Managing Change & Minimizing Whiplash

A good manager will recognition when something on a team needs to change, but trying to change that thing–or perhaps too many things–too quickly is where an experienced manager will slow down and be more thoughtful about the negatives. They may identify a need to shift a team's mission, makeup, or processes–sometimes even all three. That's great, but it's crucial to be mindful about minimizing whiplash.

Whiplash

Whiplash can come in all shapes and sizes, but the kind we're discussing here usually stems from decisions made by the team's manager. Every mission, makeup, or process change inflicted on a team, takes time to settle. That settling time is necessary to fully understand the impact, allow the team recover, and determine whether the goals of the change were actually accomplished.

Changing things too often, even minor adjustments, can cause the team to lose its sense of safety. The team won't have a chance to settle into the changes, and they likely won't become productive again before that next change is inflicted.

Even if changes are positive in the long term, they often bring short term disruption.

How to Make Changes

If changes are disruptive in the short term, stability is what helps build goodwill. Moreover, if the approach to change minimizes whiplash and consistently results in positive outcomes, even more goodwill will be built up.

If a team is subjected to change after change without care, and goodwill hasn't been built up, the team won't be able to withstand a major shift when inevitable outside forces for change arise. Cultivating and growing that goodwill is essential, because eventually, things will change. There may come a point where the current situation is so dire that there's a need to stop everything, change everything, and restart the team.

For larger changes, I've found it helpful to gradually socialize the planned changes. Bring people into the loop progressively, gather their feedback, and address their concerns. Listening to people will not only help to address their concerns but also build their trust. By the time the band-aid is ripped off, they will have already mentally prepared, making it less of an issue. The less time there is, the more goodwill is needed for the team to come out the other side.

So, the next time you're planning to make a change on your team, be sure to first understand the team's appetite for change.