Everyone into the Boat! Managing Successive Waves of Shifting Priorities
Today's organizations require flexibility and nimbleness like never before. They must change direction and tactics and redeploy
resources to capitalize on new market opportunities when and where they appear. And one strategic shift does not guarantee
there won't soon be another.
As they keep their teams motivated and on task through successive shifts in priorities, it falls to managers to balance two realities:
Their companies must be nimble and regularly shift tactics around the notion of "what's important now"; yet employees are looking
more than ever for clarity and stability.
What does this continuous balancing act require? After talking with some of our clients, a clear strategy emerged.
Communicating More Than the Facts
When their day-to-day activities are redirected, people need to see and understand the big picture. Terry Reilly, Senior Vice President
at ORC International (Opinion Research Corporation), calls it "explaining 'the why' " — why senior management chose this direction for the
company, why it's better for customers, why it's going to help individual employees down the road (development, long-term stability, etc.).
When it comes to information sharing, he says, he always "errs on the side of more information, not less."
As the "Why?" merges into the "How?" it's important to keep employees focused on the positives so that they feel they still have some control
in the situation. When people are taken off projects they're invested in, it's easy for them to think they have no control, and that they were either
doing a bad job or that what they were doing is no longer valued.
Joel Lamoreaux, Call Center Sales and Telemarketing Manager at Checks Unlimited, is sensitive to the crisis of confidence that can occur
when company priorities change. He assures his people that it's not about the quality of their work and gives them "grieving time" to let go of
something they were attached to. But then he concentrates on the benefits of the new direction, such as expanding skills, learning and growing,
interacting with new people, and the long-term financial security of the organization.
He tells his team members, "I can't make you like your job. I can't re-create the past. But I can give you new reasons to like your job."
Listening, Empathy, and Tough Love
Wise managers recognize that employees may need to talk through their concerns about the new priorities. But listening to and acknowledging
those concerns is not the same as agreeing with them.
"People hate to see good work blown away," says Ross Tartell, Director/Team Leader of Corporate Management and Leadership Development
at Pfizer. So when he has to shift team members off projects, he makes sure they have an opportunity to talk about it and celebrate what they've accomplished.
Then it's time to look at the future and what the customers need. No whining allowed.
Refocusing people on the benefits is critical but sometimes it's not enough. In one-on-ones with her team members, Julie Dent, Director of Global Technology
at Sabre, tries to coax them out of their comfort zone. Then it's really their choice, she says: "Change or go." Her company, in the change-driven technology
sector, "needs people who will ride the roller coaster."
A Strong Culture Helps
A company culture that embraces change helps shorten the time it takes for people to accept the new priorities. Lamoreaux at Checks Unlimited credits a
flexible culture and a president who consistently models the behavior with "getting people to acceptance quicker." They know, he says, that "we can't afford
to stand still."
An embedded, values-driven culture can serve to remind people that even as their priorities are shifted, certain things remain consistent. Pfizer's performance-based
culture serves as a supportive backdrop for Tartell as he urges team members to keep their eye on the benefits. He observes that "focusing people on things they can
control that make a difference — meaningful work — ties them back to the broader goals of the organization."
Staying Personally Motivated to
Make a Difference
We've seen how some managers strengthen their teams' commitment to new priorities. But what works for them as managers? To sustain the commitment
and energy to lead their teams forward, they must be clear on what's important to them personally and how and why what they do makes a difference in
their organizations.
It helps to be naturally optimistic. All the managers we talked to maintain an unwavering positive attitude about change. Dent at Sabre's strong belief that
"you always get better in the process" keeps her open to new ideas. "When you coast, you stagnate," sums up Checks Unlimited's Lamoreaux.
A manager's clarity around personal values and making a difference instills a deep responsibility toward his or her team. And consistently modeling the
right attitudes and behaviors is a sign of that commitment. As Pfizer's Tartell puts it, "They watch you when you don't think they're watching."
The overall message is clear: Priorities regularly change, and employees must adapt. The good news is that managers, armed with the right skills and strategies,
can successfully navigate everyone through it, every time.
