A thing or two about change - William Bridges way - Final part

Launching the new beginning - facilitating people to emerge from the neutral zone and allow them to be fully expressed in the new order.

New starts are not enough. There could be several of them. A start is made on the formal date of announcement but people continue on the 2 train architecture. They have a shadow existence meeting their old team mates for lunch and going to their old bosses for advice. In such cases the new beginning has not been made because people have not put in their emotional commitment to do things the new way. The beginning is the final phase of the transition and the timing is not set by the bosses or the steering committees.
Sometimes when the neutral zone has been long enough, people resist beginnings for the following reasons:
1. Uncertainty about what this new future has in store for us
2. New beginnings may bring back the ghosts from the past
3. A new beginning creates the need to re-establish credibility and accountability

Beginnings may be facilitated by 4Ps
Purpose: Communicate why and how the new beginning was envisaged in terms of "what is in it for me". Sometimes there may be no purpose or the communication may be intentionally withheld leading to a loss of trust. Poor or mismanaged communication can seriously jeopardize any change program. The communication does not reflect the true intent of the leadership it means nothing to the people. This often leads to one start after another leaving people worn out without making any difference to the underlying scheme of things.
Picture: Imagery is very powerful. People need to create a mental picture of the new environment in which they will participate. This includes spatial layout, organization structure and experience. However a picture cannot replace the hard work of the leadership. Usually the change leaders typically go through their transition before they launch the change initiative. As a result they may fail to recognize the stages of transition the other are in. The imagery also has to be kept simple to allow people to relate to it meaningfully and not be overwhelmed.
Plan: Create a transition plan (different from a regular change plan). Transition plan is addresses at a personal level rather than a collective level. It is oriented to the process rather than the outcome.
Part to play: People need a part to may in the due course of the transition and in their relationship with others in the post change era. This allows people to gain firsthand knowledge on solving the problems associated with the change initiative and align themselves better.

As a final note, in order to reinforce the new beginning, there must be consistent, well aligned communication without sending conflicting messages. There must quick success navigating out the neutral zone with minimum time. The leadership must acknowledge the new identity. Symbolism is important as everything means something in the process of change.