You may have heard the term change management, and if you haven’t, don’t worry. It’s not a new concept, but it’s one that business leaders often overlook when making change.

The basic idea is simple. When you make a decision that affects employees, you need to think about how that change will land. This is one of the most common things leaders overlook, usually because there is an assumption that people will be fine with something new if it makes sense on paper.

Sure, you can make a business case to add new services, update a process, change the look of your uniforms or adjust how you advertise. But the next step is getting your team to actually adopt it.

It’s not that people cannot change. It’s that everyone has a different comfort level with change, and a different amount they can take on at once. If you want your crews to adopt something new, there will be some work on your part as the owner or manager.

Small to you, big to them

Even something that feels minor to you can be a big deal to the person doing the frontline work. When people feel blindsided, their whole world can feel disrupted.

Let’s say you need to adjust someone’s schedule because another employee left. From your side, it’s a reasonable fix. For the employee, that shift change might mess with child care, a second job, school or simply the routine they have built their life around. Or how about you switch to another crew to balance out the workload? That may create personality conflicts depending on who they team up with.

And that is just one person. Now imagine a change that affects several employees at once.

The point is this: You need to consider how your employees will experience the change, even if it does not feel like a big deal to you. In smaller pumping operations with a handful of workers that are tight-knit, thinking like this is probably easier than a larger company with dozens of employees. Regardless, take time to think about each one and how the proposed change would affect their daily lives.

That does not mean you need to hold a long meeting every time you tweak something. It can be quick. But it helps to pause and ask:

• What is changing?
• How does it affect them day to day?
• What is in it for them?
• Why are we doing this now?
• How should it be communicated?

Even if you think the change is positive, it is worth thinking it through first. As the owner or manager, it is easy to have blind spots.

Consider pulling in one or two senior employees and getting quick feedback before you roll it out. You also need to consider what support employees may need to adopt the change.

For example, if you are bringing in a new piece of equipment, your crew will not all react the same way. Some will be comfortable using it right away. Others will wonder why they need it if the old way worked just fine or may need time to ask questions. That can mean different levels of training depending on experience, and it is better to plan for that up front.

“But the change needs to happen anyway, so why should I care?”

Managing change is not about twisting your decision to make everyone happy. A lot of decisions simply need to happen. That is part of running a business.

Change management is about helping people adopt the change. They do not have to love it. They do not even have to agree with it. But if you want it to work, your employees need to understand the purpose, see the value and know what it means for them.

In most cases, people will get on board if you bring them along instead of surprising them. The key is not to underestimate people’s ability or willingness to accept change. You just want to avoid the constant pushback that happens when employees feel like changes are being done to them, not with them.

At the end of the day, this is also about trust. When you take the time to communicate well and support your team, you show respect while still moving the business forward. Next time there is a change you’re going to make that impacts your team, consider some of the questions posed above before you move forward.

A simple resource if you want to go deeper

If you want a practical introduction to change management, check out ADKAR by Jeffrey Hiatt. ADKAR stands for Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement. It is a solid framework for making changes in a way that people can actually follow, and it is a quick read.