. That had us thinking about change, growth, effectiveness and our team.
I tried not to communicate about "the change" in the O3 to avoid having to repeat myself & risk saying something slightly different each time.
For myself, I did a paper review of my team - strengths & weaknesses - of each person but also as a group. That way, if there was an opportunity, I could suggest my team had those skills/experience and had real data to back it up.
These podcasts are usefule
My first recommendation qualifies as a "top ten" MT podcast: Managing during Mergers and Acquisitions.
The recommendations regarding how you communicate with your team, how you keep your briefing book fresh, and how to handle information flow are valuable in virtually every situation of change. This is a true gem, one of the best:
http://www.manager-tools.com/2006/08/managing-during-mergers-and-acquis…
Here's a nice little concept, which may or may not be applicable to your situation.
http://www.manager-tools.com/2009/06/change-leadership-whats-my-visual-…
Good luck!
John Hack