Bridges: leading
people through transition
William Bridges (1991) has very clear ideas about what
leaders need to do to make change work. Bridges says that what often stops
people from making new beginnings in a change process is that they have not yet
let go of the past. He sees the leader as the person who helps to manage that
transition. We see this as a particularly useful frame of thinking when an
inevitable change such as a merger, acquisition, reorganization or site closure
is underway.
In Chapter 3 we referred to his three phases of transition:
-
ending;
-
neutral zone;
-
new beginning.
Leadership for the ending
Here is Bridges’ advice for how to manage the ending phase
(or how to get them to let go):
-
Study the change carefully and identify who is likely to
lose what.
-
Acknowledge these losses openly – it is not stirring up
trouble. Sweeping losses under the carpet stirs up trouble.
-
Allow people to grieve and publicly express your own sense
of loss.
-
Compensate people for their losses. This does not mean
handouts! Compensate losses of status with a new type of status. Compensate loss
of core competence with training in new areas.
-
Give people accurate information again and again.
-
Define what is over and what is not.
-
Find ways to ‘mark the ending’ (see box).
-
Honour rather than denigrate the past.
Leadership for the neutral zone
The neutral zone is an uncomfortable place to be. This is
the time when for instance, the reorganization has been announced, but the new
organization is not in place, or understood, or working. Anxiety levels go up
and motivation goes down, and discord amongst the team can rise. This phase
needs to be managed well, or it can lead to chaos. A selection of Bridges’ tips
for this phase are listed below (he itemizes 21 in his book):
-
Explain the neutral zone as an uncomfortable time which with
careful attention can be turned to everyone’s advantage.
-
Choose a new and more affirmative metaphor with which to
describe it.
-
Reinforce the metaphor with training programmes, policy
changes and financial rewards for people to keep doing their jobs during the
neutral zone.
-
Create temporary policies, procedures, roles and reporting
relationships to get you through the neutral zone.
-
Set short-range goals and checkpoints.
-
Set up a transition monitoring team to keep realistic
feedback flowing upward during the time in the neutral zone.
-
Encourage experimentation and risk taking. Be careful not to
punish all failures.
-
Encourage people to brainstorm many answers to the old
problems – the ones that people say you just have to live with. Do this for your
own problems too.
Leadership for the new beginning
Here are some of Bridges’ ideas for this phase:
-
Distinguish in your own mind the difference between the
start, which can happen on a planned schedule, and the beginning, which will
not.
-
Communicate the purpose of the change.
-
Create an effective picture of the change and communicate it
effectively.
-
Create a plan for bringing people through the three phases
of transition, and distinguish it from the change management plan.
-
Help people to discover the part they will play in the new
system.
-
Build some occasions for quick success.
-
Celebrate the new beginning and the conclusion of the time
of transition.
STOP AND THINK!
|
4.7 |
Reflect on an organizational change in which you were
involved. Did the ‘sticky moments’ suggested by Rosabeth Moss Kanter arise, and
how were they dealt with? What could have been done differently by those leading
the change? |
| |
|
4.8 |
Imagine that the organization you work for as a line manager
is about to be taken over by one of your key competitors. You have been told
that everyone in your area will still have a job, but you will have to learn
about the other organization’s way of doing business and drop many of the
products and services you deliver now. Use the William Bridges’ tips to list
some of the things you would need to start doing to enable the transition. |
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