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For most people, January is a time for celebration and reflection. As we pop a cork, we think back on the year stagecoach

past - its ups and downs, trials and triumphs - and then turn our attention to the year ahead. Where were our mistakes, and what can we do to avoid them next time? What opportunities did we miss out on, and how can we catch them as we're going forward?

In fact, a fresh calendar can be a great springboard for the things we want to accomplish in our personal lives, whether it's signing up for that new class, finally getting organized, or making the decision to shed those extra couple of pounds. That's because these changes are almost always a good idea, no matter when we undertake them. Seeing a new pair of digits on the calendar just helps us find the momentum to do the right thing. For businesses, however, the situation can be murkier. January is an easy time to start over, but that doesn't always mean it's the best one.

For one thing, the New Year can prompt managers to make moves that are necessary, or even harmful. Organizational change can be a powerful force for good, but only if it's propelling us forward. Without that positive direction, we're only moving things around. I'm reminded of a quote from The Traveler (1824) by Washington Irving:

"There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse, as I have found in traveling in a stagecoach, that it's often a comfort to shift one's position and be bruised in a new place."

We all know the feeling of making things different without making them better, even if most of us have never been on a stage coach. The fact of the matter is that we're conditioned to think of change, any change as a positive thing. From home makeovers to mergers and acquisitions, we've come to expect shifting our lives around will lead to cleaner houses, bigger promotions and swelling profits.

The problem is that we push too hard for those benefits. We reach for change, instead of letting it come to us. We want to do something drastic, and so we go farther than we should, grasping at anything we think might work, personally and professionally. Think lemon diets and half-written novels only apply outside the workplace? Don't
forget New Coke, the dot.com bust, and the Edsel automobile.

The point is that businesses can make impulsive, disastrous changes, just like individuals do. Of course, this isn't to say that you or your company should remain static. We've all heard a million times that businesses that can't evolve go the way of the stage coach, and it's true. Learning to adapt isn't just profitable - it's necessary. So the key becomes not to just make changes, but to make the right changes. We don't want to shift our bruises to a new place; we want to make a smoother ride.

Let's spend a few moments looking at how we find the right ones, and what we can do to make them stick.

The first step is making sure that any proposed change makes sense. In other words, the change should address an issue other than change itself. Ask yourself why you're considering a move. "Profitability," "employee retention" and "a changing marketplace" are all examples of a good answer. "Shaking things up," or "waking up
the corporate culture" are not.

It's also critical that you have an expected outcome in mind. Identify what you're hoping to get from the change, in the most concrete terms possible. For instance, you might be looking for "a ten percent increase in sales from existing customers," or "fifteen percent lower turnover." If you can't come up with a goal that can be expressed in this way, consider whether the move is actually helping you enough to justify the time and expense of implementing it.

And finally, do your homework. Before you make any major shift, try to solicit some feedback from the staff and departments that will be affected. Here a few sample questions that you might ask:

You'll notice that this kind of survey asks a lot more of each person than having them 'completely darken the circle.' That's its value. It's designed to stretch them beyond the everyday surface questions that managers ask when they don't really want a complete answer. It invites honest answers, not speedy ones.

To get these answers, however, you'll need a facilitator that team members trust and respect. If you don't have that person on site - and you're in trouble if you don't - then it's a good idea to outsource this to someone else. Your staff won't open up if they feel like they aren't being heard, or that their suggestions will hurt their place in the organization.

To this point, you have to be prepared to hear the truth. The chances that everyone will tell you that everything is wonderful are slim. It's more likely that you'll hear something that will keep you up a few nights. That's OK, so long as you recognize it and move in the right direction.

Once you decide that a shift is needed, go about it the right way. The scope and degree of the change will play a big part in determining whether it's something that can be implemented quickly on the fly, or if a more formal process is needed. Either way, here are some steps to make things easier:

1. Determine which staff and departments will be affected by the change, and focus your attention on training and acclimating them to those changes. Be careful not to overlook 'spillover' effects from one area of an organization to another.

2. Make sure that your executives and key leaders are prepared. Most frontline employees, the very people who will determine whether your change is carried out successfully, take their direction from their immediate managers and departments heads. They'll have a much easier time listening to direction from their supervisors than they will "a new policy from corporate." Make sure that your field generals are onboard, because any transition that you take without them will likely fail.

3. For the same reason, communicating the reasons for, and benefits of, the change is essential. Otherwise the move may be seen as just another unrealistic effort by some far away executives who don't understand "how things really work."

4. Select the best time of year to begin making changes. January is popular, but staff may still be reeling from the holidays. Likewise, in February employees and departments may suffer from depleted budgets and failed resolutions, leaving them as gloomy as the weather. But March offers new hope, with the past year tucked away in memory and better spring weather on the way. So even though you might strategize changes in the beginning of the year, it's often best to wait a couple of months to begin implementing them. This is a generalization, however. If spring marks the end of your company's fiscal year, or some other event that will leave personnel harried, another time might be better considered.

5. Determine what new skills might be necessary for employees to master in order to execute the change successfully. There's no use in asking your staff to perform a new task if they don't know how to carry it out. Know what you want them to do, and make sure they know how to do it.

6. Be sure there is enough support and follow-up in place to ensure that the change is relatively seamless, and that it has staying power. Otherwise, you risk having your new initiative or policy go the way of most resolutions - a nice idea that gets forgotten in the day-to-day grind.

7. Be flexible. In spite of the best efforts, not every piece of your change project may work as planned once it reaches the real world. This is characteristic of the change process. Be prepared to tweak and adjust segments that don't integrate well, introduce new ideas as they come along, and even drop certain elements as needed.

Using these steps as a baseline, you'll be able to invoke the kind of positive, lasting change that every company thrives on. You'll also invite personnel to participate in a process that they understand, rather than have them feel like they're getting 'New Years busywork.'

By now, you're probably figuring out that change isn't always as easy as it looks. But that shouldn't take away the fact that, despite the challenges, the right kinds of changes are always worth it. The secret, of course, is getting the right kind of help.

With more than twenty years real-world experience in change and productivity, PSI can work with you to begin the New Year on the right foot. We've helped some of America's top companies hire, train and develop their employees with an eye for getting more out of their human resources and the bottom line. Our success has been built on the four pillars of any continuous improvement plan:

PSI offers a variety of assessments, tools and processes to help individuals and organizations reach optimal success. With our experience in government, hospitality, manufacturing, medical, and education – not to mention dozens of other industries – you can be sure we can help you take your team to the next level. Call us at 404.320.7834 or 1.800.906.7834 today for a no obligation consultation. If you're looking for an affordable yet effective way to reduce costs, improve productivity and increase profits, then we want to hear from you.