Need to make a business change? Here is what you are in for.

One thing I have done in my career is manage through a ton of change within businesses. What I have found is that there are a few things that you are going to go through. Today I am going to talk about three key phases to your change efforts and why they are important. These phases include Establishing the Why, The Valley of Despair and Accelerating Change.

Establishing the Why

It has been said that most people are resistant to change. That's not actually the case. Even the most fervent detractors of change will go forward with change. After all, beyond death and taxes, it is a constant in our lives. That said, everyone needs to understand the reason for change for them to get behind it.

Too many executive teams do not properly establish this concept. They simply say, "follow me" and do not understand that most critical part of rallying the team in the right direction is to give them a reason why staying where they are will not work. Establishing why the team needs to change is a critical step in the process.

To do this properly, leaders must not just do this once. It has to be repeated as many times as necessary until the group understands the reason for the change. Setting the why inspires the action to move to a different path and allows you to set the course to the new destination.

The "why" and the "where to next" statements should constantly go hand in glove. Let's say that you growth company who has essentially stalled in their growth. You might say, "Our current market is tapped out and we need a new market to tackle. We have done the research and that new space is..." That alone is not enough. Some in your organization may be thinking, "What do you mean our market is tapped out?" They are seeking the why of the change in that instance.

Keep repeating this until the questions start to run dry. Couple the Why with the plan to move to something new. Allow for questions and allow your team to get to the why at their pace. That will help you minimize the conflict of the next stages.

The Valley of Despair

This is the most difficult part. When setting your new plan in motion, we typically start down a very difficult path. What is hard here is that you are breaking habits and norms that have existed to keep your business running smoothly. Your habits and systems are perfectly optimized to keep you where you are today. Breaking those means that you essentially become un-optimized for the current environment.

Do not despair, this is a critical step in the process. You need to establish the new systems and habits that will serve you in your new destination. What is critical during this period is that you identify and fix problems quickly. When a new process breaks, fix it to optimize for the new goal, do not revert back to what work...lest you get pulled back to your old norm. Keep pushing forward through this time frame.

It is a tough road...but a worthy one. Keep in mind that you do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems and habits (there is a life lesson in there for you as well). This time will test your resolve for the new world and the resolve of your team. It is during this effort that you will encounter many personalities that will want to take you back to your old way of doing things. Which is why the establishing the why is so critical. It essentially helps remind you of the need for this timeframe.

You also need to understand when to quit during this effort. By quit, I do not mean give up on the vision, but understand when to quit a plan that was not taking you to your intended destination and building a new plan. This is also a period of intense change, you will be continually putting out fires and laying in new processes that will move you forward. As the song says, "If you find yourself in hell...keep going forward."

At some point, the changes start to slow down. The new systems begin to take hold and you can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. That is when the next phase begins.

Accelerating Change

All of the sudden, things start working again. The issues fall to the wayside and successes become more frequent. You are starting your climb out of the valley of despair. During this time a few things become important.

1. Celebrate your successes: Make sure that the team sees the wins and the gains that you have created in the change process. Attribute these wins to the change effort and more people will continue to follow that change. Make sure that you celebrate the people who made the change happen as well.
2. Silence the critics: There will be many. And their role is to take you back to the original spot. You need to ensure that they do not have a voice in the new environment. Keep them to the side, or negate thier voice with your successes as much as possible.
3. Reward the people who got you to this new path. Make sure that you reward the trailblazers. The ones who believed from the start that the change was possible and helped you lead the way to the new environment.

Change is inevitable and the pace of change is increasing more and more in business. Understand that your job as a leader is to help your team arrive to the other side of the change in tact and ready to tackle the new changes. Make sure that you understand the effort you and your team will go through to get to the other side.

If you are not an expert, do not be afraid to get some help in the change management. If you are leader who is going through this or about to, feel free to book some time with me to discuss it as well. I am always happy to share my experiences.

I will also be writing this week on the personalities you will encounter in your change efforts and how to manage through them.