Project Process + People Process = Successful Change

Let’s just put it out there: managers and leaders tend to be uncomfortable with the emotional reactions that change often brings.

Empathy is a current leadership buzzword – but no one really explains what that is, or how to demonstrate empathy for one’s team without becoming a doormat for their apparently-irrational reactivity.

But what if I told you that those “irrational” reactions actually have a whole lot of rational reasons behind them, including neuroscientific facts?

And what if I suggested that your project management process has a parallel track of people leadership that truly is process oriented, just as much as project management is?

Aha!

Here’s a quick overview of the four steps in the process, with the caveat that there’s a lot more behind each step than I can include in a LinkedIn article.

One: Stakeholder Identification

Yes, I know: you’ve already done this as part of your project management process.

But I promise you: there are what I call “hidden stakeholders” whose input and support you need.

There are thought leaders within implementation teams, the people everyone looks to for their opinion. And there are thought leaders within the community impacted by the change – again, the people everyone looks to for their opinion. These thought leaders – you could call them “influencers” in the popular culture – guide how people feel about the change and whether they’ll think it’s a good thing … or not.

And there are managers and leaders who may initially give lip service to supporting the change – most likely because a senior leader has said “we’re doing this” – but who don’t agree with what’s happening, for any number of valid (and, granted, possibly invalid) reasons. They’ll subtly (or not-so-subtly!) withhold support, including that of the people on their teams whose involvement you need.

You need to know who these people are; they're the hidden stakeholders you need to identify.

Two: Change Readiness Assessment

All change is culture change, because all change requires people to do things differently. I’ve written about that here and here, so I won't go into detail in this article.

What I will say is that if your culture is rigid, closed to ideas, overly “nice,” or toxic in any way, your change is going to run into problems.

And the only way to know what you’re facing is to do an honest assessment, with focused (and few) survey questions and interviews of key people (including at least some of those hidden stakeholders!).

Please don’t take your best guess. You don’t know until you find out.

Why does this come second, after stakeholder identification? Because of those hidden stakeholders you'll need to include!

Three: Conversation Plan

Wait, what? Conversation? Don’t I mean communication?

No, I emphatically do not mean communication.

Yes, of course you’ll communicate about the change to all the relevant people. That’s part of your project management process.

Your people leadership process requires conversation, not communication. Communication is usually more accurately described as top-down “communi-telling.” And when people have questions, concerns, ideas – the only way to learn about them is through conversation.

Have conversations. Find out what bothers people about the change. And then do something to address those concerns.

Four: Resistance Relief

When you do all these things, and when you understand that resistance is a symptom, not a Thing unto itself, you can bring some relief to the people who are resisting and help them get on board. I've written about that here.

And I have a guide to the ways resistance shows up; it’s available on my website (link to that is below). In brief, there are three basic reasons why people resist change.

1. They see problems or risk factors and they sincerely want to help fix them to make the change successful;
2. They perceive personal risk factors (job loss, etc.) that make them anxious and fearful about the change;
3. They see both potential problems and personal risk factors.

When you know which type of resistance your key stakeholders are experiencing – because you’ve identified them as stakeholders and had conversations with them! – you’ll also know how to respond to ease their concerns.

And there’s your People Leadership Process

… running alongside, parallel to, your project management process.

It really is that simple. Challenging, absolutely, and as I said at the beginning, there’s much more to each step than I can describe here.

And it’s a whole lot better than trying to steamroll your way through the people problems that tend to derail change initiatives.

What’s next?

Here’s the link to the guide on resistance.

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Want to know more about the process? Message me and we’ll set a time to talk.

BY THE WAY! This is a summarized excerpt from my upcoming book on change leadership. Make sure you’re following me to know when it’s ready for pre-order (first quarter 2025, I hope).