{"id":16272,"date":"2019-09-20T08:56:49","date_gmt":"2019-09-20T08:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-gb\/industry\/blog\/?p=16272"},"modified":"2020-03-18T15:13:33","modified_gmt":"2020-03-18T14:13:33","slug":"3-ways-change-digital-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-gb\/industry\/blog\/cross-industry\/2019\/09\/20\/3-ways-change-digital-workplace\/","title":{"rendered":"3 ways to help your employees adjust to change in the digital workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cLife is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don\u2019t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u2026So said ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu. As someone who sees change as an opportunity to grow both professionally and personally, that quote has always struck a chord with me.<\/p>\n However, it’s important to realise that not everyone has the same outlook. For many employees, change can be daunting. Whether your company is transforming to the digital workplace, introducing unfamiliar technology or even altering roles, transformation in the workplace can cause major disruption to the employee experience, impacting everything from productivity to mental health. As such, managing change against these challenges requires an empathetic response.<\/p>\n Here are some ways you can address some of the common questions and concerns around change to put your teams at ease and help them embrace the opportunity.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n All organisations undergo structural change. Dealing with the cut and thrust of modern business demands becoming lean, agile, and flexible. With it comes the introduction of the empowering nature of technology that has or will transform everyone\u2019s role – from caretaker to CEO.<\/p>\n The initial reaction to this is involuntary, and can often be one of resistance. However, don\u2019t try to fight it.<\/p>\n In my experience, your employees must process this in their own way. If they\u2019re upset, allow them to be upset. If they\u2019re optimistic, embrace that optimism. If they\u2019re angry, help them channel the anger into something positive. There\u2019s no specific, codified way employees should act in these situations, but it\u2019s not healthy to suppress all emotions.<\/p>\n After the initial shock of hearing about change, it\u2019s time to support employees in seeing the opportunities. If the change means joining a new team, what new things could your team learn? What new advice can be gained from a new manager? If the change means moving companies, help your people imagine where it could lead and support them through the process.<\/p>\n Learning new technology can be tricky. It\u2019s time-consuming and often involves a lot of \u00a0admin during the set-up process. Just when you think you\u2019ve cracked it, you might hear about a new technology being introduced to replace it.<\/p>\n D\u2019oh!<\/em><\/p>\n One major challenge is understanding the different technology suites a new company uses.<\/p>\n When I first began stumbling across this, I used to resist. I started doing work on my home device, so I could carry on using the old software I was familiar with. This was arduous, clunky and, to be honest, a bit childish. A case of \u201cI want to use what I want to use and don\u2019t care what you say\u201d.<\/p>\n However, I\u2019m glad to say I left that stage behind quite quickly. Now, when presented with new technologies, I wholeheartedly embrace them. Learning the different capabilities of each has opened my eyes to new ways to use them and new ways of working that are more suited to the digital workplace.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the same for your employees \u2013 using new technologies means gaining new skills. That might be on a grand-scale, like learning how to create engaging presentations using PowerPoint\u2019s built-in AI capabilities or it might just be finding a few fun life-hacks and shortcuts that make work even easier.<\/p>\n To help your employees get to grips with new tech in the digital workplace, start by figuring out how they learn best. Some of your team will be textbook titans who prefer to sit and get all the background reading under their belt before tackling a new project. Others might be on-the-job supremos who learn by interaction and embrace a trial-and-error mentality.<\/p>\n Understanding where they\u2019re most comfortable is important to ensuring success.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou need to lose headcount.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Five dreaded words no business leader wants to hear. You\u2019ve spent time recruiting a team to help realise your lofty ambitions, working hard to develop a close-knit culture. Now, you need to put them at risk.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve seen managers react in different ways to this in the past \u2013 some go for the blunt \u201cit is what it is\u201d method. Some go decidedly down the other track of \u201cif I pretend it\u2019s not happening it might not happen\u201d. I\u2019ve managed the communications for these changes on several occasions, and the best advice I can give during these times is\u2026<\/p>\n Be empathetic in your delivery. Be proactive in your support. Be confident in your justification. And don\u2019t forget, change affects the whole team, not just the leavers.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n There\u2019s a heavy emphasis on getting the correct terminology into organisational change communications. There are legal implications to consider and the wording needs to be accurate. However, one thing that\u2019s under your control is the tone of delivery.<\/p>\n Think about your people. Understand how and why they might react differently. Remember, it won\u2019t be the same for everyone, so tailor your approach.<\/p>\n Next, before announcing these types of changes, consider the support mechanisms you need to put in place to help employees at every level. Offer career coaching and support sessions. It might be that people would rather deal with the change on their own, but it\u2019s better to have these things in place than to have people feel abandoned. Proactive support is critical. It\u2019s where positive change lives or dies. As an employee, there\u2019s nothing quite as demoralising as feeling like you\u2019ve received bad news, then being left to deal with it alone.<\/p>\n When it comes to confidence in your justification. What this means is that, before you move to the digital workplace, it\u2019s important to be certain as to your reasons for doing it. Whenever changes are made, there will inevitably be questions, comparison, and issues. As long as you are sure why <\/em>you\u2019re changing, and are happy to openly and honestly justify them to employees, people will feel a greater sense of understanding. It might not make them happy about it, but at least they\u2019ll be reassured by the fairness of the situation.<\/p>\n Lastly, and importantly, when it comes to company culture, the impact of organisational change can be felt greatly by those remaining. I\u2019ve seen people feel guilty, wondering why they\u2019ve kept their job when others didn\u2019t; I\u2019ve seen people in tears over losing the friends and connections they\u2019ve made in the workplace.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t assume your people will automatically bounce back. Support them, offer ongoing guidance well after the point of change, and bring them on your journey. Culture doesn\u2019t grow itself; nurturing it is the only way to get through difficult change.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam Renshaw works as a Communications Lead within the UK Services business unit. His role focuses on landing key strategic messaging, sharing best practices, and celebrating business achievements. Adam\u2019s passion for communications stems from his love of all things creative. When it comes to creating videos, storytelling or developing impactful digital designs, he just can\u2019t get enough. Communications gives him the opportunity, quite often with a blank slate, to share his passion with other people.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cLife is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don\u2019t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.\u201d\u00a0 \u2026So said ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu. As someone who sees change as an opportunity to grow both professionally and personally, that quote has<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":489,"featured_media":16545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_classifai_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"post_tag":[612,609,810,627,618],"content-type":[],"coauthors":[606],"class_list":["post-16272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cross-industry","tag-communications","tag-digital-workplace","tag-new-technology","tag-teams","tag-tips"],"yoast_head":"\n1. My role in the digital workplace is changing, and I don\u2019t know what to do<\/h2>\n
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2. They\u2019ve introduced new technology and I don\u2019t know how to use it<\/h2>\n
3. I need to make changes to my team, but I\u2019m not sure how people will react<\/h2>\n
About the author<\/h2>\n