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The two pictures above were taken on two sunny days exactly six weeks apart, the first in early November before the trees lost their leaves, and the other in mid-December. In November, I stopped to watch as the cranes lifted one large beam to the top of the third floor and two construction workers secured it in place, reflecting on how slowly the crane was moving and how it must feel so laborious to work at that pace. Six weeks later the progress was obvious as they are now working on the ninth and tenth floors. For anyone working in the neighborhood these changes were probably not noticeable, but for me they were striking.
I'm rather fascinated by construction and it's great to see a new building going up in the Kendall Square, Massachusetts original biotech hub, despite 2024's challenges for the biotech industry. For the folks who work in the building next door, it's probably noisy, dusty, causes traffic problems from time to time, people block the sidewalk to take photos when they just want to grab their lunch quickly between meetings, and they know that when it's done the great light currently shining in their windows will be blocked.
Lots of change is good, like a new job or a new house or the latest tech, but even positive change can be disruptive and stressful and there's no way to avoid all change. If we hide under a rock and come out later, change will have happened around us and we will have to adapt. Effective change management is crucial in the biotech industry, especially for executive leaders and recruiters.
Understanding the Impact of Change and Employing Innovative Leadership Strategies to Smoothly Navigate Enterprise Transformation, Maintaining Operational Efficiency and Team Collaboration
Major change is typically communicated broadly and in multiple forums, such as company town hall meetings, Q&A sessions, emails, in-person communication, more meetings. Sometimes we don't think about change management when it doesn't feel like a big deal to us, but communication around minor change is still important.
Even in the course of the daily grind, change happens, especially the annoying kind. We've all arrived just in time for a 9am meeting and the elevator was down, or your laptop crashed as you are about to join a meeting, or you didn't know that your email app was going to be upgraded and look completely different after you restarted your computer. You planned to work on Project A this week and now you've been asked, or directed, to work on Project B. You can't necessarily predict the laptop crashing (unless you've been ignoring blue screens or messages requiring you to restart), and perhaps the elevator went down unexpectedly, but odds are that it's scheduled maintenance. You might grumble that it would have been nice to know you would be on Project B.
You simply cannot overcommunicate where change is involved, even minor change. Remember that your brave new initiative may cause stress for others. Scheduled change or disruption should always be communicated ahead of time. Often an email is sent to all employees; sometimes there might be a sign in the elevator a few days ahead. I'll be the first to admit that I don't always read all of my emails, and I don't always see signs in the elevator (missed that ice-cream social last year). Small but meaningful extra steps could include asking the building security guard or receptionist to mention the activity to folks as they leave the day before, put notes on the tables in the lunchroom, or send a (no response required) calendar invitation so it pops up ahead of the activity.
Here are some tips for communicating change:
Do it in person. If you can join a meeting, chat with folks by the coffee machine, stop by their desk, do it. Follow it up with an email.
Don't make the mistake of assuming that because you got the go-ahead from one member of a team, the whole team is aware of a change you are planning -make sure you have spoken with the whole team.
Use multiple modes of communication -don't assume that you have communicated to the whole team if you only used one mode of communication -see item 1 above.
Use AI to prepare and schedule your communication. Don't spend hours to wordsmith an email that AI could prepare in a few seconds -feed it the relevant information and ask it to be diplomatic, polite and apologize for any inconvenience.
Use whatever technology you have available to automate sending out your messages. You can use emergency communication systems for non life-threatening situations too, for example network outages or text reminders that only one elevator in the building will be working this morning.
Whenever you can, give people plenty of time to prepare for change and let them know as far ahead as possible. Be sure to send reminders closer to the time.
Explain. People like to know why something needs to happen that will throw them off their routine, and they also like to feel their work is important -for example, we need to upgrade the software on your laptop because of a new cybersecurity threat, or, we just got a letter from a regulatory agency and we need your help to respond immediately.
Be flexible -if you can accommodate a reasonable requested schedule change without major disruption to your project, then do.
When possible, ask others for their opinion -they like that. Depending on the type of change you might be able to put out a poll (for example changing the menu in the cafe, or the color of the paint in the conference room).
Listen to people's concerns. This one is important -don't assume you have thought of everything; someone may bring up a valid concern that you need to address.
Put a positive spin on the outcome. Find the silver lining -if you can come up with something positive you'll feel better about it and will be able to sell it better to others.
Feed the people. You don't want anyone getting hangry around your project -bring cookies, pizza, chocolate, something nut free, gluten free and vegan. Try to take dietary restrictions into consideration -you don't want one person left out when you bought lunch to sweeten the mood.
Do what you can to alleviate any inconvenience for others -your efforts will be appreciated. Small things like dropping labeled boxes at everyone's desk before a move will be greatly appreciated (recruit your intern for this task).
Apologize for the inconvenience. If you are going to disrupt someone's day, week, month, then acknowledge it and let them know you are sorry.
Be honest. If the change is unavoidable and unpleasant and you can't find something good about the change, see items 12-14.
Say "Thank You." For their patience/understanding/help/hard work.
This is all about empathy and communication, and maybe a tiny bit of manipulation. If you remember that the change you are causing will cause stress for others that will help you to think about how to alleviate that stress; if you can make them want the change too, it will make it easier for everyone.
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