Change in The Workplace

As you know we have been dealing with lots of changes recently, as the majority of the department knows, we have had a lot of changes in the last five years. We had Care Radius come into our lives, managerial changes, new supervisors, line of business split, additions into Care Radius, letter changes, and now the Benefit Determination Team moving into the Commercial and Medicaid line of business—this is only to name a few. We are also dealing with lots of changes with Intermountain Healthcare.

Change is a constant in the healthcare field, every day there are different instances where we need to redirect ourselves. There are three types of attitudes when change occurs. There is 1) fear, 2) acceptance, and 3) thriving. Some might fear a change one day and then accept it the other, and in the future thrive in it! It is all based on your attitude.

Without change a company cannot thrive and improve. Do you know the story of how Blockbuster went out of business? They did not want to change their business model. As Greg Satell from his article on Forbes.com A Look Back at Why Blockbuster Really Failed and Why it Didn’t Have To—he states “In 2000, Reed Hastings, the founder of a company called Netflix, flew to Dallas to propose a partnership to Blockbuster CEO John Antioco and his team. The idea was that Netflix would run Blockbuster’s brand online and Antioco’s firm would promote Netflix in stores. Hastings got laughed out of the room”. So what happened? Well Netflix is thriving, they are a $28 billion dollar company and Blockbuster went bankrupt in 2010. Moral of the story? Because Blockbuster’s CEO did not want to explore this disruptive change, they essentially created their own competitor that shined brighter than them causing many to lose jobs in the process.

Now I am not saying that our changes are going to be this drastic, this is just an example about why companies need change!

Here are some fun facts from an article titled It’s Time to Change the Way We Think About Change by Lisa Owner: Neuroscience tells us that our brains are hardwired to fear change. The thought of change immediately puts our brains in a “threat state”. We do this unconsciously and start to feel uneasy about the change. Due to the amount of energy the brain uses while in that threat state, it is extremely hard for us to use our more sophisticated parts of the brain, the parts that include our creative, analytical and reasoning abilities.

How do we overcome this fear? Keep reading and I will tell you more! Thanks to Ban Weston’s article 10 Tips for Dealing with Change Positively In Your Workplace for helping me out with this section:

The most important thing we can do to when change is happening in the workplace is to acknowledge it. Recognizing and accepting change is one of the first steps towards managing it.

Secondly we need to face these fears. Writing them down is an objective form and a way to stop dwelling on them. Go through each fear and write down what you would do if that fear came to pass. Knowing you have a plan can really help defuse the emotional anxiety.

Confront your feelings and seek support. Face your feelings about fear and the transition you are going through, especially when the change is impose and beyond your control. “You don’t have to act as a victim, even when you are not in control. The best thing to do is accept your feelings and then reach out to close colleagues, partner, loved ones and talk to them about what you are feeling”.

Stop fearful thoughts and replace them with something positive. As humans we can overthink situations causing the situation to appear worse than it is. Fear stems from this and creating negative thoughts and scenarios in your head about what the future holds. Ask yourself questions like: In the past when I handled change really well, what did I do? How did I handle it? What actions did I take that really worked for me? How did I deal with the change in my communication with others? Was I patient? Was I kind? Etc.

Be flexible and embracing of the change. Instead of hiding from your fear and creating to keep it away from you, be open and flexible to new challenges and tasks.

Be part of the change, adopt an attitude of anticipation and excitement. Change is an opportunity! Get involved in new committees and work teams. Be an influencer and driver of change, that way you will feel empowered and less fearful. See the positive as the way forward.

Communication is always important and especially when you face change. Part of the fear of change is the unknown. If what you are going through at work or in your life is not being communicated effectively, make it your business to be proactive in finding out more about what the change involves.

Reduce Stress and Anxiety by being focused and strong, fit, healthy, and resilient. To be resilient you need to be calm and in control so that you are able to make good, clear, and rational decisions.

Have a sense of meaning and take stock of how valuable you are to your peers and boss. Acknowledge your success and the valuable skills and attributes you offer. This is perhaps the time to make yourself more valuable.

Continue to do your work and see the big picture. It is easy during times of reorganization to sit back and see what will happen tomorrow. It is easy to have that attitude as in some cases the work you are doing might change; however, remember that till you have a new direction, you need to focus on achieving your designated goals and tasks. Remember that a great positive attitude will help others around you remain positive during the change.