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Five Ways to Influence Change in Others

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Because of my work as a consultant, trainer and coach I deal with change and people’s reactions to it all the time. When a Client decides to work with us, they are recognizing that some sort of change is needed. After all, if they want more effective teams, better Customer Service, higher creativity, more effective training, or more effective leadership in their organizations, something has to become different than it is currently. Change must occur.

Because of this, change is often at the center of our work, and we’ve learned a fair bit about it. In short, here are two of the most important things I have learned about change:

• People don’t resist change, they resist being changed.

• Regardless of our position, we become significantly more effective when we understand change and how to influence it in others.

Most people nod their head at the first one when I mention it, but some scratch their head at the second. So let’s start there.

Why Does It Matter?

All of us have parts of our jobs where we need to influence others to think differently or to behave differently – in other words we need to be able to influence change.

Think about it this way.

Whether you are a janitor, salesperson, Customer service professional, trainer, first line supervisor, manager, leader, or C-level executive, are there times when you encounter resistance to your ideas, approaches, and expertise? In these cases, does your job get easier and would the organization benefit when you are successful in getting others to make those changes?

Of course.

We can, in fact, all be more effective in our work when we better understand how to influence change in others. The scope of the change doesn’t matter. Some of us are proposing or leading big sweeping organizational changes, while others are making small procedure changes. All of us need to support and champion changes, and therefore benefit from greater skills and understanding in this area.

Resistance is a Key

There are many factors or levers to influencing change, but one of the key ones is reflected by my first lesson mentioned above – “people don’t resist change, they resist being changed.”

If we want to help people change, we have to help them decide the change is in their best interest. We have to influence people, not force change upon them.

Here are five things you can do, starting right now, to influence change in others:

• “Get” their perspective. Your perspective, goals and belief in the change don’t really matter. All that matters is the perspective and beliefs of the other person. We must start by understanding their view of the world. Determine their concerns, fears and assumptions regarding the change. Doing this will definitely help you counter some of these concerns. But the real benefit in truly understanding their perspective is that you are valuing their opinion and they will feel they are a part of a conversation, not a sales pitch.

• Acknowledge their perspective. You may not agree with their assumptions or share their fears and concerns, but you can acknowledge how they feel. Let them know that you understand their point of view and that it is a valid view. Part of the reason people resist being changed is that they never feel validated or acknowledged. Forgo this step at your peril.

• Speak to their interests. Once you know more about their issues and concerns you can help them see a different perspective. By acknowledging their perspective as a valid one, their mind will likely be more open to hearing a new perspective. Talk to them about the differences in your perspectives. Reduce their fears. Build a clearer picture of the future after the change, explaining the parts of it that will be of greatest interest and benefit in their mind.

• Recognize natural tendencies. Everyone has their own natural tendencies towards change. Some are more open and move more quickly to a new approach or system. Others are more cautious. If you often find yourself as the influencer of change, perhaps you are in the later group. Be aware that not everyone will move at the same rate.

• Be patient. Give people some time. Let them reflect on what you have shared with them. Give them time to justify a new position in their mind. Recognize that by giving people time it may also help them “save face” as they begin to advocate a change that they had previously opposed.

With these five approaches you give yourself a better chance to influence others to change. Each of these alone will help you – but taken together they greatly reduce resistance and help others move towards a changed perspective and actions. At a minimum you will have reduced people’s resistance to change. At best they won’t feel they are being changed – they will recognize the change as their own.

Sustainability is the hottest topic and it’s a pleasure to publish this blog from guest writer, Mark McCullough, marketing manager at Lexmark Canada.

Sustainability is a big buzz-word in today’s business world but what does it mean from an IT perspective? It goes without saying that engineering a “green� corporate environment must involve the entire organization, however, there are numerous ways the IT team can implement sustainable practices.

Monitor your Output

Establishing a responsible approach to printing is one of the easiest ways to make a significant reduction to your office’s carbon footprint. Think about how often a user prints a multi-page article when he only needs the information contained on a single page, or the amount of documents printed in error, or how many printed pages are often abandoned at a workstation. Most enterprise printing devices today contain several easy to use solutions that help foster a more intelligent approach to printing. For example, features like “Proof then Print� require users to preview the document prior to initiating the print feature, reducing waste resulting from unwanted pages. In addition to the obvious sustainability benefit of examining your printing processes, there is also a significant financial advantage realized when you encourage more responsible printing.

Recycle, Recycle, Recycle

It’s relatively easy to recycle the paper waste your office generates. The same principles should be applied to other functions in the office. For example, what do you do with old computers, faxes and printers once they’ve been replaced with newer models? Many manufacturers offer free “end-of-life� recycling solutions where your old equipment will be collected, brought to a dedicated recycling facility and, in most cases, turned into a new product in some capacity. This is also true of the materials in your office technology—for example, toner, ink, fax ribbons, computer chips. The more you can incorporate recycling throughout your technology environment, the more you will do your part to lower your organization’s carbon footprint.

Consider the Cloud

One way to reduce the amount of electricity your company consumes is to move some of your data off-premise and to the cloud. With fewer servers on-site, you can cut down on your electricity bill—in some cases, significantly. According to a recent study conducted by Pike Research (Link to: http://www.pikeresearch.com/newsroom/cloud-computing-could-cut-data-center-energy-consumption-by-nearly-one-third-by-2020?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PikeResearchNewsroom+%28Pike+Research+%C2%BB+Newsroom%29), data center power consumption will decrease 31 percent between 2010 and 2020 as a result of the cloud computing model.

More Mobility

It’s an investment up front, but arming employees with technology to make them more mobile can also reduce your consumption overhead. For example, giving employees laptops to replace their desktops enables them to be just as productive from home as they would be at the office. With more mobile technology, when workers need to work late to complete a project they tend to leave the office at a normal time and pick the job back up at home. This allows companies to cut costs associated with keeping electricity and heat/AC running late, which is an unexpected green benefit.

Police your Policies

A lot of organizations have set policies governing technology use but IT managers aren’t always good about enforcing them. To foster sustainability within your organization, make sure employees are adhering to these by sending frequent reminders asking them to turn their computers off at night, make sure printers, faxes and other devices are set to power-saving mode and that desk lamps and all other technologies at individual workstations are turned off at the end of the day.

Sustainability is increasingly becoming an area of focus across the organization. By taking steps to ensure your IT practices include as many “green� components as possible, you can help your company achieve its larger corporate sustainability goals.

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