Coping With Change:
Effective Strategies
By Carol Levey & Neil Fjellestad
I.T. Partners
National Apartment Association
Educational Conference 2000
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What We Intellectually Accept
About the Concept of Change.
• Change is a constant.
• Change can be positive or negative.
• Some changes are self-directed, while
others are forced upon us.
• We can benefit from change.
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Change Is a Direct Challenge
to Our Emotional Needs

Our need to trust
 Our need to have choices
 Our need to feel in control
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Words That Describe Thoughts and
Feelings About the Word Change.









Fear
Uncertainty
Anticipation
Confused
Powerless
Happy
Numb
“Wait and see”
Excited








Opportunity
Angry
“Whatever”
Optimistic
Panic
Anxiety
Motivated
Sad
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The “Change” Reaction
Thoughts and
Feelings
Behavioral
Effects
Performance
Results
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Thoughts and Feelings
Affect Behavior











Uncertainty
Fear
Confusion
Powerless
Numb
“Wait and see”
Angry
“Whatever”
Panic
Anxiety
Sad
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Behavior Affects
Performance Results








Self-consciousness
Isolated
Preoccupied
Aggressive
Passive
Detached
Obsessed
Immobilized
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Performance Results






Productivity slides
Communication
breaks down
Creativity is stifled
Team loses focus
Employee turnover
Resident turnover
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Anticipating and Embracing
Change Requires:

Challenging our thoughts and feelings
 Neutralizing negative behaviors
 Accentuating positive performance
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The author C. Leslie Charles, in her very
readable best seller “Why is Everyone
So Cranky?” documents ten inescapable
influences of our modern society over
the last 50 years that have resulted in
cultural crankiness. One of these
influences is “change.”
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Here is a quiz that is designed to
determine how much each of us has
been infected by a cranky response to
change.
Score one point for every yes and 0 for
every no. Count a sometimes as a yes.
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The Cranky Quiz
1.
2.
3.
Do you find change bothersome, especially
when you feel you have no control or choice in
the situation?
Do constant, everyday changes contribute to
your stress level?
Are you irritated by today’s security systems,
surveillance cameras, sign-in logs, ID
verification and other protective measures?
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4.
5.
6.
7.
Are you less likely to be thrilled, amused,
or shocked than you once were?
After a disagreement do you wait for the
other person to make the first move before
you’re willing to talk about it?
Do issues from your past sometimes
interfere with your present peace of mind?
Do you think there’s too much emphasis
on affirmative action, cultural diversity,
and the rights of minorities or protected
groups?
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8.
9.
10.
When required to attend “soft skills”
training at work (communication, team
building, stress management) do you
resent the time away from your job?
Do you feel that your beliefs, values, or
political beliefs are truly the way that
things should be?
When given criticism or feedback about
your behavior do you feel compelled to
justify or defend your actions?
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Scoring the Cranky Quiz
3 points or less (Cool) means you’re in
good shape.
 4 to 7 points (Warm) indicates a need to
slow down.
 8 to 10 points (Hot!) indicates a raging
cranky infection.

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Honest evaluation in this area can give us
the motivation to challenge our natural
thoughts and feelings. The longer we live
the more change we will experience. A
negative attitude won’t stop change –
it only stops us from interpreting change as
a gateway to insight, growth and success.
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Here are Some Techniques to
Challenge our Perspective.
1.
2.
3.
Practice change by regularly operating
outside your comfort zone.
Change a habit or ritual.
Create new pathways in your brain by
teaching yourself a new skill.
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Techniques
4.
5.
6.
Explore your resistance to change and
defensiveness to preserve the status quo. What’s
so bad about change? What’s so good about the
“way it’s been?”
Learning and change go hand-in-hand. What
does this change allow me to learn?
Gather feedback from others who understand
and care about you and/or the change.
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Techniques to Neutralize
Negative Behavior
1.
2.
Remember the changes that you’ve already
experienced in your life.
Remember your initial resistance to past
changes that have turned out to be
beneficial.
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Techniques
3.
4.
5.
Expectations and assumptions must be founded on
clear communication of correct information. More
questions and fewer conclusions will help. Be
assertive and responsive.
Put this change into perspective. Does this change
require you to compromise a core value? Are you
an intended victim in this change?
Does this change require you to improve? In what
ways? Change can often kick start a desired
improvement.
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Techniques to accentuate
positive performance results
1.
a)
b)
c)
d)
2.
Get feedback from those who advocate the change.
What positive performance results do they envision?
Why do they believe this can be the result?
How do they see it unfolding?
What are the pitfalls?
Get their input on what your personal role is in the
transition.
a) How can you help achieve the desired result?
b) How can you help avoid foreseen pitfalls?
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Techniques
3.
Now explore what personal opportunities
could exist due to the change. Are you
prepared to take advantage? If not, what
could you do during the change to prepare
for personal opportunities?
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Techniques
4
5
6
Shape the transition to accomplish
improvements that you envision.
Communicate your ideas so others feel
your buy-in and willingness to contribute.
Better communication fosters better
understanding and increases focus.
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“Change leadership” skills
required to help others adapt.
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Skills required for
developing strategies:

Initiating an organizational change
 Maximizing positive performance results in
a negative environment
 Creating a synergistic environment that
anticipates opportunity and embraces
required changes
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Initiating an Organizational Change
1.
2.
Utilize survey and
focus group methods.
Anticipate and
confront different
perceptions of the
change.
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Leadership Skills
3. Carefully plan the announcement.
a) Clarify what, when, where, how and why
b) Identify and address specific concerns
c) Be open to questions and honest about what you
don’t know.
4. Set up systems for progress reports.
a) Ask for specific concerns that you can clarify in
these reports.
b) Write them down.
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Leadership Skills
5. Immediately follow-up the announcement.
a) Summarize
b) Keep the plan on track.
6. Clarify the performance results expected
during the change.
7. Praise interim milestones achieved.
8. Highlight positive outcomes resulting from
the change.
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Maximizing Positive
Performance Results in a
Negative Environment
1.
2.
3.
4.
Remember that change can bring out the
best or the worst in a leader. Everyone is
watching to see which it will be.
Maintain open communication.
Use individual coaching sessions to listen.
Help team members with special coping
challenges.
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Leadership Skills
5. Be empathetic to individual points of view,
but clear about performance expectations.
6. Utilize consensus management style:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
Encourage and validate all opinions
Emphasize positives
How serious are the negatives?
Keep summarizing areas of agreement
Restate criticism in a positive way
Ask for positive remarks from negative people
Set example by not defending your ideas
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Creating a Synergistic Environment
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Maintain objectivity which allows creativity
Encourage an assertive-responsive
communication style
Relationships are more important than ideas
During disagreements focus on the issue not the
person
Utilize meetings for group problem solving
Create other leaders by sharing your experience
with on-going coaching
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The “Change” Reaction
Thoughts and
Feelings
Behavioral
Effects
Performance
Results
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Thoughts and Feelings
Affect Behavior






Anticipation
Happiness
Opportunity
Optimistic
Motivated
Excited
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33
Behavior Affects
Performance Results

Self-confidence
 Social
 Focused
 Assertive
 Responsive
 Actuated
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Performance Results






Productivity increases
Communication
improves
Creativity is
stimulated
Team is focused
Employee retention
Resident retention
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Acknowledgements &
Additional Resources
1.
2.
3.
4.
Flight of the Buffalo. Belasco, James A. and
Ralph C. Stayer. Warner Books 1993
Why is Everyone So Cranky. Charles, C. Leslie.
Hyperion 1999.
Principle-Centered Leadership. Covey, Stephen
R. Summit Books 1991
Management Challenges for the 21st Century.
Drucker, Peter F. Harper Business Press 1999
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Acknowledgements &
Additional Resources
5. Keys to Success. Hill, Napoleon. Plume Books
1997
6. The 10 Natural Laws of Sucessful Time and Life
Management. Smith, Hyrum W. Warner Books
1994
7. The Leadership Engine. Tichy, Noel M. Harper
Business Press 1997
Carol Levey & Neil Fjellestad
I.T. Partners
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