Change is constant, but not always welcomed.
For instance, this can be the case when altering your office design. There are numerous instances of poorly managed change in office environments.
Unfortunately, this has a big impact on your staff and your business. Staff can become disgruntled and therefore, their output falls.
Moreover, that just ends up costing your business money.
The way we work is always changing, so it’s imperative than when we do make changes in our business, we do it right.
Here are some measures to take to ensure that your change project goes as smoothly as possible.
Measuring the Impact of Change
Your employees will always have a level of psychological safety. This is essentially how safe they feel in their current work environment.
Unfortunately, your workers’ psychological safety can be perceived to be under threat when change is being implemented.
However, once change has occurred, levels of psychological safety will slowly return to normal. It simply takes people time to get used to different surroundings and methods of working.
Therefore, you should fully understand the potential impact of any change you are planning to implement.
Open an honest, constant dialogue with your staff before the transition. This will enable you to assess the general attitude to the upcoming change.
Once you’ve gauged this, you’ll be able to put in place the necessary measures to reduce the impact of the change.
Alternatively, this can help you make changes to your plans, if required. For instance, if some aspects of your new office design are not at all popular, you can alter your design to make it more worker-friendly.
Furthermore, hold workshops, or information sessions about the project. Offer one-on-ones for people with extreme concerns.
Constantly measure the potential impact as you go, and learn from what your workers have to say about the project.
Communication
Communication goes a long way to measuring the mood of your workers throughout a change project.
Communication begets trust, and trust is so important between management and staff.
Keep your workers updated at every step of the project.
This reduces the negative impact of change which can come through a lack of open communication. When they feel out of the loop, your staff will likely become disillusioned and frustrated.
That manifests in reduced performance, lower quality of work and in extreme cases, more absences from work.
Collaboration
Having your employees collaborate on change projects is a huge benefit.
Whilst promoting clear communication, it makes them feel like a part of the change. Your staff will be more receptive to change too, if they feel as though they have some say in it.
Therefore, some measure of collaboration will definitely promote trust between workers and management.
Utilise surveys, have change suggestion meetings and give a daily email update, asking for feedback.
All of this will add up to ensure that you manage your change project well, as you design or renovate your office space.
We currently offer FREE office space plans.
Click this link to find out more.
