Change Management Practices for Frontline Supervisors: A Modified Delphi Study

Abstract

Frontline supervisors impact organizational change. Supervisors who anticipate and address the root causes behind change resistance can increase employee change adoption. This modified Delphi project asked 15 change management expert panelists to respond to a 4-round survey process. The project aimed to learn how frontline supervisors can best motivate and encourage their employees to embrace change. The experts analyzed 31 original change management practices from previous literature and distilled those into 10 new practices they agreed would assist their frontline employees in adapting to and accepting change. The practices included: Understanding the change before communicating it to employees, providing a simple reason for the change, using real stories and examples to present the change, describing the change in a favorable light, providing clear and simple tasks and goals for the change, listening to employee feedback about the change, allowing employees autonomy respecting the change, openly praising employees for adopting the change, communicating legitimate employee concerns to upper management about the change, and discussing change challenges with other frontline colleagues. The study culminated with a new framework for frontline change management.