As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I hired five people this year for a variety of MarComm roles. This was part of an office reorganization that also changed several reporting lines. Before the reorganization, I had too many direct reports, and this helped address that.
However, it was scary. Scary for me. Would I make the right hires? Would good people want these roles?
Scary for the team. Why am I getting a new boss? Did I do something wrong?
These are all fair responses to change. Part of what I learned this year is how important it is for leaders to actively manage change in their teams.
Here are five things I learned from working throughout the year to manage this change.
Explain the Why (Multiple Times)
Take time to explain the “why” of a decision, and keep doing it. I started first individually with those who would be impacted. I wanted them to hear it from me before I shared anything publicly. Then, I shared the change that was planned with the full team in a staff meeting. In each of these moments, I not only shared the decision but examples of why I thought this was the right decision. It’s human nature when people are nervous about change to add in a narrative if one isn’t provided. I wanted to make sure there was a consistent narrative about why this was happening. For me, one of the reasons this change was needed was to provide better day-to-day support of the team. I was struggling to be there for the team daily because more was being asked of me. Whenever I’d have another moment of not getting them what they needed in a timely fashion, I would use that moment to remind the team how this new change would help us in the future. It wasn’t perfect, but sharing the same message time and time again helped people to get a little more comfortable with it.
Be Vulnerable
I am a perfectionist, and I work hard to have it together. Being honest about the fact I was not meeting what the team needed was really hard. Sharing that with the team was even harder. I had to be real with them because they needed to know that I recognized I wasn’t doing a good job in the day-to-day work and was actively working to fix it. I wanted to be optimistic that this change would solve the challenge and make things better for everyone. However, I tried to be honest about the concerns I had because I didn’t want to act as though I had it all figured out. I was nervous about finding the right candidates, getting people up to speed, and finding the time to onboard these new hires. I tried to candidly talk about the uncertainty I felt. That said, I made sure to always include that I wholeheartedly believed it was the right decision but still had reservations about the process of getting there. Change is uncomfortable and being honest about the messy middle, I think, can make it a little less hard.
Don’t Forget the People in the Org Chart
I struggled with this one. I had to spend lots of time getting the new hires up to speed. We had lengthy one-on-one conversations and regular check-ins. Additionally, I tried to publicly affirm the work they were doing. I wanted them to know they were heading in the right direction. At the same time, I tried to be intentional with the existing team. I continued one-on-ones with my former direct reports for about a month to help close out projects and make the transition easier. I also had them start meeting immediately with their new leader to start building that relationship. I also tried to do more office “pop-ins” and informal check-ins. But it wasn’t perfect. For several people, the change meant losing a level of connection they were used to having. Even though the new structure wasn’t intended to minimize anyone’s role, I understand how it could have felt that way, especially when my attention was going toward new hires. In hindsight, I would have made the transition longer. A month just wasn’t enough handoff time. I spent a lot of time thinking about how to onboard the new people. I should have spent more time thinking about how to help the existing team adjust to the new structure as well.
Let Go
Once the change has been made, give it time to work. For me, this involved having to let go of the easy access to things and work through the leadership layer I had just created. It was tempting to walk down the hall and ask the person, but that wasn’t fair to anyone. The new hires deserved the opportunity to know I was supporting them, and the employees who no longer reported to me needed to see that their new leader was empowered. This is a hard habit to break. However, after about two months it got better. The big takeaway is that it takes intentional work to let go and let the change work. You can’t ask people to embrace a new structure if you keep operating like the old one still exists. That’s why it was critical that I changed how I worked before pushing others to do the same.
Expect Some Awkwardness
Change is hard and there are going to be moments where it feels strange. Know this and make it easier for people. I experienced this as we defined what things I needed to see and what things could go on without me. It’s a delicate line, so I tried to create a rubric system to help. However, there were a few times we had to pause and regroup. The first time that happened, it felt strange to have to figure out. I brought it up, and just said this is awkward, but let’s talk about how this piece works next time. It is really beneficial to keep these conversations process-focused, so they don’t come across like they’re critiquing the person or the work. If the conversations are framed as coming from a desire for clarity, they become far less awkward. Change makes things tense, so finding humane and kind ways to clarify helps everyone. Once the initial awkwardness passes, I found that people were open to these clarity conversations to figure out how to make this new model work with the least amount of heartburn.
Keep At It
Change is constant, so as a leader, it will only be a matter of time before you have to lead a change, whether it’s one you decide on or not. My hope is these tips will help make the process better and less daunting for all involved. Despite the change, we must carry on for our students, our teams and the institutions we serve.
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