Get Familiar With the Kübler-Ross Change Curve
Everyone reacts differently to change. While some embrace change immediately and even drive it as a change agent, many see change as a loss.
This is a common misunderstanding. The reality is that these people are resisting what they think they’ll lose through the change. This is often exactly what you, as a leader, need to recognize and manage. The Kübler-Ross curve can help you with this.
The curve was initially developed by psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross to identify the different stages of terminally ill patients coming to terms with their diagnosis. Since then, it has been expanded to apply to the stages of grief after losing a loved one and today this model is even used in corporate change management. In a business context, it is called the change curve and describes the emotional experiences everyone must go through in processes of organizational change.
Let’s look at the individual stages to understand how people go through the change curve before they accept change. By listening and providing a certain level of empathy, you can learn some key tools that can help your team avoid some disruption time.
Grief may sound extreme at first glance, but sometimes personal loss and changes within an organization can bring about the same feelings.
Usually, shock is the first response upon hearing bad news. Employees are caught by surprise when they are told, for example, that their jobs are at risk, their role is changing, tools they’re familiar with will no longer be used, or that team structures are going to be modified. The severity of the shock depends on how badly they feel affected.
The shock then gives way to denial and resistance. Employees want to show that everything is fine the way it is. They deny that change is happening at all or that change is necessary, often believing that they may not be affected. Rejection and resistance are completely normal reactions.
When employees realize that they cannot reverse what’s going on, they may become angry and frustrated. In the frustration phase, they typically start blaming others. Furthermore, they tend to wonder why this is happening to them and consider it unfair.
In severe cases, even depression can follow. This is also known as “the valley of tears” within the change curve. Very little can be achieved in this phase, and productivity is at rock bottom.
Once your employees have overcome the depressive phase, they come to terms with the change. They finally accept change, start to experiment, and explore opportunities that are a result of change.
Once the decision has been made to move forward on the change journey, you see employees cope by learning new things and trying out new ways of working. This then leads to embracing new roles and responsibilities.
Now it’s time for integration and reinforcing the purpose of change. You need to anchor the change in your company culture to avoid reverting to old habits.
As a manager, try to identify where your employees are on the change curve. Chances are you have already gone through the change curve while your employees are still in the grieving phase after being informed about the change.
This should give you an indication of when certain tasks in the change process can and must be tackled. Since employees move through the change process at different speeds, you should be flexible in supporting them.
Get Familiar With the Prosci ADKAR Model
ADKAR is one of the three main components of the Prosci methodology, which was created by Jeff Hiatt, the founder of Prosci, more than 20 years ago. The Prosci methodology is based on best practices and serves as a guide for change on an individual and organizational level.
It’s one of the most popular frameworks with a track record of success. Many people across different organizations are familiar with the framework, which is sometimes even a requirement in job descriptions.
ADKAR provides a sequence of five elements for managing the ‘people’ side of change—or, rather, how people perceive change.
Look at the picture below. Can you identify the first barrier to change in this ADKAR evaluation?
That’s right, the first barrier is the desire for change. Someone who has no desire to change won’t start using their new knowledge to implement new ways of working.
Let’s explore the five stages in more detail now and see where you can get involved as a middle manager. While phases 1-3 deal with enablement and development, 4-5 represent engagement or implementation and monitoring.
Awareness of the Need for Change
It’s essential for everyone in the organization to understand why change is necessary. You need to raise awareness of the change itself, as well as the consequences of not changing.
Regularly and effectively communicate to employees and stakeholders the vision and the reason for change through team meetings, emails, events, and fun activities.
Provide information about changed business priorities, company performance, and market conditions.
Discuss personal impact with employees and coach them.
Desire to Support and Participate in the Change
Design your case in such a way that everyone wants to be part of the change. In order to foster desire to build and support the change, identify what motivates individuals to advocate for change.
Empower and engage employees to help them build a personal connection with the change.
Communicate with the whole group as well as on an individual level.
Listen to employees and make them feel comfortable to avoid resistance and frustration.
Observe anticipated resistance and identify what to work on when team members aren’t connecting with the vision.
Knowledge of How to Change
Employees usually need new knowledge and skills to be able to implement changes. Make sure you provide the information they need to make the transition. This is a chance for many to achieve personal goals or even move towards a new career.
Identify what capabilities are needed and address any skill gaps.
Identify opportunities for cross-training and employee growth.
Coach your team, especially the most impacted members, to support them in their new roles.
Ability to Implement Desired Skills and Behaviors
Even if employees are well-prepared for change, you need to make sure they have the actual ability to go through with it.
Watching cooking shows and reading recipe books won’t make you a great cook. If you can’t prepare delicious meals, you won’t make a successful chef.
So it’s time to transfer what has been learned in theory and implement the change in practice.
Be involved in day-to day work to identify remaining gaps in the new way of working.
Provide hands-on exercise in the form of simulation or pilot projects.
Ensure your team gets support from experts when dealing with new processes and tools.
Reinforcement to Sustain the Change
The most important step is to make the changes stick permanently. You need to regularly monitor and control progress, so people don’t fall back into old habits. Keep the momentum to sustain a change culture.
Celebrate and recognize success in any form like sharing testimonials or verbatims.
Collect feedback about the change journey to review the experience and identify areas to improve in future changes.
Motivate your team by rewarding them in ways that are meaningful to them.
Let’s Recap!
The change curve describes the emotional experiences everyone has to go through in organizational change.
It is perfectly normal for employees to react with shock and resistance when change is announced.
The Kübler-Ross model and the Prosci ADKAR model are people-focused frameworks.
ADKAR is the acronym for the five successive stages of Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement that need to be completed in that order.
As you can see, it’s quite important to look at the “people side of change.” Who would have thought that grief can be applied to business processes? There are a variety of valuable ways to implement change through people, but change can also be seen through a different angle. In the next chapter, we turn to process-oriented approaches.
