by Karen BallOver the last few months, we have heard words such as “compassion,” “grace” and “empathy” when talking about our attitude toward others. These words remind us of the humanity of our shared experience. But when we string together three different words, we can activate and demonstrate grace, compassion and empathy in our day-to-day lives. Those three words? “Tell me more.”
Being heard and understood are important for psychological safety in both our personal and professional lives. This is especially important today as many people and organizations are facing challenges they could not have imagined just a few months ago. When we respond to someone’s problems or challenges by saying, “Tell me more” instead of jumping to solutions, we open a door to learning and connecting that can change everything.
With regard to the who element of the change, we say, “Tell me more about who has to change for the change to be successful.” Will certain impacted groups experience the change differently? Can we directly involve the people in those impacted groups to help define the change and its impact to help smooth adoption? When we ask these clarifying questions, we communicate more effectively and can be more responsive to the needs of impacted users—once again demonstrating compassion, grace and empathy.
Need to clarify context for a project? Try our 4 P’s exercise. It's a simple way to help project teams, senior managers and change sponsors connect change management to project success.
At Prosci, we are very clear on our vision, mission and values. We partner with clients to enable them to achieve their desired outcomes. Our strategic intent is to be globally recognized as your go-to partner for change success by collaborating with you and leveraging our holistic, research-based, easy-to-use solutions to deliver unforgettable experiences. Within the discipline of change management, wherever you are, whatever you need, wherever you're going, Prosci is here for you.
Over the last few months, we have been actively listening and learning. We value your insights and want to open the door to hear from you directly. Will you tell us more? What are you thinking? What problems are you trying to solve? How can we walk alongside your journey as change practitioners, senior leaders or sponsors, people managers, project leaders, project teams, or professionals in related disciplines to help you drive change success? We look forward to hearing from you often. We are all in this together, and together we will be better as a result.
Karen Ball is Director of Marketing and Development and a Master Instructor at Prosci. A Certified Change Management Practitioner (CCMP™), her passion is delighting clients with innovative solutions that equip them for change success. Karen is a frequent author of Prosci thought leadership articles and blogs, webinar facilitator, and conference speaker who brings 35 years of experience and stories to in-person and virtual stages.
