Being a Coach to your Team during Change

Change is inevitable, and we all experience emotions and behaviours that destabilise us to a lesser or greater extent depending on our personalities.  Some of the reactions might be:-

• Anxiety - "What next...?"
• Practical personal worries
• Fatigue "Not more change"
• Silence - disengagement

All of the reactions are normal and may not be the same as your own reactions to change, the role of a Coach is to look for patterns of behaviour. 

Each Team member must have their say.

This can be visualised by a simple matrix:-

• High individual view point & low sense of belonging = Differentiation (might feel isolating)
• Low sense of belonging & low individual view point = Exclusion (they don't feel heard or feel like they belong)
• High sense of belonging & low individual view point  = Integrated (belong but have not found their voice)
• High sense of belonging & high individual view point = Inclusion (totally heard and belong fully)

Managing resistance to change with your Coach hat on means educating everyone on why the change is necessary, intellectual reasoning so that there are no assumptions.   Full participation asking for support and ideas not imposing change onto them. Ensuring that you have change ambassadors, who can help influence by communicating the change in a realistic and positive framework.

A Coach has to ensure that they create a safe space often now referred to as Psychological Safety from the work of Amy Edmondson's book "The Fearless Organisation".  What this means is that everyone is heard and they feel safe to share their views whether they are positive or negative.  There will never be any retribution on what they share.  You will listen without defending the change.  You will support and guide individuals with what the impact of the change means to them individually.  Communicating constantly with consistent messages.  Ensuring that you can signpost additional support.

Being a Coach is about a shift from being a problem solver,  you don't have to have the answers.  In order to make the shift:-

• Ask not tell
• Resist the urge to reassure too quickly
• Being curious about them and not certain or prejudging
• Don't move into solution mode
• Don't redirect or come off their agenda

Think of some helpful questions:-

• "What's the part of this change that is most worrying you??"
• "What story are you making up, what assumptions are you making?"
• "What would feel helpful from me for the short term?"
• "What is within your control?"

When handling the answers, be honest about what you know and don't know.  Think about where you can direct for support.  Take your time to come back with the right answers.

You will know if you have been effective if:-

• Everyone understands the change
• Everyone feels heard
• Everyone feels calm
• Everyone is hearing the same consistent messages

Navigating change as a Coach will mean hard conversations as not everyone will agree with the change. 

Ask not tell and empower your Team to embrace the change.  When you lead as a Coach you are not just implementing change you are helping people feel safe enough to grow through it.