Managing Transitions
| Phase of Transition . | What People Feel and Do . | How Leaders Can Help . |
|---|---|---|
| Ending, letting go | Grief, loss, sadness, anxiety, resentment, anger, disorientation | Identify who is losing what |
| Deny, withdraw, disengage | Acknowledge losses openly and empathically | |
| Validate people’s emotions and signs of grief | ||
| Give information repeatedly: be transparent | ||
| Treat the past with respect | ||
| Neutral Zone | All of the above, plus the following: | Normalize this phase, acknowledge the limbo feeling |
| Desperation, excitement, possibility | Create temporary systems: huddles, task forces, etc | |
| Follow loudest contrarian | Minimize unimportant additional changes | |
| Look to leave organization | Facilitate creativity, experimentation, and innovation: leverage the undetermined to cocreate the better | |
| New Beginning | All of the above, plus the following: | Convey purpose clearly and repeatedly |
| Hope, connection, meaning | Paint the picture of meaningful vision | |
| Wax nostalgic, revert to previous ways of doing things | Share a clear plan | |
| Give team members each a part to play getting there |
| Phase of Transition . | What People Feel and Do . | How Leaders Can Help . |
|---|---|---|
| Ending, letting go | Grief, loss, sadness, anxiety, resentment, anger, disorientation | Identify who is losing what |
| Deny, withdraw, disengage | Acknowledge losses openly and empathically | |
| Validate people’s emotions and signs of grief | ||
| Give information repeatedly: be transparent | ||
| Treat the past with respect | ||
| Neutral Zone | All of the above, plus the following: | Normalize this phase, acknowledge the limbo feeling |
| Desperation, excitement, possibility | Create temporary systems: huddles, task forces, etc | |
| Follow loudest contrarian | Minimize unimportant additional changes | |
| Look to leave organization | Facilitate creativity, experimentation, and innovation: leverage the undetermined to cocreate the better | |
| New Beginning | All of the above, plus the following: | Convey purpose clearly and repeatedly |
| Hope, connection, meaning | Paint the picture of meaningful vision | |
| Wax nostalgic, revert to previous ways of doing things | Share a clear plan | |
| Give team members each a part to play getting there |
Remember that these phases do not necessarily occur in linear, sequential fashion. There will be people experiencing all phases around any given change at all times, and they may vacillate. It is when the majority of people have moved from one phase to the next that collective transition progression occurs.
Source: Bridges W, Bridges S. Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change. 2017.