Stay Calm in Face of Organizational Change to Ensure Success
Reprinted from the Los Angeles Times, August 30, 2009
Change is inevitable. Change is constant. So why does dealing with it always seem new and frightening?
In today's topsy-turvy economy, staff reductions and organizational restructuring are occurring more than ever.
"Change is tumultuous, but it's better than the alternative," says Vicky Oliver, author of "Bad Bosses, Crazy Coworkers & Other Office Idiots" (Sourcebooks, $16.95).
For example, if through promotion or reorganization, you find your regular team is torn apart, it's imperative to access the situation and get things back to functioning at a high level rather than letting the new group stagnate.
"Frequently, loss of a team member causes some period of - for lack of a better term - may be considered 'mourning', " says Lisa Anderson, president of LMA Consulting in Claremont. "It's important to help the team acknowledge the emotions stirred up by the loss and then move on. This is why a farewell luncheon or something similar is often a very good idea. It provides closure."
Once the change has been acknowledged, make sure to move on.
"Don't be that person who holds on to the past; you can't simply operate like you did before," says Philip Berry, President of Philip Berry Associates, a management-consulting practice in New York. "Create some new priorities and move to a different level within the department. Don't recreate the past mistakes."
Under New Management
What if you're still on the same team in the same position but the management at the top has changed? How do you convey to a new boss your importance within the group?
"Treat your old job as if it's a brand-new job", says Oliver, "Stay late and put in the hours the way you did when you first joined the company. Think of yourself as interviewing for your old job. It has the same responsibilities and the same salary. But you need to persuade a new person that you are the most qualified person to handle the job."
Talking with your new boss about his or her vision for the department may also be a good career move.
"You have to understand what your new boss determines as success in your position," says Scot Melland, CEO of Dice Holdings, a provider of career management Web sites. "If you ask for details on what three things you need to accomplish to be viewed as successful, both parties will start with the same expectations."
Ask your manager about what she thinks are your strengths and weaknesses and what are those of the team.
"This knowledge can help you navigate in uncertain times," Melland says.
It's not brown-nosing to go directly to your new supervisor to make sure that your old directives are in line with the group's current goals.
"At the end of the day, your success will be tied to your ability to make the company and your new manage look good and be successful," says Laura Goodrick, author of the video Seeing Red Cars (Star Thrower).
Oliver agrees, stressing that self-promotion is overrated.
"So many career experts advise workers to 'toot their own horns'," she says. "But endless tooting has an annoying, repetitive quality, much like the bleating of sheep. Don't worry about promoting your achievements as much as promoting the achievements of the team. If you can make your company look good, you will look good by inference."
A Polarizing promotion
The top performing, go-to gal in your group just got a big promotion. Now where do you turn?
Experts suggest that you recognize your teammate's success and then make sure that your group still appears strong.
"Offer parting comments that may help them be successful in a new job," Berry says. "Be a resource to them. Be a team player, even if you were passed over. Get up front to talk about how to work with that person and be a resource to them."
As far as how to behave in the context of your restructured team, Melland suggests that you control what you can control.
"In a workplace, that means building on your own strengths, mitigating your development areas and using your skills to make a team better and/or a client happier."
Anderson agrees, saying it's crucial at that time to make yourself a valued employee.
One way you can do that is to be a calming influence among your group.
"There is always chaos and uncertainty in organizational change, and you'll stand out in the crowd by not getting caught up in the chaos; instead be the steadfast, calm one."
- Kristi Elliott, Tribune Media Services
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