Managing Change and Transition

6

Helping People Adapt

Strategies to Help Reduce Stress and Anxiety

Key Topics Covered in This Chapter

• The four stages of reaction to change: shock, defensive retreat, acknowledgment, and acceptance and adaptation
• How individuals can help themselves navigate change
• How managers can help employees cope with change
• Alternative ways for managers to think about change resisters

THE BUSINESS PRESS and many academics like to talk about the importance of change, and how it makes us all better people and more satisfied and fulfilled with our work.They extol the virtues of “thriving” on chaos and encourage us to “embrace” change as if it were something we just can’t get enough of. You get the feeling that had they been around during the thirteenth ...