Transitions

As we go through any change, even one we are looking forward to (e.g. - moving or turning a milestone age), there still comes with it some trepidation of change. I have been teaching change management to leaders and organizations for years and it is often human nature that people do not like change or are a bit wary of it.

William Bridges, the author of the book Transitions, says that there are three phases we all go through psychologically as we move through a change process. The three stages are as follows:

1. Endings - in this phase we know something is ending (e.g. - a job, a relationship, a living situation) and we are grieving it. Here people may feel sad or out of sorts. We often mark these letting go situations such as with a retirement party, a bachelor party, or a graduation party.
2. Neutral Zone - In this phase we are often stressed or anxious as we are in between. We know the end has come of lets say a job, but the new job or career has not started. Here there can be trepidation but there is also opportunity for creativity or innovation.
3. New Beginnings - in this phase the new job has started. We are getting used to the new situation, adjusting to any new ways of operating, and getting fully energized and/or productive again.

As leaders if you are introducing a change this year then you should take these phases into account. People will naturally go through them even when you think it is a good change that is being bringing about. Communicate more about the change than you think needed in the endings phase. In the neutral zone allow for more backsliding and regressions in work/behavior than normal from the anxiety and stress. And in the New Beginnings put into place norms as well as rewards and recognitions for the behaviors you want to see in this phase.

Are you introducing or going through a change? If so what phase are you in? And how can you move through the phases to the New Beginning most effectively?