A brief introduction to change
It is well-established from psychological research that people do not make sudden decisions to change their behaviour and start acting differently. Change is a gradual and imperfect process. The behaviour change is just one part in the chain.
The workplace is a context for lots of behaviour change. From starting in a new role, to upskilling or receiving a piece of feedback, employees are regularly working on adapting their behaviour. If you are thinking of working on a new behaviour or skill, knowing the psychological theory of change can (1) help you to manage your expectations, and (2) put strategies in place to make more meaningful and lasting change.
There are five key stages people navigate over time as they enact and stabilise change:
- Precontemplation: at ground zero in the change process, the individual doesn’t realise there is a need for change/can’t see problem areas yet.
- Contemplation: in this stage the individual sees the need for change but hasn’t started. They may be unsure or hesitant to begin.
- Preparation: in preparation, the individual has started planning how they will change and is taking little steps to get ready.
- Action: here, concrete behaviour changes are underway. These are still recent and developing, with lapses and setbacks.
- Maintenance: At this point, the new behaviour has been sustained over time and is stable. It may have generalised across different contexts.
Key lessons in changing
There are some key lessons that psychological research has taught us about how to move through these stages of change:
1. Insight before action
It’s hard to change if you don’t see something as an issue. As uncomfortable as they are to acknowledge, we all have our blindspots. Ignoring them can help avoid short term discomfort but will hinder professional development. The best way to build your insight is to seek out feedback, ideally from those who are reliable and have seen you across time and in different contexts. Receiving surprising or negative feedback can understandably be upsetting. Give yourself some time to process this and then see how it fits with other evidence and feedback.
2. Motivation is your foundation
Changing your behaviour can initially be taxing. When the going gets tough, it can help to be clear on your purpose for doing this, i.e. what are the end-benefits going to be? What are the costs of not changing? In some cases, there may be rewards inherent in the process such as a sense of mastery, or praise from colleagues, however if the rewards feel distant, you may need to schedule some along the way to keep you motivated, for example, going out for a meal to mark your first week of change .
3. Plan ahead
Get specific about how you are going to change. Are there strategies that will make the process easier? For example, setting reminders or creating written lists. Who could you involve to enhance your sense of support and what is it that you need from them? Do you need to do any training to prepare? Think about any potential barriers you might encounter to change and how you could mitigate those now. Adapt your plan to suit your style of learning.
4. Expect lapses
Lapses are a parr for the course in behaviour change. Change is messy, people often fall back into old patterns or have set-backs. One of the errors people make in this situation is to consider a lapse a ‘failure’ and throw in the towel altogether. If you have a lapse, don’t panic. Lapses provide useful information. See if you can identify what might have led to the lapse and whether there are things you can put in place if they come up again. Then keep going. You are far better-off doing something imperfectly than nothing at all. (Note: If you are supporting someone else with their change process, responding calmly and with reassurance to a lapse is the most effective way to keep the change going.)
What does this look like in practice?
Let’s look at a case study of how this process of change may present in the workplace.
Sam is not aware she has an issue with time management. She is often late to meetings, but she always apologises and makes key contributions. If she misses a deadline, she gets the task completed not long after and to a high standard. So as far as she was concerned, her time management was not a problem.
After missing out on a promotion, Sam asked for feedback from her boss. They expressed concern she wasn’t ready for more responsibility, noting she struggled with organising her time in her current role. Sam didn’t accept this and thought there must be another reason. A few weeks later a client sent her an email with a complaint about her lateness to recent meetings. Shortly after that a colleague made a passive aggressive comment about her disorganisation. After reflecting on these incidents, Sam realised her time management may be more of a problem than she thought. She decided she wanted to become more organised.
After stalling for a few weeks, Sam identified the key targets she wanted to change. Most importantly, she wanted to get to meetings on time and make deadlines. To set herself up to achieve this, she blocked out chunks of time in her schedule for each of her workday tasks, set reminders, and created check lists.
The first few weeks went well but then she started slipping into old patterns and was late to a few meetings again. After reflecting on why this happened, Sam realised that she was scheduling too many meetings back-to-back which meant if one ran over there was a flow on effect. To help with this she tried to be clear up front about what time she had to leave a meeting and also set a buffer of time between meetings where possible. After making these adjustments she got back on track.
A year later, Sam’s time management strategies were going well. She was rarely late to meetings and hadn’t missed a deadline in a long time. She had received positive feedback from her boss and they had recognised her changes by having her step up into a managerial role when opportunities arose. She noticed she was more organised across other domains of life too, including personal appointments and catch ups with friends. Sam knew that time management was something she needed to stay vigilant to as it didn’t come naturally to her. However with the right strategies in place to support her, she could largely maintain the change.
Going forward into your next process of change, see if you can pace your efforts across the different stages. Approach the change process as an experiment and ride the wave of any mishaps that crop up along the way. All the best!
Dr Sophie Muir is a Clinical Psychologist from Auckland’s North Shore. She started her private practice in 2020, having begun her career at the Department of Corrections. She enjoys working across the spectrum of mental health concerns, with a particular interest in relationships and attachment. She wants to make psychological research and theory widely accessible across Aotearoa so that people feel less overwhelmed and alone with their life challenges.
Website: https://www.drsophiemuir.com