Change is Hard Period... Here Are Five Way To Make It Easier.

So as I look back on 2013 it was a year of extreme change for me. It may have been the same for you. I had more change then any other part of my life. Some was work and some was personal but it all can feel nearly the same if the situation is right. So how do we deal with all of that change? How do we help our ourselves, our peers, our employees, or our bosses deal with the change that is inevitable in 2014. Here are five things that helped me and I hope they can help you too.

• Don't change just to change  (Need help evaluating change click here.) Have a reason, a plan, and a goal. Change is not always good but if you have put in the thought and are ready to move forward or if it has been forced on you then you must work to create a plan to deal with the change and identify where you want to be at various points moving forward in time. These may be metrics or concrete locations or even just feelings that you want to have but know what you want and by when. Document it. This plan brings structure to what can be a really unstructured time. It also meets your needs as you move through the phases of the change process. Next identify what you have to do to make those things happen. Many of the activities take time. For example affected people don't change over night. Plan for that dwell time. This will make the plan more realistic and attainable.

• Identify for what might go wrong during the change and then prepare and plan for it. If you can communicate what might happen and that there is a proactive plan for addressing it. This can provide comfort the organization. I have a risk planning tool here that might help.

• Find support. Friends in the business or personal world that have been through it.  What ever "it" is. They can provide advice or just listen when the change is tough. They bring good cheer and they bring a different perspective. I could not have made it through the year without these people to help me along the way.Thank you to each of you! If you are looking for others who can relate to the types of challenges we face in reliability then you might try attendee conferences like SMRP, IMC, and MARCON.

• Consider employing an expert. If you are trail blazing and no one in your network has been through the change don't be afraid to hire or team with an expert. These people with the experience are invaluable. They can cut time off of the change adoption process or demonstrate easier ways to get the same final results.

• Understand the psychology of change. It helps you know what to expect and when. I have put together a quick search for psychology of change in posts that you can find here. You will want to scroll down through the various blogs post that will be shown on the page and find the best one for you.

These are the first 5 things that really help me this year but I would welcome you to add to this list below via comments.
Thank you for reading and here's to an awesome 2014! Cheers