Change is growth. Without changing, you cannot grow. Thus NLP emphasizes. After all, change requires you to do something different, no matter how small. If you do what you did, you get what you got. So you have to change something to bring about change. Even if the outcome is not immediately what you expect, it provides valuable feedback that you can use to make adjustments, resulting in growth. Companies strive for growth, innovation and/or profit. But what does that mean concretely for your organization? And what steps can you take immediately? In this blog, project manager and NLP expert Wanda van Hoof shares three tips & tricks to effectively deal with change. 

The impact of change within organizations

An (organizational) change has a lot of impact on people and the way they do things. Often we see that at the top of the organization it is decided what needs to be done strategically. But it is mainly middle management and the operational layer that have to follow it up. Therefore, it is essential to understand what motivates people to actually do things differently. Here, emotional intelligence and an understanding of motivation play an important role. 

What motivates people to change? 

Not wanting something anymore is the motivation for change for many people. Consider stopping or reducing certain habits such as implementing solutions less ad hoc, working less overtime or stopping checking email all the time in between. But our brain is programmed to develop routines and habits, because this takes less energy than constantly making new decisions. We are creatures of habit. And this is why many change processes meet resistance, even when the benefits are obvious. While we know that change is sometimes necessary. However, we like the certainty of a current situation better than a future image of which we are not entirely sure. 

Three tips to effect change 

So far, nothing new under the sun. But it now sounds like we can never bring about change this way. Fortunately, there is plenty to work with. Organizational change is a journey that is not rolled out 1-2-3. It takes time and attention. Changing a habit takes time, but there are three steps anyone can implement to make the first move in change. 

1. Give direction

Understand that people are not necessarily against change, but have difficulty letting go of the familiar. Unknown makes unloved. By outlining a clear vision and making it as concrete as possible, you can indicate where you want to go as an organization. A goal is not a goal if you only describe what you no longer want to do, or indicate what should be done differently. You have to know where you want to move. It's like setting up a navigation system: without entering a destination, you go anywhere, but you don't know if you're going in the right direction. And if an organization doesn't know, it can't possibly expect its people to just go the right way. On top of that, people often get the impression that, on the message of change, the current situation is wrong. 

So: make the goal or vision so concrete and clear that it is almost tangible and explainable in one sentence. Others should also be able to understand and explain it at once. Adding: emphasize what is already going well and what will continue to go well. That way you preserve the familiar for people and take what is already going well as a foundation. This creates a solid foundation on which you can continue to build on the change. 

2. Pay attention to your sense of language

Very nice that we know where we want to go, but how do you bring everyone along? You can probably remember that one conversation where you talk past each other, busily communicating but still not understanding what the other is trying to make clear. This has everything to do with language and how we use it. Only 7% of our mutual communication is words, 38% is for intonation and voice use and as much as 55% is body language. That's quite a challenge if you want to sling a message effectively into the organization. With a Board of Directors, the message must be shaped differently than with the equally important cleaning crew. 

It is good to know that people generally have a preference for a certain type of language. The image-thinker is a good example of this; a common phrase you often hear from an image-thinker is, 'I see it in front of me! I think in pictures!' By using words that have to do with images, this person will feel addressed. Exactly the same goes for a feeling person, or someone who is auditory-minded. In general, everyone has his or her preferences in a certain context.  

To make it more concrete, take a critical look at your word usage and add a touch of variety. Take a message or email you want to send and walk it through. What words are being used here? If most of them are based on feeling, then you can adjust some of them to imagery and sound and vice versa. In conversations you can do this too, of course, but with an email you have time to go through this quietly and tune it out, making it a good starting point.

3. Go first!

In an organization where habits are deeply ingrained, personal leadership is essential. By leading by example yourself and consciously breaking old habits, you as a leader set the tone for the organization. And here we use the word leader to indicate someone who leads by example. In function, this can be anyone from support to team lead to owner. The cliché is not for nothing: good example follows. So be the one who sees what can be done differently, even if it's very small, apply it and you'll soon find that others pick up on it and apply it as well. A very nice example is to give someone a compliment every week, just indicate in a sentence by e-mail that the person has done something good. It can also be something else, be creative. A warning though; it is contagious....  

I challenge you to put the above tips to use and experience how it works. Let me know how much difference you experienced, or if you want to know how you can increase this effect. In fact, this article described three activities that are going to have an effect. And, we have more of these.

Discover the possibilities

Wondering how we can help your organization facilitate lasting change? Contact us and discover how personal leadership and a strong combination of change management and process management can support you and your team in creating an agile, future-oriented organization. 

Let's talk - the beginning of change often lies in the first conversation. 

What we offer in change management is a method that addresses both the big picture and the smallest details. We analyze your change goals from the helicopter view and design a customized strategy that engages the right stakeholders, provides clarity on the shop floor and addresses critical issues to reduce resistance. We then go through the process with you, layer by layer, switching back to the core if necessary to remove blockages and make changes tangible and understandable for everyone. 

About Wanda van Hoof

Wanda van Hoof- de Groot is Sr. Project Manager at Valid. Hands-on, people-oriented and thorough: she turns plans into results and takes organizations to the next step. By bringing structure to complex situations, she acts as a bridge between vision and action. With her expertise in change management and as an NLP-Master Practitioner she knows how to get people moving and realize sustainable change.  

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