Adapting to Change: A Practical Team’s Guide

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Changes can be deemed disruptive and stressful for many in the workplace. Yet, as history tells us, change is a constant in this ever-evolving world.

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The way you deal with change can make or break a situation.

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Identify your style of thinking and use the respective expert-recommended practices to navigate changes in the workplace.

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Our Different Approaches to Change Management

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Hermann’s Whole Brain Approach to Change Management

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Blue Quadrant: Logical and analytical, focused on data and bottom-line impacts. Uncomfortable with emotional aspects of change.

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Green Quadrant: Prefers planned, organised, and detailed change. Feels insecure with new, untested approaches.

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 Red Quadrant: Interpersonal and emotional. Seeks dialogue about change. May react emotionally before understanding all facts.

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Yellow Quadrant: Embraces holistic and intuitive change. Excited by new ideas but concerned about potential loss of freedom.

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Best Practices for Navigating Management Change

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Make the Case for Change

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Clearly communicate why changes are necessary to mitigate possible interferences brought about by changes. However, to achieve maximum effectiveness, consider

tailoring the way you convey this message according to the various thinking preferences of your team members, as shown below:

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Blue Quadrant: Share facts and research supporting the change.

Green Quadrant: Outline available resources and the implementation process in detail.

Red Quadrant: Align the change with organisational values and address employee feelings.

Yellow Quadrant: Illustrate the big picture and the underlying reasons for the change.

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Set Clear Goals and Metrics

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Setting measurable goals will further communicate the objective of the change clearly, helping your team embrace it more easily. Consider the different ways to convey

these goals as deemed appropriate: 

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Blue and Green thinkers: Prefer hard numbers

Red thinkers: Focus on the human impact

Yellow thinkers: Need to understand the rationale behind chosen metrics or goals

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Build a Supportive Culture

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To help different team members seamlessly adapt to changes, build these cultures accordingly: 

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Red Quadrant: An environment that encourages risk-taking, innovation, and open communication

Blue Quadrant: Evaluations of data and progress based on integrity

Yellow Quadrant: Fosters big ideas

Green Quadrant: A culture that implements better processes

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Use the Right Tools

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Having the right digital tools and processes are fundamental for successful change management.

Green Quadrant: Project management systems that show order or clear processes

Blue Quadrant: Systems that generate data and analytics

Red Quadrant: Management tools that outline different roles and how each one contributes to the project

Yellow Quadrant: Tools that enable comprehensive understanding of the change’s purpose

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Check out more of our blogs below to gain expert tips for personal and organisational development!

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