McLean & Company summarizes the change process into four main phases: develop a communication plan, introduce the change, implement new skills and behaviors, and adopt the new norm. Throughout these phases, staff can have emotional reactions that resemble one of the following personas:
- The Enthusiast - your change champion.
- The Skeptic - your critical thinker.
- The Fence-sitter - your go-with-the-flow worker.
- The Saboteur - your actively dissenting change hater.
Use this research to identify staff members at each phase of change as they transcend from one persona to the next, and understand how to manage them at each point. Leverage their personalities to make your change initiative more successful.