Mastering Change: A Guide to Succeeding in New Work Roles

The four phases of proving yourself the best choice after joining a new company or team

According to the Society of Human Resources Management, in 2023, some twenty-seven percent of the working population in the US will have changed their workplace, and another thirty-one percent will be looking for the next place or step in their career. The situation is not so different in Europe. While we live in a dynamic and constantly changing world, the pace of change has transferred from processes and companies to people. Nowadays, people are more likely to change their jobs in a period shorter than five years. Often, these changes are inside the company the person works in, but a stable group of people also move across different companies.

Although the process is similar, staying at your current company may be a less stressful move to another role than transitioning to a new company with a completely different environment. But in both cases, the individual moves out of their comfort zone to progress for their excellence and the company’s good.

Taking a new job creates different paces, expectations, and opportunities. It also moves the person through various stages of finding balance in the imbalanced situation they have created for themselves while deciding to progress. Down, I will offer you the primary phases that a person taking on a new role moves through to get where they were before the decision to move and create an imbalance in their life – personal and professional. Each phase has its specifics, but after all, the path through the phases builds the personality and professional profile of the individual.

So please welcome 
THE HONEYMOON

Everything has a starting point somewhere in time. When we start something new, we move into our honeymoon – when everything looks like a dream happening in reality. We are happy, do not see any obstacles, and look with pink glasses at the environment and all the moving processes. During this phase, the individual looks at all the things happening with a positive attitude and expectations. No hard feelings, black glasses, depression, or dispersion. Enjoying the start of something new brings the most illusional part of it, getting to the mind only what is positive instead of allowing criticism and insecurity.

Then comes
THE CULTURE SHOCK

Pink glasses fell from the individual’s face, and they saw the accurate picture. The great culture, filled with love, trust, and helpfulness, moves away to show the cold reality. At this moment, the person sees the minor conflicts, the not-so-well-connected teams, and the fight for power between the operational and strategic leaders. And all this comes at once – with the first interactions, the cold answers, the slight delays, etc. The well-painted picture during the initial meetings now creates a more blurry reality that shows the natural environment and the need for the individual to think before acting or reacting, making suggestions, and sharing opinions. It is where the reality shocks to get the person back on the ground and help them build their approach toward the culture and the environmental situations.

Action plan to survive or
THE ADJUSTMENT

The hard truth has pushed the well-painted picture from the initial relationship stage, allowing the individual to structure their strategy. After the punch from reality, the individual does not look so happy anymore; some obstacles may create barriers not only for operational work but also to the internal balance of the individual. Here, the time comes to adjust their behavior and learn how to cope with the new reality or exit the team and the company, respectively. Here is where the individual needs to act critically and analyze different layers of the culture to adapt to the newly discovered environment.

And finally, there comes.
THE MASTERY

Being shocked by the environment is a necessary step to change and adapt. Not anyone can make this step, and not making it can be the start of suffering for both sides – the individual and the team/the company. No person comes prepared for a new role, a new large or mini-environment, but having a clear plan and implementing it ensures continuous improvement and adaptation and helps the individual to become a master in their behavior and manage the environment the way they think it works for them. And this is called mastery.

Looks easy, right?… In words, YES, but practicing it can be a harsh exercise or a road that is not paved. To move in a balanced way through the different stages and survive at the end, taking an impactful role in the environment, here are some tips for each stage:

THE HONEYMOON:

• Do not let yourself be blinded by good storytelling. Always look with some level of criticism and suspicion at what is presented to you before you join.
• Become a hungry animal – be curious and ask for details in the story you are told. Even if the story looks positive, collect more information in advance.
• Look at the person building the image in front of you – Do they talk openly about everything or try to skip or avoid some elements when you ask about them?
• Ask the story in time for the structure or the role to open and stop when your mind tells you the information is enough.

THE CULTURE SHOCK:

• Find others who joined near your arrival and gain insights into how they dealt with the shock.
• Please search for the colleague, colleagues with diverse experience and ask for their best practices to deal with something new.
• Look at yourself and re-evaluate your shock-dealing mechanisms.
• Calm emotions so that you can open the stage for logical and evidence-based thinking to create a sustainable defense strategy for your inner self.

THE ADJUSTMENT:

• Make it clear what can and can’t, according to the situation, the culture, and all the other factors.
• Set the boundaries for yourself – where you can compromise and what is non-negotiable with your inner values and standards.
• Draft a living action plan that can be adjusted to the changing environment but in line with your values and standards.
• Do not scratch things from your list of actions if you are uncomfortable with how they fit with your inner you.

THE MASTERY:

• Take the failures in your plan as learning opportunities
• Do not count the number of failures, but the number of wins for at least three to six months ahead.
• Create a diary to document your experiences.
• Seek help from more experienced people to progress.
• Turn emotions and critically and logically evaluate the agenda happening to you and the impact it creates on your personal life.

IN CONCLUSION:

No matter what a person does, a change is always placed on their life agenda somewhere in time. This change makes the pace of life and relationships in and outside work different and creates insecurity. But at the same time, this change creates opportunities for learning and growth. Learning how to cope with change and extract the best from each situation or event without fully breaking your inner world is the path every change seeker must pursue. Everything else is just a compromise that will serve as the bill for what we have or haven’t done in one moment. What defines success is not if a person has overtaken a situation but how they have used it to move forward. Now, think of yourself. Are you acting this way or in a different way? …Hmmm… Think again!