Change can be challenging, especially with a resistant team. As a leader, you can help your team embrace change through simple, low-risk strategies that gradually make a difference over time. Start small and watch your team’s mindset shift gradually.
Is your team resistant to change or more open to embracing it? There’s a lot of change in the world outside, and if your team is resistant or slow to change, it’s difficult to navigate those external changes.
This question came up recently when I was speaking at a senior leaders forum. We were discussing what it takes to be a future-ready leader, and a participant asked me about change. She has inherited a team that is resistant to change, and it’s been difficult for her to get them to think and act differently. She asked me for help.
I told her there’s bad news and good news!
The bad news is you can’t just snap your fingers and expect everything to change overnight. But the good news is that you can facilitate that change in a low-risk way by taking small steps that get people to change their mindset.
One of the examples I gave her is an activity I call “Teach Me”, where a team member volunteers to teach something simple to the rest of the team. For example, at your regular staff meetings, you could set aside 5-10 minutes for this activity.
What they teach could be from their professional role – such as:
- designing a better PowerPoint slide
- learning how to spot fake emails
- starting a difficult conversation with a colleague
Or it could be something from their personal life – such as:
- making an origami crane
- learning a magic trick they can show to friends and family
- understanding nutritional labels on food packaging
What they teach isn’t important! Your goal is to get everyone in the team learning something new. Learning is about change, especially if they can actually do the activity during the session. For example, if someone teaches a magic trick, have everyone try it out right there.
Could you use “Teach Me” with your team? If so, great! Go ahead and try it.
For more ideas, download my worksheet with twelve activities you might consider for your team. You won’t use them all, but you might find a few that resonate.
Don’t make a big deal of these activities when you introduce them. You DON’T start by saying “We need to be more change-ready” or “We need to be more open to change”. Instead, just do it! If you find an activity doesn’t work, just move on and try another. These are all low risk, but with potential high return.
If you’d like to find out how we can work together to help your team be more future-ready and open to change, I’d love to chat!
