Hope you had a nice vacation!

You’ve enjoyed a relaxing week away from the office. You spent the days with your family and friends, caught up some long-overdue reading and even a few home projects. You slide into your parking space. There is almost a spring in your step as you think about your most recent assignment.

When you arrive, you discover your cubicle is nearly empty, containing only a few push pins and some larger than life dust bunnies. The people that used to sit in your area have been replaced by different team members. The situation makes you feel completely off-kilter and confused. This was not the Monday morning you were expecting.

After asking multiple people you discover your manager is no longer with the company. The rumor is you and the rest of the team are now reporting to someone else. A person sitting in a nearby cubical tells you that your entire team has been moved to a different part of the building.  The person then informs you that your personal belongings and your computer equipment have been packed up and moved to your new location. Your head is spinning.

You are directed to your new digs and by the time you make it there the only person in your area is the administrative assistant that only joined the company two weeks ago. She informs you that everyone is attending an off-site meeting to get to know the new manager and will be back on-site in approximately 30-45 minutes.

You notice your favorite office chair has somehow gone missing. Your remaining belongings are piled up in a cubicle facing the hallway, not the window. Your thoughts are as jumbled as your cubicle.

Welcome back to work!

If you’re reading this thinking this is unbelievable and could never happen in the real world think again. I sat next to a gentleman for over 5 years. Three years in a row he came back from vacation only to find he had a new boss. We were all shocked that he wasn’t contacted or informed of the change. The second time it happened, we were still surprised. By the third occurrence, he just laughed (instead of crying) and began updating his resume.

If you’re an employee that has experienced an event like this or similar, you know it’s unsettling. You may have even come back to work after a vacation to discover there has been a corporate buyout or layoff within your division.  You brought back a sense of calm and a feeling of rejuvenation to the office. Unfortunately, both are completely gone. These types of changes can leave you feeling rattled for weeks or even longer.

The Grief Recovery Method is an 8-week program that is action-based and can help you work through these unsettling changes. I welcome you to schedule a free 15-minute consultation or sign up for an upcoming Grief Recovery Support Group in Wichita, Kansas. Our conversation will help us see if the program is right for you.