This 2015 has been a year of change for
me. A year ago I decided to take a job offer in a new company. This had
a major implication, I needed to move to another city, Kuopio, about 400 km
away from where I was living previously.
The idea of moving to Kuopio has been on our minds already for
few years as my husband is originally from this area and his family is still
living around here. However, it was just the last year when we felt that it was
the right time to take the chance, let everything behind and start again in a
new place. After moving from Venezuela to Finland 11 years ago, moving to a new
city did not feel as a major change, however, my new job meant starting something
new, too. (I will go back to that later...).
Almost a year has passed and I think that we have managed
our change in a good way and we have learned a lot from this change.
How we
managed our change:
Readiness: There is a Zen proverb that says that "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear", I could not agree more with this. If
you are planning a change, you need to be ready for it. When you are ready, things start to flow. Eight or five years ago
perhaps I was not ready for this change, the conditions, priorities and my
attitude were different then.
Understanding
the change: Before you manage any project that
involves change, you must understand how you react to change. You also might
evaluate how people around you react to change because they will also be affected by it. Are we on the same page? Do we
want the same things as a result of this change? When you understand this, you
will be in a better position to plan proactively the change and be ready for
the effect that change has on your life.
Implementing
the change: Taking actions is the most important step. You need to consider what do you need to do to achieve the goal? Which
steps do you need to take? How long does it take? How much does it cost? Does your change can be managed in different stages? Who is
responsible for each stage? Who is joining the process and in which phase?
Communicate
change: involving people around us was
essential. When we were considering about change we informed people around us
about our plans and schedules. In fact, our conversation (and “research”) about
this change option started well in advance, even before I was considering
taking the job here. Communicating the change helps you to see your goals under different perspectives. You will be surprised how much people are willing to help you when you communicate your goals and your change plans.
Ask
for help: We have been very lucky to
received help and support from the people around us. Our change would have not
been possible without those people who let us join their life, helped us
arranged things and also have helped to settle down here.
Resistance
to change: even you are willing and
ready for the change, you consciously or unconsciously will always face some
resistance. The adapting and adjusting to the new routines and new life takes
time. You need to learn how to do things in the "new way" so, you might consider this when planning your change.
Prepare for the unexpected: sometimes things are not going according to
your plan. In fact, most of the time...This is not necessary a bad thing but,
you just need to be ready to improvise and react to the unexpected challenges
and situations.
I can say I have developed my change management skills when
moving to different countries and cities. I am more and more ready to adapt to
new situations and different kind of contexts. This skill is very useful
in my professional life as I can adapt better to new situations at work and identify
people and organizations who/which are resisting to change.I have learned that
there is not written rules on how managing change or on how long does it takes
to implement change, but attitude, planning and communication are essential to
manage any kind of change in personal or professional scenarios
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