Everybody Loves Progress, but Nobody Likes Change

We’ve all been doing our work in our higher education roles for a number of years. We feel a “comfort presence” regarding knowing how to do our work. Hold it!! Is the way we do our business helping students or providing solid data to senior administration or external compliance agencies? We think it is, but . . . probably not. We know we want students to like and appreciate the current work and associated routines we do for them, but do they? We just hired a young, new President who knows all areas of enrollment management, student financial services, registrar, financial aid and admissions could be assessing themselves to provide better services through change in our current practices and processes. She wants to see progress being made for improvements in all these areas. Progress comes about through change. Progress = Change. Change is certainly a way of life! We are often confronted with change in both our personal life and professional career. Change could be welcomed or frightening, or both. We usually are not comfortable with the unknown – especially when we do not have control over what change brings into our daily life. The key to dealing with change is to understand the process individuals experience. Many authors identify four different stages of change. It is very important to understand these four stages of change. This understanding helps individuals emotionally deal with change and helps individuals accept the process of change for the sake of progress.

Four stages of change are briefly described below:

Initiation (Denial)

Usually triggered by a formal announcement or rumors, this is the short period of time that it takes individuals to realize that things will not be the same. Initial reactions could be dismay, shock or disbelief.

In the workplace it is not uncommon that complete information is not known or shared. Positive and negative viewpoints are realized and a wait and see attitude exists.

Disorientation (Resistance)

Confronted with new procedures and policies creates an environment where people struggle with the “new” way. It seems like people have one foot in the new environment and the other foot in the old environment. You have seen this, haven’t you? Uncertainty in this stage usually causes fear and stress. As frustration increases people worry about how the changes will impact their job.

Reorientation (Exploration)

As people experience the new environment, they become more comfortable with change. They still experience stress, but the high stress is over. People may not have the answers, but they do know all the questions. People feel more in control of the situation as their enthusiasm increases.

Integration (Commitment)

Change becomes part of the daily routine as acceptance becomes the new way of working. People don’t see change as extra work, but the way business is done. New procedures are documented and accepted.

Implementing change is extremely important as staff are the key to successfully creating a new environment. So how do we attempt to have staff support the changes proposed? Empower staff! A key to gaining support is to explain and train staff on the four stages of change. When staff experience these four stages of change, they are prone to accept the process of change. They begin to realize that Change = Progress!

On a personal note, I was responsible for restructuring four departments of Student Financial Services employing over one hundred twenty employees. Procedures were not documented and there was duplication of effort. Our first step was to create a workshop for all employees focusing on the four stages of change. A few months after the workshop an employee stopped me in a hallway and told me she was experiencing “disorientation”. She then told me she knows that “reorientation” was around the corner and that was good. She said the workshop helped her deal with change.

focusEDU is here to help your institution implement change IF change = progress.