“Change causes an underestimated rollercoaster, and if it is not accompanied in its emotional dimension, resistance is created.”
Faced with change, individuals naturally resist the fear of the unknown or the loss of control that they perceive. They are not so much resisting change as such but rather the underlying emotions that change will bring.
To accept change, the employee must therefore mourn what existed before.
This normal grieving process was formalized by Dr. Kübler Ross, a Swiss psychiatrist. She created the graphic above, showing the phases each individual needs to go through when facing change.
Taking the emotional aspect of the stages of mourning into account can accelerate the process of change among our employees.
Questions from the coach:
- How is the change perceived in my team?
- How do I see it?
- What are the emotions I currently perceive in my collaborators?
- What phase of grief are they currently living in?
- What are the related needs? (to be heard, to be reassured, to be listened to?)
- How can I answer those needs?
