A group of about 40 employees from a department made an interesting observation. They collective said that they were tired of all of the changes that they have experienced in the last few years. They described their frustration in a way that implied a desire to go back to a time when there were no changes.  I have to admit, I am not aware of a time when there was not some change initiative in progress. I do remember a time when change occurred at a slower frequency and the urgency of change appeared to be not so strong. They seemed to be saying, “We want stop all of these changes!” Is that possible? At least on an intellectual level, we all understand there is no such thing as “getting through this crazy period” to get to some mythical place of predictable stability. We endure change initiatives in order to keep up with the changes in our external environment (i.e. health care reform). In the current political and financial environment we operate in, we must change or be changed. If the rate of external change exceeds our rate of internal change, change will eventually be imposed on us in ways we won’t like.

Many leaders are struggling with how to help people deal with constant change (Many leaders are struggling with how to deal with constant change). More and more, people are complaining of “change fatigue” even when they don’t use those exact words. Change fatigue can hamper future change initiatives. Organizations must change at least enough to maintain who they are, but preferably, they must change enough to grow from where they are.   

What is the role of a leader when you know the changes will not stop and will probably accelerate? What do you say, what do you do?

Author, Dawn-Marie Turner, PhD says there are at least five things leaders can do to combat change fatigue. Shift thinking away from separate and discreet initiatives that appear to unrelated to each other to a whole system approach. Leaders that adopt a systems approach to change recognize that each change initiative is connected to the other. Each initiative is a step in the process, each step getting us closer to the ultimate goal.

Create an organizational change map. The change map gives detailed knowledge about all of the current change initiatives. This sounds simple, but some organizations have so many changes occurring simultaneously leaders have either forgotten the goals of the change initiative, don’t know it is being implemented or believe the change has already been completed.
A change map provides a visual representation of the organization’s change initiatives. It can identify the changes currently in progress, and the people affected. It can also identify opportunities to consolidate and reduce the number of change initiatives.

Ensure each change initiative has a detailed and documented intended outcome. Many change initiatives are started without a well-defined outcome. Without a clear understanding of the outcome, the full scope of the transition cannot be understood or managed.

Allocate time and support for the transition as well as the change event. Change has two dimensions — the event and the transition (white space). The event is finite and occurs much quicker than the transition. The transition is the process people need to move through to enable the success of the event. Leaders begin the transition before the people most affected. Too often support for the transition ends when the leader nears the end of her/his transition. Unfortunately, this is often when the people most affected are either just beginning or in the middle of their transition. Regular monitoring of the people’s progress through the transition process and ensuring organizational alignment can help reduce change fatigue.

Engage the people most affected. As William Bridges said in his book Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change, “People will help build what they create”. The people affected by the change can be your organization’s greatest asset or its greatest barrier. Involving them in the planning and facilitation of their transition helps them build their change fitness and reduce change fatigue. 

Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are.

Bertolt Brecht