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A new budget year is about to begin. You are becoming an entrepreneur leaving your corporate gig behind. A merger is kicking into place. The White House is about to get a new occupant. Your team of talented managers is about to take on a new set of accountabilities. A re-organization has just been announced.
All of the above actions have one thing in common. Their success depends upon a successful change from one place to another. Leaders face transitions such as these from time to time. They want to make certain that everything goes well. They want to make sure that nothing (and no one) falls through cracks. Commitment to the change and good planning will go a long way toward getting everyone and everything to point B.
Here are six special things to do to help insure the right result for all involved.
1. Use your dual focus skills constantly. You keep your eyes on point B almost without thinking. It is equally important to keep a watchful eye on point A. It is super important to make sure that everything and everyone are moving at the right time to the right place. Aligning go, went and gone makes the new situation exactly what it needs to be.
2. Remember that asking for help is a good thing. Whenever there is movement towards something new, something (or someone) can get so far out of whack that the leader needs help. Ask for it right away. Whatever the issue revolves around people or something technical, it needs to be nipped in the bud. Asking for help when needed is the sign of a leader who is totally focused on the quality of results. It is always okay to make adjustments.
3. Conduct reflection and review throughout the process. Everyone does an after action review when it is all over. The best leaders keep up with the quality of the transition on an ongoing basis. This gives everyone involved a sanity check and reinforcement for fine progress up to date. Be sure to include both point A and point B people unless they are all the same.
4. Stick to the training plan except when a revised schedule requires change. I once had nearly 500 employees neatly scheduled until I was told that the transition plan needed to be changed. We had painstakingly disrupted lives (training was going to be on Saturday and Sunday), but needed to change all the training so that the new skills were learned at the right time. In this case a second disruption was necessary (and okay).
5. Let metrics be the major factor when answering the question how are we doing? Aka how's it going? Because things can slip or slide away easily during a transition, numbers can get you back to normalcy very quickly. You will probably need to rely on two sets of metrics, one that existed before the transition started and another built specifically for the transition, as well as point B.
6. Provide an emotional steady state throughout the transition. Emotional peaks and valleys will rob energy from everyone working on this effort. So it will be important to maintain a sense of inclusion for all perspectives and ways of thinking and acting about the transition. The leader must be calm, cool and collected for others to follow. Timely feedback and positive reinforcement from the leader is essential. Remember to have an attitude of gratitude!
Transitioning may be the most challenging of all leadership tasks.
A leader who follows the above 6 suggestions will be a strong force in meeting this challenge.