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34 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2024 that will be required to facilitate any meaning- ful and permanent change. is journey will be an emotional one that will challenge the status quo, oen evoking strong reactions and resis- tance. Remember the human nature thing? Paradigm is overused, but I don't have a better word for describing "the way things are done." is will be a paradigm shi that can only be overcome with effective, thorough, and con- stant communication. Create an Environment of Excitement I firmly believe in making work as fun as pos- sible, and this is the perfect situation for that approach. A quality management system is a topic not oen associated with an interesting, much less fun transition. A cultural change as significant as this presents the opportunity to smooth the transition by creating an environ- ment of excitement around the change through communication, publicization, and engaging the workforce in the implementation decision- making process. Change is Constant e Greek philosopher Heraclitus had it right 2,500 years ago: e only thing constant with change is change itself. As I mentioned earlier, people are creatures of habit and will be uncomfortable with moving out of their com- fort zone. Change is difficult, and some peo- ple will not adapt; this is normal. As with any major cultural change (ownership, manage- ment, quality system), the only certain thing is that not everyone will drink the Kool-Aid. While this can be a trying experience, stay the course. PCB007 Steve Williams is president of The Right Approach Consult- ing. He is also an independent certified coach, trainer, and speaker with the John Maxwell team. To read past columns, click here. but at this point, there may be no clear under- standing of the new ways that will replace them. Care must be taken to keep fear of the unknown from paralyzing the effort, and strong leadership during this phase will be the difference between success and failure. e goal of this stage is to get and keep peo- ple in an unfrozen state while establishing new ways and norms. Convincing people that it is okay to break away from traditional norms and adopt new ways of doing things is crucial before moving into the refreezing stage. Stage 3: Refreeze e goal of this stage is all about reconnect- ing people to their new comfort zones and establishing this state as a safe, familiar envi- ronment. Refreezing seeks to reinforce the new behaviors and enable permanent change through rewards, celebrating each success, and continuous communication. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate When it comes to changing the culture of a company, there is no such thing as over-com- munication. Involving the entire workforce from day one will be a key to successfully changing the current culture. Secrecy is the enemy of success. is process calls for full dis- closure, employee participation, and individ- ual empowerment. Effective communication will allow the creation of a type of controlled mayhem; in other words, it's an environment that can build a strong motivation to seek out a new equilibrium. Without this motivation, it will be difficult to get the employee buy-in