Feed the Need
During these uncertain times, we must understand our own needs as leaders and the needs of our team. Many people believe that means making sure they have the technology they need to be successful, but it is much more than that. During times of crisis, we each draw our confidence from our highest need. For some that is a need to be in a place of leadership and continuing to push the team forward, others search for the “how” this event will change their role and team, and some will continue to push for not only “how” but “why” these changes are happening.
All leaders need to understand where individual members of their team fall and how it affects not only their productivity but how to coach them to navigate the Change Curve. We all must feed the needs of each other. It is important to remember that we are not only working at home during these times if you can, but we are also working from home during a global pandemic. This pandemic has caused individuals to adjust in two fronts, both personally and at work. We, as workplace leaders, must help our colleagues and team members to cycle through the change cycle and feed their needs to be successful in this new normal.
When you look at the change cycle, there are four stages. In the first stage, denial, we attempt to continue with what they were doing pre-change as though the change never happened. The second stage is anger, where they become less productive because of feeling attacked by the change. The third is exploration as they begin to embrace the change and look at the new possibilities because of the change; their effectiveness increases. The last stage, and the stage we are hoping to move individuals toward, is acceptance, where they accept this new reality and function in the new normal.
As we move through this change cycle, not everyone moves through it in the same way or even starts in the same place. I know for one when change happens, I quickly move through denial and anger to sit very comfortably in the exploration stage. Change, for me, means there are new opportunities for innovative work and how we do things. It is hard for me to understand how others don’t automatically find change as an exciting opportunity and to learn and take on new challenges.
In the process of learning to be more self-aware, I am learning how others may respond to change and feed their needs to help them move through the cycle. On my small team, I have a few different responses to change that I have been learning to navigate and feed the needs of the team. One of the hardest for me is my colleagues, who not only need to know “how” things are changing but “why” as well. These individuals tend to sit closer into the first stages of the change cycle in denial and anger. First, they need to understand why this change is happening leaves them in the early stage of denial until the question is answered. Why change is happening for me has never been necessary; I embrace the change and move forward. It has taken me quite a bit to slow down and remember to explain why to those around me when changes are being made. By understanding and feeding their need to know why I can help move them through the change cycle and help increase productivity.
Once the above group has an answer to “why,” then they move to the next phase. Those who wanted to know why to join with those who start with the question of “how.” This group sits in the second stage of anger, almost to the third stage of exploration. Their need for how contradicts my desire to discover how and explore the different how’s that could happen. But for many, they want to be told how things are going to be accomplished with this change how they need to be able to continue working, and without the answer of how they become angry and with not having that answer and their productivity falls. So how do I feed their need, when I am already in the next stage of exploration. I slow down and state how we are changing how we do things and not merely start doing them. By feeding their need, they will join me in exploration and begin to create the new normal we can all accept.
On the other hand, I know that being most comfortable in the stage of exploration isn’t easy for others to manage as well. I have a very explicit desire to be apart of decision making and feel as though I am being heard. And for those who tend to question up the change and wait for an answer, it can be hard to manage someone like me. We have big ideas, we embrace change, and we want to be part of shaping what that change looks like. We typically take off running with our ideas before even look back to see if we are following. So how does one feed this need? I want to be asked for my input, be able to establish my own how and feel as though I am being heard as part of the decision-making process. If I am not, I will shut down and shift backward in the change cycle.
Simply understanding our own needs that need to be fed and being able to communicate those needs to others is an essential part of how you lead and build your team. But more importantly, understanding the needs of your team and how to feed them is the key to a successful team. Change is never easy, regardless of what your needs might be. However, those individual needs help create a more reliable team with answers to how, why, and still leaving the sky as the limit for ideas, while establishing the new normal after the change occurs. Remember, embrace your needs, and feed other needs.
Are you feeding your teams needs?
