Is your organization completely saturated with change? So many clients we work with are feeling a huge sense of fatigue, despite the fact that we’re just a quarter of the way through 2023. Leading through transformative change, especially when your organization is fatigued, is daunting and creates real risks for your ROI. If your organization is saturated and there’s “too much” going on – you’re not alone.
So how do you fight change saturation and fatigue? One really effective method in driving change is to focus on being incremental in your approach to rolling it out. Even big, transformational changes have to start with first steps…it’s like that saying, “How do you eat an elephant?…One bite at a time”. Whether you’re wondering how you can possibly take those big steps to achieve your goals, or looking at your “burning platform” to change and trying to get others to jump off with you – taking an incremental approach can really help. This often requires a mindset shift to recognize incremental progress as true progress. An incremental approach enables you to be ruthless about prioritizing objectives ahead of “nice to haves” and providing opportunity to gain stronger alignment & buy-in along the way.
If your organization is feeling a lot of change fatigue, consider these tips to making progress:
- Stay grounded in your “why”. Know your why and your vision, and ensure that your plan is aligned to eventually help you achieve the outcomes you need. Remind people what the outcomes are about and why the hard work and/or sacrifices made along the way are essential.
- Prioritize what’s possible. Get clear on the most critical priorities vs. trying to do everything all at once. Find 3 key priorities that are key to success, vs. trying to do 10 things marginally well.
- Measure & reward successes along the way – it refreshes, renews and inspires others to continue along the journey with you. Focus especially on short-term recognition and rewards to help sustain momentum over the long haul.
- Capture expected/ unexpected learnings. Build time to allow for experimentation & take time to understand from both success and failure.
- Gather feedback. Are your messages landing with employees? Is the “why” clear? Ensure you can get the facts and input you need to adjust, especially if you’re taking an incremental approach.
Sheri Browning is a Partner at PeopleResults. You can reach her at sbrowning@people-results.com or on Twitter @sbPResults.
