I have chosen this subject because I would be very surprised if you have not already had considerable experience of change either as a “recipient” or as an “initiator”. My objective is to introduce you to some recognised strategies for change, and also introduce you to some common reasons why people resist change to help you deal with future change within your organisations .

Over recent years, markets like our own have changed dramatically. Today, competitive pressures demand both efficiency and effectiveness. Firms must adapt with increasing speed to market pre s s u res and competitors’ innovations, simultaneously controlling and even lowering product or service costs.

C o n f ronted by these demands, companies like yours and mine have been, and will continue to be, confronted by change. In consequence, a larger part of most managers’ work is and will be taken up with change. With planning and implementing change, responding to change in other departments, and perhaps most importantly, anticipating future changes. Some of these changes can be implemented within existing arrangements . Others demand new policies, systems, procedures, roles, equipment etc.

At this point, I should point out that I am certainly not an advocate of change for changes sake. Managers, future managers and business leaders do need to be on the side of change, constantly seeking better ways of doing things. However, this does not mean that every change project is worth pursuing. New and different are not always better and even if they are, the cost of that change could be too high.

Some people speak of change with great enthusiasm, others see it as a threat. Many of us are ambivalent. We may favour change in principle but become anxious about where it is all leading. Change usually involves risks, uncertainty and upheaval. Processes of change can often be messy, seldom in my experience achieving quite what was intended. Our attitudes towards change, and our understanding of change, depend to a large extent on the degree of control we have over p a rticular changes. If you are, or even perceive yourself to be, the passive recipient of change, a pawn in someone else’s game, then that person’s talk of “challenge”, “opportunity ” and “innovation” will be unconvincing. If you identify with the changes and can effect their implementation, you may feel less than charitable towards people who appear to be “stuck in their ways” or “lacking commitment”. People who usually feel in charge of their lives can tolerate change and are generally optimistic in their outlook. They tend to assume that change is a “good thing”. For them, change is an opport unity. Other people tend to be sceptical about the benefits of change and are less tolerant of uncertainty. They are more likely to see change as an imposition, as misguided or as a necessary evil. Or they may even think that they have seen it all before. O rganisations need both types of people. Enthusiasts are vital in stimulating and supporting change, and in actually making it happen. Sceptics are essential in resisting misconceived proposals, in scrutinising and improving basically sound ideas. They may appear to be conflicting positions, but each needs the other to avoid either instability or stagnation .

“Kotter & Schlesinger” suggested that there are four common reasons why people resist change.

• Parochial self-interest : People that view the proposed changes in relation to their own status, pre f e rences and p rospects, rather than thinking about the interests of the organisation as a whole.
• Misunderstandings and lack of trust : People are poorly informed about the developments, prospects or opportunities to which the pro p o s e d changes are a response. They h a v e misconceptions or they do not believe that what they have been told is tru e .
• Different assessments: People may be more or less familiar with the reasoning behind the proposals , but remain unconvinced because they “read” the situation differently.
• Low tolerance for change: P e o p l e may dislike the uncertainty associated with organisational change.

I believe that there are other reasons for resistance including; loss of control, loss of face, concerns about one’s own competence, m o re work, past resentments and real thre a t s . Given that what appear to one person to be compelling reasons for change, may not be similarly perceived by others, how do companies go about promoting the change? Here are five common strategies.

Directive Strategy

A firmly top down approach, in which managers take full and direct responsibility for implementing change, and impose it through f o rmal management channels according to a predetermined plan. A directive approach can be fast and is there f o re appropriate in crisis situations. This approach is likely to generate resistance , because of the lack of participation and involvement. Other disadvantages include the risk that the initial plan is flawed.

Expert Strategy

A common approach when the change is seen as a result of a “technical” problem. There is usually little involvement of those affected . Advantages include enabling expertise being bought to bear on the problem and, if tackled by a relatively small team of experts, the change can be implemented fairly quickly. If employees accept the change as a legitimate response to a technical problem there may be little resistance. However resistance can be considerable if the problem is not generally p e rceived as a technical pro b l e m .

Negotiating Strategy

This approach accepts that those affected by the change have some right to a say in the change, or have the power to resist change if not won over. It also accepts that adjustments and concessions may have to be made. The advantage is that those affected may be less likely to resist change. The disadvantage is that the process is likely to take longer, and the outcome could differ from that expected at the outset.

Educative or Normative Strategy

This approach is based on the assumption that behaviour stems larg e l y from values and beliefs. These values and beliefs must therefore be changed if change is to be successful. A mixture of persuasion, education, training and selection is used. If successful, this strategy results in a positive commitment to the change in question, and prepares the way for future change. To be effective, this strategy requires considerable time and involves many of the organisations staff .

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I am certainly not an advocate of change for changes sake”

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Action - centred or Participative Strategy

A bottom-up approach, that assumes commitment to change depends on the involvement of those affected and their capacity to influence the change. A broad c ross-section of those affected are formed into teams charged with carrying the change forward. The resulting changes are more likely to be acceptable to employees, and the active involvement of people is likely to increase their commitment to, and enthusiasm for the change process itself. This process takes longer than the first three strategies, and of the five it is likely to be the most complex to manage and require the most resources . There is of course at least one other strategy, that of manipulation and co-option. This category covers covert attempts to influence others, for example, withholding inform a t i o n , or neutralizing a potential opponent by giving him or her a role that involves support i n g change without being able to influence it.

Which factors determine the choice of strategy?

• The nature and extent of the re s i s t a n c e that is expected. The greater the resistance, the less likely it is that a “fast” strategy will be achievable.
• The power of the initiator relative to those who may re s i s t .
• The need for information and co-operation in designing and carrying through the c h a n g e s .
• The urgency of the situation.

So management teams do have some choice over how they approach and implement change projects. However, do they utilize the full range of strategies as I have briefly outlined? Or, do they have a tendency to adopt p a rticular strategies? Many believe that unfortunately manipulation and co-option are the semi-automatic choice of many managers. In fact it could be the most utilized of all the outlined strategies in this article. The reasons for this are not difficult to identify! Managers know from their own experience including management courses that they must try to involve people, to offer them choices and lead by consent. But they also know that staff and colleagues have their own agendas and they a re frightened of losing what control they have. So, at the same time as informing and involving people, as consulting, negotiating, they are also acting unilaterally to slant information available, to pre-empt choices, divide and sideline potential opposition. Why will some managers adopt this strategy? The answer is relatively easy to identify. How else can the manager bring about involvement, implement the change and still control the results ?

Is there a realistic and fair alternative? Ye s ! The best one can do is to be clear and honest as possible with those involved about what has already been decided, and what choices a restill to be made or can be influenced. Involve people and share as much control as you can, but when this is impossible, be honest about it. People prefer to know where they stand and to deal with someone whose communication is reliable. If you are a change initiator, or a change recipient I hope this a rticle has helped you understand both perspectives of the “Strategy of Change”.

 

 

 

DEALING WITH DIFFICULT CUSTOMERS

As you’ve probably discovered, the old adage “the customer is always right” isn’t always t rue. Situations will arise when you know the customer is wrong and you’ve done every thing you can to try and please them. Unfort unately, some customers are chronically dissatisfied and difficult and whatever you do they will always complain.

The best way to deal with a problem customer is to focus on solving the problem rather than t ry to determine who’s to blame. Do not point fingers, make excuses or lie, that will only antagonise the situation. Even if you know you a re in the right and have a perfectly good defense for what happened, resist the impulse to use it. And never, ever, let a customer know you ’ re angry. Take steps to ensure that you remain calm and professional when you deal with a difficult customer.

Listen, don’t react. You should always make sure that you spend more time listening to a customer than speaking to them. This rule applies to all customers, happy or unhappy, but it’s critical when a customer becomes d i fficult or upset.

Customers will respond to you more favorably if you give them the opportunity to express their dissatisfaction and vent their anger. Practice active listening by summarising what the customer says and repeating it back to them, using phrases such as: “So you’re saying that…” or “it sounds like…” If an angry customer calls you, for example, and complains that the piece of equipment just delivered is faulty, listen to what they have to say and formulate your response. “So you’re saying that when you turned it on, it was making a strange noise?” Active listening not only clarifies situations, but it also makes the customer feel like you understand the situation and problem, which usually will help them calm down.

Once you have demonstrated that you understand the customer’s problem without reacting or defending yourself, it’s time to resolve the problem. Further calm the situation by using positive terms and impartial language. “You need a replacement piece to replace the one that you have.”

Make sure that you’ve correctly identified the p roblem and you have addressed the situation to the customer’s satisfaction. A good rule of thumb is to outline up to three actions you plan to take starting with the most immediate action. “Mr. Anderson, as soon as I get off the phone I will phone the warehouse and get them to ship you out a new part today”.

Then depending on the complexity of the problem, outline the medium and long-term response: “I will call you tomorrow and make sure that the part has arrived and it has fixed the problem. If not then I will arrange for a totally new unit to be sent to you and have the other one returned ” .

Know where to draw the line. One effective technique that allows you to draw the line without saying “no” is to tell the customer what you can do and what they can do. But there may be a point at which you either c a n ’t or shouldn’t keep trying to pacify a really difficult customer. Some customers will continue to argue or threaten to take their business to one of your competitors if you do not meet their demands. This is when you will need to use your discretion. Sometimes it is better to walk away and sacrifice the sale or the customer than to compromise your policies, waste valuable time and spend energy trying to remedy a situation.

 

 

 

We first make our habits and then our habits make us

When you think now about the word habit, what does it bring to mind? Maybe you think about things in your life that you would like to give up doing or positive goals that you would like to start and just never seem to get round to. All habits are behaviours that we have learned and carried out so many times that they have become unconscious. When it is time for us to change our habits we often find it a re a l struggle to overcome, even when all logic tells us there is a better way of being.

If you are reading this and you want to excel in your field in business, may I suggest that a useful concept for you to use is that it’s only sustained practice that creates perf o rm a n c e habits. Success comes from speed in bre a k i n g habits that are holding us back and adopting new habits that will drive us forw a rd .

So what is the difference between a good habit and a bad habit? As far as our brain is concern e d there is no difference whatsoever, it is simply the way we do it. The only difference for us is whether we feel good or bad about doing it. Take procrastination as an example, some people have become such experts in putting off what they really need to do that they spend more time planning the procrastination than it would take to get on and do it.

For many years I thought the best way to stay planned and organised was to use extensive planning documents, schedules and ‘to do’ lists. My coach pointed out to me one day that the satisfaction I was gaining from all this planning would be far greater if I just got on and did it! I now carry a small diary and instead of cre a t i n g lots of lists I simply capture the action needed and set an appointment in my diary. I am far less likely to ignore an appointment than I am to ignore a point on a ‘to do’ list. Give it a go it really helps for all you habitual pro c r a s t i n a t o r s . So, a habit is a behaviour that is repeated so often that we no longer need to think about it. In other words we have conditioned ourselves to carry out the behaviour. In our lives we are subjected to many different sorts of conditioning, advertising for example and connecting two behaviours together. Attitudes and emotions can be habitual as well. Remember the popular radio slot “Our Tune?” Music in itself can be very powerful in bringing back the emotions we were feeling at the time we heard it.

Do you have a piece of music that when you listen to it makes you feel energetic and upbeat? If so, and most of us do, why not use the power of conditioning to alter a less p o w e rful state. Carry a copy in your car and play it just before you go in to see an i m p o rtant customer, or just before you are about to make that vital presentation. Sounds simple and it really does work.

Isn ’t it interesting how we have been conditioned over the years to believe that changing a habit or adopting a new one takes a long time. Some industries are built on the belief that it takes a lot of hard work, effort and even money to change. To some extent this is the easy belief to take on board, whilst we procrastinate over changing, we are still in the comfortable place our habits prefer us to be in.

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“ Whatever it is that we believe, we will create the reality to match the belief”

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What do you think it is that motivates most of us to create new and powerful habits? Surprisingly enough it is not usually the excitement about the future; instead it is m o re likely to involve the pain of not start i n g the new behaviour.

I really should get up half an hour earlier because if I don’t I will keep missing those important early calls and I will miss my targ e t . This sounds quite motivating and in fact if this person is close to missing their target it may well motivate them to get up earlier in the s h o rt term. Unfortunately the minute the pain is no longer as obvious (maybe at the start of a new quarter) the motivation becomes less obvious as well and the old behaviour comes back into play. We can respond just as easily to the pleasure the new behaviour will give us and in fact this will help us to maintain the habit for much longer.

I am amazed at the diff e rence it has made to my whole career now I choose to get up early and see all of those morning calls. I just keep hitting my target every quart e r. The second statement allows us to see the new habit as enhancing our future and not just getting us over a blip.

Take a moment now to write down five new habits that you would like to adopt. Think carefully about what that new habit would bring for you now and in the future . Ask yourself how serious you are about that f u t u re .

Make a decision right now that creating new habits is a new habit for you. The technique for introducing new habits is exactly the same as that for all the habits we have currently in our life – repeated action. Our new behaviour can quickly become a habit as long as we keep taking action. Of course behind this simple technique lies the import a n t element of desire. Because our old behaviour is easy for our brain to carry out, the new behaviour may meet with some resistance . Take lots of comfort in the fact that this is simply a stage before the new behaviour takes over. When our desire to succeed is high enough no amount of resistance can stop us. Imagine you give an eight-year-old child the skateboard they have been begging for since all of their friends got one. Do they tell you how much of a struggle it will be for them to learn to ride it? Do they come back after falling off and tell you it’s no good they just can’t do it? Unlikely. Much more likely is that they will spend day and night focusing on getting as good as their friends despite the pain involved! The desire to succeed far exceeds the pain of getting there . The difference between those who create new habits and those who fail is simply that of a belief in the amazing capability we have to change. Those who fail have decided that they a re somehow different and are not capable of change or they blame outside forces. Belief is extremely powerful and can both help us and hold us back. When I worked in medical sales, my company launched a new pro d u c t .

U n f o rtunately the launch was somewhat downbeat and the sales force was not particularly impressed with the product .

For two days we spoke to each other about how difficult the pro d u c t would be to sell, it was far too expensive and none of our customers would be interested , still we would try! As expected sales that quarter were very poor. At the next meeting the company kindly unburdened the experienced sales force from the product and instead took on a temporary team to pro m o t e it. They launched the product well and the team went out believing this was an amazing product, which would be easy to sell. You’v e guessed it they outstripped our sales by a huge amount. Was the product any different ? – no. Was the skill of the team any different ? – well if anything it was less. We re the customers any different? – no. The only thing that changed was the belief that the team held about the product .

Whatever it is that we believe, we will create the reality to match the belief.

So think about your new habits now. Do you genuinely believe that you can create them? If so, you will be successful.

Once you have decided what new and exciting habits you are going to implement, have thought through the reason behind wanting the habit and are sure that your beliefs support the new behaviour you are well on the way to success. Psychologists have shown that it takes 28 days of repeated action for most habits to arise so you may want to track your progress over this time. At Results we encourage people to use a simple 28-day grid where you can check daily on the pro g ress of your habit. If you would like a 28-day grid why not e-mail us at action@resultsinternational.com and we will send one to you free of charg e .

Have lots of fun with your new habits and remember they are as easy to start as you decide they will be.

Helen Stockill