In a recent Forbes article, BigSpeak Executive Vice President Ken Sterling shares helpful insight for leading change in business. “It turns out, the one thing people in business like less than change is not being consulted about the change before it happens — even if it’s well thought out” says Ken.

Every day we make choices in business and life. Some of these decisions are small, like what coffee to buy for the break room. Other choices require a little more thought and add a little more pressure, such as hiring a new person, making back to office plans, or integrating a new software. 

Whatever change or decision you’re looking to make, Ken has 5 key tips that will help you communicate empathetically with a team to ensure smooth transitions.

As previously published on Forbes

Have you ever come up with a great idea to transform your business, then found your team was unhappy about it? It doesn’t matter if the change is your carefully considered, return-to-office policy you spent sleepless nights over or something as seemingly small as what coffee to purchase for the break room — you’ll likely still run into trouble when you announce the change.

It turns out, the one thing people in business like less than change is not being consulted about the change before it happens — even if it’s well thought out. Often, when we change things, it’s not the policy or procedure we change that’s most important to people. Instead, it’s how we communicate that policy or procedure change that matters most to our teams. This is especially true after the last two years we’ve all experienced together. 

If you’re currently undergoing a change effort, here are a few ways I learned (the hard way) to communicate empathetically with a team to smooth transitions.

Make people feel heard.

The first way to communicate with empathy is to make people feel heard. This means involving everyone in your business who the change might affect. I know some of you business leaders are cringing when I say that. I’m not talking about voting on changes. Instead, I’m saying make sure you make everyone feel heard by getting their input.

The Harvard Business Review article “The Secret To Leading Organizational Change Is Empathy” highlights how business leaders feel about change. Researchers found that of the 69% of leaders who were conducting or planning a change effort, only 50% had fully considered their team’s sentiments about the change. How do you think that change went for those that didn’t consult their teams? Sometimes being able to express concern is the most important thing for your team.

Be curious.

Once someone expresses a concern, don’t stop there. Instead, be curious. Empathetic leaders ask questions to learn more and go deeper. First, repeat what you heard to make sure you show you understood what was said. Then, ask a question to understand more about the concern.

When you ask questions, people feel that you care about what they had to say. It also will help you tweak a change to make it work well with your team.

Use the meaningful pause.

As leaders, sometimes we love to hear our own voices. I learned the hard way to use silence. Let silence be your friend when communicating with your team.

When someone speaks or after I ask a question, I pause and wait. I don’t fill the space with my own words or try to finish their sentences. This allows people time to think, gather their thoughts and maybe offer up something they weren’t willing to say before. It also shows you respect the listener and are willing to hear what they have to say.

Address the elephant in the room.

This might be the hardest part. Don’t forget to address the elephant in the room. Don’t shy away from the hard stuff when there is change involved. By addressing the hard stuff, people know that you aren’t ignoring them or their concerns. So whether it’s a return-to-office date, a vaccine mandate, a layoff or even a change of coffee in the break room, be upfront about what’s happening and why you are doing it.

Show kindness.

Finally, remember to show kindness. Sometimes the tone you use is just as important as what you say. Making a kind gesture goes a long way to helping people feel you care about how the change will affect them. This could be offering to make accommodations for your team or simply buying everyone lunch when you discuss the change.

Leading change can be difficult. It’s even more difficult when you don’t have your whole team or company behind you. One way to lead a more successful change effort is to lead with empathy. It starts with communicating empathetically. Make people feel heard, be curious, listen, don’t avoid the hard stuff and show kindness.