Communicate Effectively During Organizational Change: 3 Must-Know Strategies for Mid-level Managers
Welcome to the 23rd issue of the Knockout Your Sunday Scaries Newsletter, an every-other-week newsletter by me, Kristy Olinger, with a focus on workplace communication and self-development. I’m glad you’re here. Was this forwarded to you? Get yours: Subscribe here
Sunday, February 2nd, 2024
Hi there,
If you’ve been in a corporate job for any length of time, you’ve likely experienced re-organization. If you’re a mid-level manager, you play a special and difficult role. You need to be both a leader of the change for the people you manage while you are still processing it yourself.
How you communicate in the first hours, days, and weeks following a large organizational change makes a world of difference to how your team experiences it.
Here are some ideas to consider:
Increase communication frequency and transparency
Human brains are wired to make meaning of the world and to avoid risk. In the absence of complete information people will make up a story to fill in the gaps and it will be a story of the worst possible outcome for them. Check in with people more regularly. Create opportunity for them to raise questions. Most importantly, when you don’t know the answer don’t fake it. Say “I don’t know yet but let me find out.” Then follow through.
The power of “I don’t know”
An org change has a ripple effect and it’s often not possible for all of the impacts to be known and worked through before the announcement is made. This is actually a good thing, because it gives the impacted colleagues the opportunity to help shape some of those decisions that they are closer to. But this uncertainty causes anxiety. The power of saying ‘I don’t know’ is that it signals to the team that the horrific version of the story that they have made up in their head isn’t the truth.
Acknowledge a wide range of feelings
Leaders tend to think first and most about anxiety in an effort to avoid panic and reduce employee attrition. But there are many emotions that come up for people with an org change; shock, anger, grief, sadness, guilt, and hope. This isn’t necessarily a chronological list, though usually shock comes first and hope takes a little time.
When you acknowledge the feelings of others you help them to feel seen. Suppressing feelings can amplify them. Being available as an ear for others can help them (and you) to process the feelings and get to the hope faster.
If you find yourself with a case of the 😱 Sunday Scaries because of an org change, hang in there. Communicate early and often, be up front about what you don’t know, feel your feelings and acknowledge the feelings of others. You’ve got this!
📚 What I’m Reading: The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls
It’s been a bit since I’ve read a memoir so I searched top memoirs to get this recommendation. It’s a well written story about a chaotic childhood that makes me thankful for the stability of my own.
Content Round Up - In Case You Missed It
In this section I link to all of the content that has launched in the last 2 weeks because even if you’re following me on social media, the algorithm may or may not put my post in your feed. Here is what has launched over the last 2 weeks:
Podcast: 3 Easy Frameworks for Work Conversations | Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Podcasts
The majority of speaking that you do at work is not in scripted presentations, it’s in conversation-style speaking during meetings. In this episode, I covers my 3 favorite frameworks to make work conversations easier.
Video: Creative out of office messages
I’ve been noticing some very creative out of office messages lately. This video gives some ideas about the pros of this approach.
You made it to the end! Congrats & thanks. ❤️ Have a great two weeks.
Stay Curious,
Kristy
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