Dr. Claire Kaye - Change Management
Short Biography...
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Does everyone find change difficult?
No, absolutely not. People experience change in different ways, so there are change lovers, change makers and change agents, all meaning the same sort of thing. And there are change haters, and it's really useful to think about which zone you tend to sit in. You may also find that for certain change, you feel like a change maker and other changes you feel like a change hater. But trying to label it is really useful. Some people love change and thrive on change. Other people find it more challenging. But interestingly, if you are a change hater, there's no reason that you can't switch that into becoming a change lover with some simple techniques.
How can I cope with change better?
So for me, coping with change is all about working out what type of change you are going through and recognising that you are in change. So I like to think of change in two ways, whether you are going through a created change or an enforced change. So a created change is something that you have created yourself, something that you've decided to do to change your life or your work. Whereas an enforced change is something that's happened to you, and it tends to be that enforced change tends to feel more uncomfortable for more people, whereas created change can be scary and a bit worrying at times, but actually tends to be more empowering. So that first step of recognising that you're going through change and then labelling it and working out what type of change is really useful for knowing how to get the best out of your change experience.
What is the change cycle?
So the change cycle is really similar to the grief cycle, and it's got five distinct stages. First of all, you tend to be in denial, then anger, then bargaining, then feeling low, and then acceptance. And this cycle is really important because actually it helps you to work out where you are in the cycle, but also where the people that you are working with are in the cycle. So if somebody's really angry and there's a lot of change going on, you can work out where they are in the cycle. If somebody's coming to you and saying, oh my goodness, can we do it another way? Or, have you thought about this? Or Have you thought about that? It's really great to think, well, they're in the bargaining part of their cycle. And in order to get to acceptance, everybody goes through the change cycle. But I find that actually it's more common in the enforced type of change where you are forced to change something in your life or your work, rather than the creative change, which is when you are creating a change, which feels like an opportunity. So knowing the change cycle is really useful, both as an individual to work out why you're feeling the way that you are, but also if you're a manager, because it'll help you to manage your team in a more compassionate and kind way.