Managing Change: What Keeps You Up at Night?

I am not talking about your significant other's roaring snore, or the television being left on. Instead, I am referencing those daily activities (or lack thereof) in business that cause you to worry at night. For many of us, these thoughts can be boiled down to one common denominator - "Change". 

If managing change is causing you to pound the pillow or count sheep as you toss and turn all night, we've got some advice.  

We’ve all had plenty of those sleepless nights.  The mind starts churning, tossing unfinished business back and forth like a hot slice of bread right out of the toaster.  No sooner than you get through the mental gymnastics of trying to solve one problem, another one pops up.   

Managing Change - Sleep Stealers

• Have I forgotten something I needed to check out when I hired this guy? 

• How am I going to tell him he just isn’t cutting it? 
• Where am I going to find the time to hire somebody to replace him?
• Would I’d be better off just keeping him on and seeing what happens?
• How am I going to get my work done when I’m spending so much time cleaning up his mistakes?
• Oh No! I got so tied up I forgot to call about that late shipment!

And on, and on, and on…but wait.  Managing change doesn’t have to cause sleepless nights.  The secret to getting more sleep lies in learning how to manage expectations.  “An ounce of prevention…” you know the rest.  It’s a cliché that has been around for hundreds of years for a very good reason.  It’s very true.  Managing change is all about thinking ahead.

Managing Change - Action Steps

For example, in the case of a bad hire, if you want to prevent the same thing from happening next time, you need to consider what the time spent cleaning up the mess cost you compared to what probably would have been much less of an investment in time and dollars to go through the proper steps of hiring someone in the first place. 

The time spent cleaning things up is usually an immediate demand with little or no control over when you have to stop what you’re doing to take care of things.  Whereas, taking the proper screening and compliance steps in the hiring process is something you can schedule more conveniently to happen in slower parts of your schedule.  

If you find yourself staring at the ceiling at night when you should be getting the rest you need, it’s time to quit doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  Managing change in your business requires YOU to make changes.  So fluff up that pillow tonight and try something that you may find works like a charm:

Managing Change - Sleep Tonic 

• Keep a pad of paper and pen next to the bed.
• Right before you slip under the covers, write down 3 things you want to accomplish the next day.

(These don’t have to all be business related; maybe “walking 30 minutes” is on your list.)

If your mind starts churning:

• Write down the problem that pops out of the toaster.

If the hamsters are still spinning the treadmill:

• Write down 3 possible solutions to each problem.

That’s it.  You will find that if you write it down, your mind accepts the fact that your are not going to forget it the next day.  That next morning, look over what’s on the list and pick one thing to change.  Try to make sure that one thing isn’t on the list again.  If you get to more than one, you'll even sleep better the next night.

Managing change doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does require action. Taking preventative steps to manage expectations is the key. 

If you're in the Human Resources field and you’d like to cut some ZZZZZZZZ’s tonight instead of dragging through your day again tomorrow, learn more about managing change with VeriFirst.

Our background screening and ComplianceCloud services can help you reduce negligent hiring risks, and help ensure you maintain FCRA compliance (so you can sleep better at night).