GUIDELINES FOR TRANSITION
❑ The change must start with you, the leader.Think through and list the behaviors you will
continue to use, stop using, and start using. You must change first! [☛15.2 Emotional
Intelligence, 15.5 Habits]
❑ Scrupulously model the behaviors you expect from others,especially during transitions to a
higher-involvement culture. Workers are rightfully critical and skeptical of leaders who
don’t “walk their talk.” [☛1.8 Recursive Leadership]
❑ Make the process model the outcome;make it recursive. You can request and encourage,
but not dictate, involvement. Involve employees in the change to the level anticipat-
ed after the change. [☛1.8 Recursive Leadership]
❑ Get coaching help.As a leader, you will need assistance to learn new skills, such as group
leadership. Notoriously poor judges of their own behavior, leaders often need feedback
to ensure congruence between what they espouse and what they actually do. A coach
will provide encouragement when things are not going as well as expected. [☛10.6
Group Leader Skills, 12.4 Feedback, 13.1 Coaching]
❑ Use change leadership toolsto plan, implement, and follow through on the change.
[☛5.1 Change Equation]
❑ Current systems generally support the current level of involvement.Poor, unsupportive sys-
tems will defeat the most enthusiastic leaders and workers. [☛2.1 Systems Thinking,
4.1 Organizational Design]
❑ Two-way communication is key.Research shows that employees feel communicated with
at about one-third the level that leaders feel they have communicated. [☛8.2 Direct
Communication, 8.3 Organizational Communication]
❑ Train the workers in group and team skills.Yes, workers need to do things differently as
well. Workers have been left to last in this list of guidelines. Generally, they will be only
too willing to do what needs to be done if the conditions are right. [☛10.1 HiPo Teams,
10.3 Team Competencies]
❑ Help people through the transition.If people have been asked for years to act in a certain
manner, it will take some time and effort to make the change. [☛5.8 Human
Transitions]WEB WORKSHEET
STARTING ACTION PLANS
Now go back and look at the levels of involvement and guidelines for choosing the level. Make
a preliminary action plan in the space provided here. This plan is preliminary, in the sense that
you will want to involve others in fleshing out and implementing these plans.
SECTION 4 TOOLS FORDESIGNINGPRODUCTIVEPROCESSES ANDORGANIZATIONS 115