How to Introduce Change (Without Killing Your Culture!)

I’ve been thinking a lot about change, and it’s no wonder. 2021 has been a year of tremendous change for both my company and for me personally. For the entirety of my 17 years with Adopt-a-Pet.com, we were a small nonprofit straddling the animal welfare and technology space. We had passion, incredible grit, and an unbeatable team, but were definitely low on budget and resources. Despite that, we made a huge impact, with tens of thousands of animal shelter partners, hundreds of thousands of adoptable pets posted at any given time, and countless lifelong bonds between people and pets created.  

In September of 2021, we were acquired by a small division of a large corporation. Suddenly, the world of our close-knit team changed. Fears surfaced, tensions heightened. Onboarding into this new universe was overwhelming. On top of that, I began a new role as CEO. We asked our team to accept many changes at once. Three months later, I can proudly say we haven’t lost a single person. We locked arms and faced the proverbial winds of change together, and I daresay we are stronger now than ever before as a result.

Change is scary, but it’s not new to us. As a small, nimble organization with a love of Lean methodology, it’s in our blood. And we’re good at it. As I reflect on what we’ve done right (and the things we did very, very wrong over the course of 17 years that we learned from), I think, for us, good change management comes down to a handful of simple things.

Be transparent: We share potential changes with each other as early in the process as possible. That’s right…I said potential changes. Even before a change has been decided on, we often bring it to the team for feedback. This usually takes the form of something like, “We have a problem, and here’s what it is. Here are a couple of solutions we’re kicking around. We’d love feedback and any alternative solutions we haven’t considered.” I know a lot of leaders believe it adds additional stress on their teams to notify them of changes that may not even happen. I can say with all enthusiasm that the opposite is true. Trust your team; they are grown-ups and they can take it.

There will always be people on your team for whom change is especially stressful. Seek those people out privately before you make a big announcement. Give them a one-on-one heads up. Believe me, they’ll appreciate it.

Listen: It’s crucial to listen, especially to the people who will be most affected by the change. And really listen. Many times a concern or new idea voiced by someone close to the problem has helped us go in a better direction. Even when concerns are voiced and we still decide to go forward with a change, having these open dialogues during the decision process helps lead to the all-important disagree-and-commit resolution. 

Explain the decision: Once a decision is reached, give a full explanation of the “why”. Review the process you took to get there. This helps to get buy-in; even if people don’t agree with the decision, at least they have an understanding of the path that led you there. Humanize the decision process and your team will likely extend human empathy to you while you implement the new change.

Be explicit and acknowledge the change: This sounds obvious, but I’ve seen this go terribly wrong. If you announce a new policy or process or business decision without explicitly acknowledging that it’s a departure from an old one, you give the impression of hypocrisy or unstable leadership. This is when whispers are heard of “I don’t get it. First they said X and now they say Y? They’re all over the place!” On the other hand, if you explicitly state that the old way of doing things, or your old philosophy, is not working out, give examples, and talk about why you believe the new change may be a better direction, you give the impression of an agile leader who is willing to pivot to keep the business and the culture at its healthiest. It’s remarkable what a difference how you frame this conversation can make. And speaking of being agile…

Every change is an experiment: Always remind the team that this change, like every other, is a test. Let them know that, while you believe this is the right path forward, you’re a fallible human being like anyone else. If you collectively find this isn’t working, you’ll pivot together to a new test. Tell them, and mean it, that you’ll be collecting feedback along the way. This is an important message; it means that if you need to change further, or roll back the changes, you’re not seen as indecisive; instead you’re (correctly) seen as actively looking for the right path.

Further embed the change: Announcing a change and expecting it to catch fire isn’t enough. Meet with small groups to address questions. Make sure you pay special attention to equipping the managers in the organization with the tools and understanding they will need to spread and operationalize the change throughout the entire org.

Follow up and review: Have a solid follow-up plan to continually monitor if the changes are being adopted, what positive and negative effects they’re having (and on whom), and talk with the people most affected. Solicit feedback and make tweaks. Demonstrating a commitment to continuous improvement is the goal here.

Change is scary for most people, but enrolling your team in the entire process and being honest and vulnerable, open to feedback, and willing to pivot can really help make it less disruptive!