Dealing with resistance to change in your Localization organization

Many of us who work in this lovely Globalization industry have been acquiring skills somewhat unexpectedly. We often prioritized developing new technical skills instead of "soft" skills.

It is not uncommon to see ourselves immersed in a course to learn about MT or webinars to learn more about the "penultimate CMS" that promises to revolutionize the market or attend a workshop to improve our knowledge of best practices for translation memory management.

However, many of us struggle to acquire, develop and improve leadership and strategic thinking skills.

And there is a paradoxical situation because many professionals working in the Localization industry have started as translators, as testers, as proofreaders ... and we are already somehow good with language/craft skills, so the focus should be on the non-tech skills, right? But the reality is different. We tend to pay more attention to tech and language skills than strategic/leadership skills. Funnily enough, sooner or later, many Localization professionals will end up in management roles (Program Managers, Team Leads, Head of Localization teams…), and then when we realize that we don't have a background with solid strategic skills

The good thing is that nowadays, access to information has been democratized. There is no need to pay thousands of euros for an MBA or specialization courses to improve our leadership skills.

Having the money to access education will obviously always help and be helpful. However, it is no longer a prerequisite compared to 10 years ago when the online education boom was still in its gestation phase.

I usually consume Udemy courses to learn more about the areas that may interest me. .I find the value for money of Udemy fascinating! also, we might have many eBooks in our Kindles at an affordable price. Or what about Youtube!? There are excellent channels to improve our strategic leadership skills (make sure you are subscribed to Conor Neill's channel, it's great content, and Conor is a super nice guy)

One of those areas of those skills that I have been deepening lately is the area of " Change Management."

If I reflect on the skill of " change ", I will conclude that a professional in our Localization industry is going to be immersed in changes very often, whether leading one change to implement a new CMS or maybe a change in the processes about how to align Translation memories, or simply explaining and suggesting changes in the software development phase and proposing that Localization activities are no longer an afterthought.

The localization industry is always changing, just pause for a moment and reflect on the many changes we face (machine learning, machine translation, quality management, datafication of translation, NMT, AI, continuous localization ...) changes, changes, and more changes. We know that change is constant, and we know there's nothing we can do to stop change, and yet, as imperfect human beings, we are having a hard time embracing change and uncertainty.

Click HERE to access the article from Harvard Business Review

So as the localization industry is constantly evolving, and because it is important to know how to manage change, in the last couple of year, I have been immersed in studying more about this area of Change management. I took this course: Managing and Leading Change: Real-World Strategies & Tools, and read the Anatomy of Peace Arbinger Institute to explore the change management concept and change my mindset.

The Anatomy Peace … great book to challenge our mindset so we don’t see persons as an obstacle in our way, powerful food for thoughts!

Click HERE to download the infographic

 I summarised below what I've learned studying this material. If this summary is somehow helpful for you to become a better manager leading change in your Localization teams, then mission accomplished !!!

How to deal with resistance to change and embrace change management

1. Ensure you take enough time to define the problem you are trying to solve. Diagnosis of the problem before the change is a crucial phase. This first step of the course does not catch me again off guard. I have read a few articles that agree on the importance of pausing to define what the problem is (my summary here )

2. This first step is fundamental since, without this careful analysis, the rest of the change management plan might fail.

3. Be clear which is the problem you are fixing, then start documenting how that change will help to overcome the problem and create the execution plan (but don't communicate the plan yet)

4. Don't force the change; that will just increase resistance in many cases.

5. At this phase, focus on establishing a sense of urgency. Help others see the need for change. Explain why change is necessary, create the vision and take constructive steps to explain how to achieve that vision. Make a real effort to emphasize what will stay the same; a lot of changes too quickly might shut down people

6. Self-awareness and being realistic. Expect resistance to change.

7. Don't Take It Personally. If you want to implement a change and expect everyone to agree with you and be on board, well, come back to the real world, wishful thinking is nice, but it's not practical!

8. Any change we want to implement will find resistance. If that's not the case, it's either because you are using a dictatorship leadership style (hello Cultural Intelligence) or because people in your team or your organization don't care what you do, what they do, or both. Ouch!

9. Do not be surprised by resistance!

10. There will still be resistance to change. Comfort with the status quo is mighty. Fear of moving into an unknown future state creates anxiety and stress.

11. If you perceive resistance (and you will) in the change you want to implement, take time to discover the true nature of resistance. Take time to find the resistors, not only the active resistors but the passive resistors; these might be even more dangerous (google book). In this step, ensure you have two conversations

12. In the first conversation, focus on listening, it builds empathy, and it shows that resistors' opinions and feelings matter to you

13. In the second conversation, your goal is to make clear that you have reflected on what you heard, to outline what will be different (or not) in your approach to the change based on that conversation; and to explain why.

14. * timing between these conversations is essential, and it's recommended between 2 days and 7 days. Why? If you respond immediately during the initial talk or within a few hours, resistors won't believe you've fully considered their point of view. But, if you wait more than a week, then we might be entering the dangerous phase of paralysis for analysis

15. Generating Short-term Wins. Focus on the short-term wins, focus on visible performance improvements, create those improvements and recognize those employees involved in the improvements. This will help to bring some momentum. Without short-term wins, too many people give up or actively join the ranks of those people who have been resisting change.

16. Use increased credibility to keep executing the plan, work to deliver the strategy, and do, communicate, communicate, communicate until the change is properly integrated into the team/company culture … and don't forget to celebrate success !!!

I really like how Eric Schmidt in his book How Google Works named the passive resistors. The bobblehead yessers…. these are dangerous because they might sabotage your change management plan. Take time to find them as they might make our change management plan to derail!

 One final thought that I did not cover in these steps

What if your resistant team member disagrees with your plan?

What if they don't see the value in what you explain after those "2 conversations," as described in step 4?

Well, if they can't fit in, we need to help them out – out of the team or even the organization.

This will be done with radical candor, and we will have to explain something around the concept ...., "This is no longer a good fit for you or us. Let's work together with a transition plan for your out of the team as quickly and smoothly as possible."

 Closing

 Not everyone will support your changes, but to be honest, you don't need 100% commitment and support. You just need a balance in the ratio of supporters + those in a status of inertia + resistors. 

You just need to ensure there are not so many energy drainers that, therefore, the change will fail… and to avoid just that, step 4 is the key.

 What about you?

Which techniques do you follow to implement and deal with resistance to change in your localization organization?

Is getting better in some strategic leadership skills plan of your personal development plan in this 2022 or upcoming 2023?

Leave your comments below, and have a lovely week!

@yolocalizo