There are very few people who will admit that change bothers them.
Call together any room of corporate types and, almost without exception, they will tell you that not only do they find change easy, but that the prospect downright delights them.
And all evidence will point to this being true, until, that is, HR starts to implement change that actually affects them, and then all hell breaks loose.
So, if you don’t want to be one of those who has a meltdown over the change in your reporting line, or (heaven forbid) a change in your allocated parking space, you may want to consider a few of these coping strategies.
Acceptance- You’ve heard the serenity prayer “change the things you can change and accept the things you cannot change”; well there’s more than a grain of truth to it.
Our inability to embrace change often stems from a fear of the unknown.
This is why we throw out excuses like: “But there’s no point to the change” / “It won’t benefit anybody” / (and our favourite) “Agh! He/she is just new and doesn’t understand what works well here and what doesn’t!”
Do you have the ability to prevent the change, and even if you do, should you? Fighting change makes it harder on everyone.
Without exception change comes to us all, and the sooner you accept a change event, the sooner you can begin to plan around it!
Understand your fears- As mentioned, an unwillingness to accept change often stems from fear, and it is this fear that we need to get to the bottom of.
You need to spend some time honestly assessing what you are afraid of when it comes to a specific change. Once you understand this you will be able to see exactly what steps you can take to either mitigate those fears, or to address them head-on.
Address the change- Too often in our workplaces we assume that we aren’t in a position to question anything. This leads to a feeling of powerlessness which can feed into the fear.
Once you have examined your own fears around the change, and assessed them to ensure that they are based on a realistic understanding of the facts, call a meeting with one of those driving the change.
Make sure you have all your facts about you, and that you can clearly articulate your concerns as they relate to the organisation and not your personal position within it, and seek to gain a better understanding of the change and the goals the organisation is hoping to achieve.
Attitude- It seems almost counter-intuitive to be excited about something for which you have grave misgivings, but our self-talk (the voice you hear in your head) plays a vital role in your ability to embrace change and go with it.
If we constantly tell ourselves things won’t work or talk down an idea, then we will find it almost impossible to support the change and of course the corollary is the same.
If we believe something will work, and we view it positively, then our actions are more likely to support the positive implementation of the change.
These strategies are obviously just a few of the ways to ride the change wave.
* Jules Newton is chief executive of Avocado Vision. Join them for one of their innovative 90-minute training sessions called Avocado Bytes, and learn how to inculcate an excitement for the change that will inevitably come! Visit www.avovision.co.za for more details.
* The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of Independent Media.
THE STAR