What to do if you don’t agree with the change you’re being asked to manage

I've been working with four different groups of managers and we've been focusing on managing change well.

Partway through, we looked at communicating change effectively and the same question was asked by members of different groups.

What do I do if I don't agree with the change that's happening? Different managers, different groups, different parts of the organisation, same issue.

It can sometimes be a tough gig as a manager.

You're constantly having to assess and evaluate different situations, particularly if you're in the same quandary as the managers I mentioned, where you're being asked to get your team on board with a change you simply don't agree with.

And if that's something that you're facing, here are my top tips.

Number one, reflect on why you're feeling so against the change.

Do you feel like you haven't been involved? So maybe you're feeling angry or is it that you don't have enough information? So you're feeling a little uncertain.

Take some time to write out and make sense of your feelings.

What's underpinning how you feel? Number two, one of the things I talked about with Rachel Miller in the next episode out on the 25th of August was the importance of safe spaces for managers to process how they feel.

Is there a group you're part of with other managers where you can talk things through? Or maybe you have a coach or a mentor that you can talk to.

Making sense of managing your own feelings and emotions is crucial before you talk to your team.

Number three, think about what is in your control.

Now, I talked about this in the last episode where I referenced Stephen Covey's circle of control.

While the change taking place is out of your control, perhaps because the decision has already been made by senior leaders, what is in your control is how you approach the situation.

What will you say? What won't you say? How will you respond if any of your team get upset? How will you respond if your team has questions you can't answer yet? How often will you update your team? All of these things are in your control.

Number four, create a script for yourself.

Now, I don't mean something you read out verbatim like a robot, because, I mean, that would just be weird.

I mean writing out on no more than one page of A4 the key points to get across.

What is happening? Why is it happening? When is it happening? Just stick to the facts.

And if there are things you don't know that you think you need to know before you speak to your team, get in touch with the appropriate person to ask them for the information.

Alternatively, if you have an in-house internal communication person or team, then get some advice from them.

And number five, remember, you don't have to have all the answers, particularly if it's the beginning of the change and the change is a bit shall we say, messy and unclear.

Why not say this to your team? You're part of the feedback loop.

So not only are you feeding to your team from senior leadership, but you are also feeding back from your team to decision makers.