Try to think creatively about other ways to get business done. My sense is that people relied on airplanes vastly more than they needed to. The cost and inconvenience of flying is very high. We’re getting streaming video from Afghanistan right now; I don’t understand why everyone’s got to fly to Des Moines.

I.T. STAFF

Lead Them Through the Transition

DAVID FOOTE
Cofounder and managing partner, Foote Partners, New Canaan, Conn.

When I talk with executives, one of the first references I use is Charles Darwin, who said, "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." That’s true for companies and for our country as a whole right now. We’re certainly strong, but can we make a transition?

Change is the easy part; changes are situational, external. Transition is the response to change. Transitions are psychological, internal, focused on an ending. People don’t like endings.

A transition is the end of something but also the beginning of something. But the in-between is scary. Employees are focusing on what we’re losing?that’s happening big time right now. They know that life is not going to be the same, but they don’t know what that’s going to be like. It’s a transition to an unknown.

What you have to do for employees is create temporary systems to get through it. First off, you’ve got to get people talking about this. Bring in a psychologist or therapist. You have to acknowledge losses openly and sympathetically.

You need to strengthen connections [between employees]. It’s interesting how people are using intranets to get through this. People are on the road or working from home; the workforce isn’t all together in many organizations. What has happened is they’ve been taking these bland corporate intranets and turning them into boards where employees can talk to each other. They post what they’re feeling where others can see it and respond. It’s a great example of a temporary system.

You want to help people define the transition. You do this by defining what’s over and what’s not. Not everything is over. Right now a lot of conventions and events are being canceled. Some travel is curtailed, some projects are canceled?but a lot of things are just being pushed out. You know, a lot of people measure their careers by their projects. Tell them, "We haven’t canceled that project."

Layoffs are still on people’s minds. That was happening before Sept. 11. Now, even people who aren’t being laid off are saying, "Maybe I should circulate my rŽsumŽ." Tell them, "There will be no layoffs; we’re not canceling projects." Or, "Here’s who’s being laid off: them, but not you." Or, "We’re canceling one thing but nothing else." Don’t lose people over this.