Q and A Tuesday

Q & A has moved to Tuesday! Today's Question comes from Yara B. of Wales. Yara's question: "I am in a pickle, my new boss has been changing everything in our department for the past two months, and we are struggling with it all. Whenever we push back, he says we are stuck in the past but what he doesn't realize is that some of the changes are having real negative impacts on other departments and people. How can we explain this to him and support the positive changes he is making. HELP."

Yara, thanks for the question. WOW, I have been there on both sides of this issue! Let me start by saying he is on the 90- day plan ( meaning, he wants to try to get changes during his first 90 days ) There are two problems with the 90-day program, how it was created and most people don't understand how people deal with change and the impact to a company. Let's address what you can do to help first, and then we can talk about the history of the 90-day. First gather the team, because this is going to be a team effort, Ask the other members of your team to support you as you set up a meeting with him so you can all discuss the changes. Be supportive, let him know ( if you guys, really are) excited and happy about the changes that are happening, but let him know that some of the changes are having a negative impact on your team and company give clear non-personal examples of the effects. Let him know you want to make the changes but have some historical context to what is happening that would help make the transition better, remind him that people need the "why" behind the change. Lastly, suggest that as a group you create a communication plan for the changes that are being made so you can communicate to the company what is happening, why it's happening and when it will happen. That will make life better for everyone. Hope that helps, let us how it goes. If you are interested in the history of 90-days, I will provide a link in the comments to our blog post on it. If anyone would like to give Yara more advice, please feel free to comment.