The question ‘How do you eat an elephant?’ is usually answered by the response ‘One bite at a time’. (Don’t write in complaining; I love elephants just as much as you do.) This was never truer than in the approach you need to take to deliver a successful change. Change is a long-drawn-out process that can’t be forced on people. Rush it and you’ll pay a hefty price.

All change evokes the emotions of fear and panic as well as of excitement and anticipation. Everyone perceives change differently. What is fresh and stimulating to one person is terrifying to the next. People also differ in their ability to face the unknown and deal with the uncertainty that change brings. I don’t think for one minute that this section will deal with all of the issues you’ll face as someone managing a change process. What it will do is give you a greater understanding of the problems that people have at different stages in the process and some useful ideas to help you manage people under stress.

The one message that overrides all others in this section is the need for good communication during periods of change. Good communication requires managers to spend more time listening to staff than talking at them. Unfortunately, like the Englishman abroad, too many managers think that if they speak S-L-O-W-L-Y and L-O-U-D-L-Y enough they will be understood.