The health crisis has led companies to rethink their organization and therefore to impose changes on employees. The latter had no choice but to adapt, and managers had to make the transformation accepted. Because in 2021, change is far from stopping, employees and managers must prepare for it as best as possible. To avoid disrupting their work habits overnight while ensuring that change is taken into account, the Kaizen method, or the small-steps method, can be a good alternative.

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Change at work, experienced as destabilizing for workers

When we look at workers, few consider change to be a positive factor. Many see it as a questioning, or even as a threat. Different types of resistance can be observed: opponents who do not buy into change at all, passive individuals who wait to see what change will bring, and supporters who show enthusiasm. With Covid-19, employees were able to notice somewhat destabilizing changes such as: production chain blockages, regular or even constant remote work, reduced staff numbers and therefore employees put out of work (or on partial unemployment), etc.

Convincing your teams of the merits of change

If you are a manager and want to have the changes generated by the covid crisis adopted, it is essential to adopt a positive mindset and convince your teams that there are benefits, because we must not forget that without them, your company has no reason to exist! That is why we suggest turning to a method that will destabilize your teams very little: Kaizen. If we adopt a positive mindset, we can observe a few positive elements: the rise of the collaborative economy, social ties, and technological advances. It is up to you, depending on your field of activity, to think about the benefits this very particular situation has brought you.

As a manager, it will be your responsibility to support your teams through the change curve (shock, anger, sadness, acceptance, motivation) and to prevent some from getting stuck in one of the phases, especially sadness, which is accompanied by nostalgia for past moments. If it drags on too long, it will not be healthy for the employee, who will not be able to move on to the next phase: acceptance of the situation and looking toward the future.

If the theory of the change curve interests you and you would like to explore this topic, please note that we offer training called Managing Change. In addition, if you wish, you can also talk with us about your change adaptation needs.

Change management: a positive factor according to the Kaizen method

To succeed in getting change management adopted in the professional sphere, especially during the covid period, the Kaizen method can be effective because it involves all employees. This approach of Japanese origin developed after the Second World War in Toyota factories. It is based on small daily improvements. To better understand how this method works, let us break down the word. The first syllable, “Kai,” refers to change, while the second syllable, “Zen,” refers, as you may guess, to something calming, positive, and therefore better. Thus, on closer inspection, change management could be perceived as positive since it would bring something better.

Repeated improvements to anchor change in habits

The Kaizen method works through repeated improvements made a little each day. It is, in a way, the small-steps method; perhaps you already know it? A little every day, employees take actions with the aim of reaching their final objective. Change is therefore not abrupt but gentle, allowing teams to adapt more easily and accept this situation of change. Thanks to gradual improvements, new practices ultimately become a work habit, a reflex.

As part of the covid-19 situation, your company’s work organization has certainly changed: whether through your approach to your customers, your internal organization, your daily tasks, or other aspects. Here we will share an example of repeated improvements.

Let’s say you work on developing a clothing store and your activity has been disrupted; you may want to refocus your activity on your e-commerce site, which had so far been less active. To continue developing your store’s visibility and product sales, you can think about your new actions using the small-steps method.

Here are a few examples of progressive actions to repeat: stay in touch with your customers once a month, then twice a month, then once a week; choose one channel with your customers (emails), then add a second one (emails + social networks) and then a third (emails + social networks + websites). As you can guess, the idea is to increase the pace progressively in order to set achievable objectives, allowing you to secure small wins that will carry you into a positive spiral.

Thus, an initial micro-action can lead to major effects. We can cite the surprising effect of an action that seems trivial at first glance: the flap of a butterfly’s wings in South America. This caused a slight air displacement. Eventually, this air displacement influenced the weather in France. This example illustrates the famous proverb, “Small causes produce great effects.” So it is important to keep in mind that an action, even a minimal one, can lead to a significant delayed result.

Slowness as a success factor

Taking your time is not necessarily negative or bad for achieving performance. Indeed, slowness is an effective way to make change in a company easier to accept, such as: a staff reorganization, acquisition of new software, a move to new offices, office depersonalization with open spaces, etc. Adopting the slow method thus avoids possible worker resistance.

Take the example of someone who loves mountains and beautiful landscapes and would like to do the G20 (Grande Randonnée in Corsica) during the summer holidays but is a novice hiker. If they dive straight in at the deep end, they risk becoming discouraged and not reaching the objective they set, because the change may be too abrupt for them. Conversely, if they train regularly by starting with short hikes, then gradually increasing duration, elevation gain, and trail difficulty, their body and mindset will get used to it, and the hiker will be fully ready to do the G20.

Explaining the reasons for change to gain buy-in for the project

Before anything else, to get change accepted, it is appropriate to explain the reasons to colleagues, be transparent with them, listen to them, show empathy, and think through solutions with them. Cooperation is key! To do this, you can in particular rely on the five whys technique, which consists of asking the question “Why” five times. As you go, you discuss the different reasons for your choice, from the most general to the most specific.

Discussions during the covid-19 period are particularly necessary because they make it possible to understand everyone’s point of view. Even if these discussions lead to painful feelings, it is nevertheless necessary to be aware of them in order to think about gradual improvement.

Dividing a macro objective into sub-objectives for employee satisfaction

Among the 8 steps of Kotter’s change model, setting intermediate objectives is one of them. To avoid employees being frightened by the change imposed by the covid-19 crisis, the best approach is to divide your macro objective into several stages. By proceeding this way, employees will more easily achieve their small objectives and their morale will improve since they will see their efforts rewarded. Reaching these small objectives will allow them to progressively achieve the final result set by the macro objective.

Relying on everyone’s strengths through teamwork

We must not forget that the change imposed by the crisis applies to everyone. The final objective set by the company is shared by all employees and is not individual. It is the repeated and increasing efforts of each team member that will make people commit to change management. Teamwork is therefore essential within the continuous improvement process.

Each employee, with their skills, values, and soft skills, has strengths of their own. These strengths should therefore be leveraged and used to help those who need it.