Overcoming Change Fatigue in our Current Environment

At the end of the first post I said the next topic would be about ways to avoid Change Fatigue. However, I’m going to change that a bit and discuss ways to help mitigate the effects of the challenges we all now face.

Officials around the country are re-imposing restrictions on a variety of industries and institutions due to an increase in diagnosed COVID infections. The guidelines directing the response to the COVID environment continue to shift and are often contradictory. The uncertainty this creates is increasing the level of anxiety being felt by all of us.

Everyone I’ve been talking to are becoming more and more concerned about the impacts to their lives and livelihood. The interweaving of uncertainty about what the next change may bring and not knowing how long the COVID environment (the “new normal”) will last, is deepening and strengthening the level of change fatigue we’re all feeling. In simple terms we are all just feeling tired – very tired.

This mental state is rapidly becoming the biggest threat we’re facing since it saps our resilience and energy. Now more than ever we need to be creative and find innovative solutions. And we need energy to be creative. So how do we overcome (mitigate) the feelings of fatigue and begin to move forward?

Mitigation is defined as those actions taken to reduce the painfulness, seriousness or severity of a situation. The first step in a mitigation effort is to divert attention away from the pain aspect and focus on the fix. You need to remember that there is tremendous power in words. One of the easiest ways to downplay the painful aspects of a situation is to avoid statements that create a negative emotional context (e.g. the phrase “COVID environment” I used above instead of “COVID crisis”). You need to focus on whatever positive things you can find.

Second you need to quickly take actions that move you forward even if it’s simply a salvage effort. I have always been truly amazed by people who immediately begin to pick up the pieces after a disaster. These actions, no matter how small they may seem, move the focus from looking at the damage to looking forward to rebuilding what was lost.

However, getting your staff to move directly from a negative to a positive outlook is unrealistic. The same goes for you. The goal should be to get everyone moved from a negative to neutral viewpoint (“Yes it’s bad, but we can do this.”) You’re the leader and you need to get to the neutral point first before you can move the others there. Remember, you set the tone for the rest of your group. Your actions and attitude will determine the level of success that will be achieved.

In order to get to a neutral position, you need to eliminate as much uncertainty as possible. Knowing the facts, even if it’s bad news, is the first step in forward movement. Sometimes bad news is better than not knowing. Obtaining a realistic diagnosis of the situation helps you to understand it in objective terms. Identify the issues and divide them into three buckets: what can be overcome now; what can be overcome with help; and what cannot be overcome. Do your best to keep emotion out of this analysis and stay positive - as long as there’s a pulse there’s a chance.

Maintain revenue generation as best as you can and project what that looks like into the future. All revenue opportunities are good as long as they have a positive margin. Shift resources to higher margin services if possible. You might need to accept that the balance sheet will not show a profit for a while. Lighten the load as much as you can but try to keep what will be hard to replace. Cutting a low margin service or product may be tempting but try to ascertain what the mid and long-term impact will be. Does the service or product contribute to the purchase of other, high margin services or products? Does it constitute a consistent baseline revenue stream that you use to maintain a line of credit? And work hard to keep your employees, especially the most positive or knowledgeable or creative.

Create a graph of your revenue and expenses. Keep the first pass simple using historical figures. There is no need to calculate discounted revenue and fixed and variable costs at this point. You can do that if you need to get a more refined look at your situation. The scariest thing you’ll face is that spot on the chart where your cumulative expenses cross your revenue projections on an upward trajectory. You need to push that out as far as possible to outlast the potential duration of the COVID environment.

Take this information and chart your course in thirty-day segments. Get your staff to help.

Remember that one of the characteristics of change fatigue is the feeling of being powerless to affect anything about the situation. The more your staff contributes the more they become invested in the overall success. They go from feeling like an employee to seeing they are a partner in the rebuilding effort. At that point their focus will be on possible solutions not solely on the problems. You’ll need that cooperation to succeed.

Evaluate your priorities. You have proven your ability to run your business so don’t lose sight of that. The question is do you have the time to do that, continuously evaluate and react to the changing situation and develop the plans necessary to weather the storm? Finally, don’t be afraid to ask for support. We all need to pull together these days and we would welcome an opportunity to help you, even if it’s just to lend an ear.

You can reach us at: contact@catherinemainsworth.net