It is a fact that for one particular event or topic, people have different perceptions.  Perception differs among individuals, mostly because of different culture, age, gender, values, beliefs, and unique personal history. 

There is a simple exercise I want you to do.  Take a piece of paper and write down what is for you the price of a luxury house.  Simple, isn’t ? Then, share your answer with people who did the same exercise. Do you have the same answers ?  I guess not. This is normal because we are all different people with different perceptions.

When trying to implement a change in your entourage or organization, it is normal that people will respond differently according to their perception of the upcoming change.  Be aware of their body language when you talk about the change. There are a lot of informations you can gather there. 

It is also a fact that perception will lead to emotions. For example, fear, if a danger is perceived or confidence, if a great adventure is perceived.  Therefore, it is important to discuss about the change with people and ask them about their feelings of what is coming. Knowing what people think and taking this in account will make the change easier for everyone.

When an organisation is going through a change, managing perceptions is a strategy that will reduce resistance, accelerate acceptation and facilitate adopting the change as designed. 

It will help ensure the vision of the change is the same among the management team, enabling them to manage perceptions among their employees right from the start. By managing perceptions, the management team will reduce rumors, undesired behaviors and resistance. 

A positive perception of the change will lead to the positive emotions needed to go through the transition and achieve success.

Image from sciencefreak