Effects of Organizational Change
Before, during and after an organizational change, you and your colleagues might experience or more of these effects:
|
Anxiety connected with the loss of:
|
Anger, sense of betrayal | Helplessness, vulnerability | Uncertainty and ambiguity |
| Lowered concentration skills | Active rumor mill | Survivor guilt | Desire to punish the organization |
| Heavier workloads | Low morale | Decreased productivity; burnout | Increased stress-related symptoms (muscle tension, headaches, intestinal distress, depression, insomnia, exhaustion, prone to illness, etc. |
Challenges to Work Relationships During Transition
|
More time needed to discuss the process of change and our reactions to it; less time to do it |
Less time available for informal relationship building |
Free time often spent talking about the changes | Increased frequency of saying goodbye and forming new relationships |
| Increase in time spent on training and orienting self or others when workload is already high | Development of new reporting relationships | Increase in rumors, gossip, complaining | Increased frequency of interactions that feel tense or hostile; people less patient, not as diplomatic or polite |
| Misunderstandings are more frequent: it is difficult to speak clearly and to hear accurately if emotional intensity is raised, or if people feel rushed | Increased paranoia, resentment and mistrust of supervisors, managers and the institution |
Disruption in the sense of belonging to a team |
Increased competitiveness due to job insecurity:
|
Managing Work-Related Stress
|
Protect your health: notice and respond to stress warning signs |
Healthy lifestyle habits: good diet, adequate sleep, exercise |
Protect and use rest periods |
|
Focus attention on what you can control |
Avoid excessive overworking: separate work and home | Keep up interests outside of work |
|
Limit setting: saying "no" |
Maintain sense of humor |
Develop and maintain supportive relationships |
Damage Control for Work Relationships During Organizational Change
|
Honesty |
Ask for information and disseminate information about changes |
Acknowledge and accept our own and others' emotional reactions to change and adjust our expectations accordingly |
Help and encourage those around you |
|
Use reflective listening and check understandings with others. Take sufficient time with verbal interactions |
Exit from non-productive conversations involving complaints or rumors which are draining, anxiety provoking or depressing |
Remember your sense of humor |
In direct and respectful ways, ask for what you need, express feelings, and attempt to resolve conflicts |
|
Choose the right time and place for settling a dispute with someone |
Disengage from destructive, escalating arguments. Reschedule the discussion. |
Apologize after making a mistake that affects someone negatively |
Consider taking the first step to resolve a long-standing conflict with another |
Bibliography
- Bolton, Robert. People Skills. Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1979.
- Borysenko, Joan. Minding the Body, Mending the Mind. Addison-Wesley, 1987.
- Bramson, R., Coping With Difficult People. Valentine Books, 1981.
- Bridges, William. Managing Transitions. Addison-Wesley, 1991.
- Burns, David. Feeling Good. The New Mood Therapy. Avon, 1992.
- Gardner, John. On Leadership. Free Press, 1990.
- Lakein, A., How to Get Control of Your Time and Life. David McKay, 1973.
- Sapolsky, R., Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers. Freeman and Co. 1994.
- Seligman, M., Learned Optimism, Knopf, 1990.
- Woodward, H. and Bucholz, S., Aftershock:Helping People through Corporate Change. Wiley, 1987.
- Miller, Emmett and Halpern, Steven. Letting Go of Stress. Source, P. O. Box W, Stanford, California (relaxation tape).
