{"id":83007,"date":"2022-11-07T14:07:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-07T18:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=83007"},"modified":"2022-11-14T11:57:27","modified_gmt":"2022-11-14T15:57:27","slug":"managing-transition-in-the-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/managing-transition-in-the-workplace\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance of Managing Transition in the Workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is the importance of managing transitions in the workplace? How can you handle change<\/a> with grace?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organizational leaders must learn how to manage transitions effectively. Susan and William Bridges’s book Managing Transitions<\/em> says it’s important that everyone is on the same page during the transition, which is largely a leader’s job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read below to learn why you need to effectively manage transitions in the workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Importance of Managing Transition<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Simply put, organizational leaders must learn to manage transition because every<\/em> organization experiences transition. All organizations will naturally change throughout their lifetime as they grow from an idea to a start-up to an established company. Managing transition in the workplace in an effective manner is critical if an organization is to move successfully from one stage of its evolution to the next.<\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: William and Susan Bridges emphasize the importance of managing people through the stages of organizational growth. Implicit in their argument is the importance of broader cultural change during these periods of transition: Get enough people (or the right people<\/a>) on board, and it triggers the necessary cultural change for the organization to evolve. But just like internal psychological transitions, cultural change can\u2019t be mandated.<\/a> People may grudgingly accept a mandated change, but they will lack the optimism, creativity, and excitement that are necessary to ensure the change is successful and long-lasting.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Stages of an Organizational Life Cycle<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to the authors, all organizations evolve through a predetermined set of stages. As organizations evolve, each transition will require a closing out of the previous phase, a bridge to the next, and an emerging into the subsequent phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

William and Susan Bridges outline seven stages of an organization\u2019s life cycle:<\/p>\n\n\n\n