Archive for the ‘Change Management & Leadership’ Category
January 5th, 2010 | 
Author: Managers often make the mistake of assuming that once a change is started, that employees will see that it is going to take place, and get on side. This is rarely the case. Because change causes fear, a sense of loss of the familiar, etc., it takes some time for employees to a) understand the meaning of the change and b) commit to the change in a meaningful way. It is important to understand that people tend to go through stages in their attempts to cope with change. Understanding that there are normal progressions helps change leaders avoid under-managing change or over-reacting to resistance. Read the rest of this entry »
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When change is imposed (as in downsizing scenarios), clearly the most important determinant of “getting through the swamp”, is the ability of leadership to…well, lead. The literature on the subject indicates that the nature of the change is secondary to the perceptions that employees have regarding the ability, competence, and credibility of senior and middle management. Read the rest of this entry »
Downsizing…Right-sizing, lay-offs or workforce adjustment, whatever the current “correct” terminology, the fact remains that it is the most difficult thing that managers will deal with in their careers.
There are two (only two?!) issues regarding downsizing. First, the period of downsizing brings with it incredible anxiety for everyone. Both managers and employees have to “get through” this period where downsizing is announced and individuals are notified. While this is the period of greatest short term stress, it is an acute situation. Read the rest of this entry »
One of the least mentioned effects of change relates to how it affects the manager leading that change, and his or her ability to undertake the leadership role. We have already talked about the effects of change on the individual employee, and of course managers are subject to the same reactions, resistances and strains. Some types of change, such as restructuring, or downsizing can put considerable strain on the leaders of an organization. Read the rest of this entry »
The Responsiveness Paradigm outlined elsewhere in this newsletter is applicable at a number of levels. For example, it applies to organizations in general, and the ability of the organization to respond to the needs of customers, staff and other stakeholders (eg. politicians, etc). It applies to non-supervisory staff, and their ability to respond to the needs of their managers, customers and co-workers. This month we are going to look at responsiveness as it applied to managers, leaders and/or supervisors. Read the rest of this entry »