This Podcast Is Episode Number 414, And It's About Leading Contractors Successfully Through Major Organizational Change We are all currently experiencing and adapting to present pandemic times. We've probably adjusted our business model to cater to our clients, new and existing. Construction business change is almost always a good thing, but often poor management means that the workforce becomes disengaged and the change process painful. In the worst cases, this results in irreparable damage being done. It doesn't need to be this way. Follow these steps and empower yourself to lead your contractors through significant organizational change successfully. 1. Understand the change Make sure you understand precisely what is changing and how it affects your people. Speak to whomever you need to ascertain this properly. You need to know what the impact is on your people and the jobs they do.  Educating yourself will mean you're better equipped to communicate with your staff. It will give them confidence that you are the right person to lead them into the unknown. It will also relieve their anxieties, as they will trust you to keep them informed and look after their individual and collective interests. 2. Communicate effectively Regular and varied communication is essential in managing change. Initial briefings to employees should be face to face, with adequate time set aside to prepare beforehand.  They should be delivered by an appropriately senior manager who also has excellent presentation skills and a natural delivery style. The audience needs to be engaged, not alienated. In the future, set up a recognized channel that will control information flow on daily developments.  This could be an online micro-site or a newsletter or bulletin. Ensure the tone and language are upbeat and that the positive messages the business wants to promote about the change are a recurring theme. You should consult with your marketing team for advice on how to do this effectively. 3. Consult with your people Consult staff on their views and provide clear channels for those opinions to be received. Consider providing an email address to receive questions, or if you have set up a micro-site, set up a message board that allows for questions and answers to be posted online.  It is equally important to ensure you are responding swiftly to those questions. It's a good idea to set up and publish an FAQ list, preventing answering the same question multiple times. This will also help inform the content of future communications through understanding the hot topics.  Ultimately, the change may be mandatory and not open to amendment, but even if this were true, communication must still be a two-way street. If you don't demonstrate an active interest in employees' views, you risk an outright mutiny. 4. Use your champions Identify the characters in your team that are positive about the change, and pick out one or two popular to hold or sway over their teammates. These are your wingmen, and it's essential you tap into that resource early. Get them on the side and meet with them regularly. Explain the critical role they have to play in helping others to stay upbeat. As well as being a supportive and positive voice amongst the people, they are also your eyes and ears, in a position of trust with colleagues. This means they will pick up on potential concerns or flashpoints early and bring these to your attention in confidence.  Your champions will play a pivotal role in supporting managers; positive voices from the populace are invaluable. 5. Control the dissenters The negative voices in your team are often the loudest and most influential. You will have several people in your organization who are confused or undecided about how they feel about the change. They are susceptible to being convinced by your team's detractors, who will attempt to rally them to their cause. If all those sitting on the fence jump off on the wrong side, your...