There is no fixed timetable; the pace depends on the size of the change, past experience, and the support available. If your team is learning a new system, reorganizing roles, or adapting to a new manager, expect people to settle in at different speeds.
What can make the adjustment easier?
A useful FISH! lens is to notice what you are bringing to the situation and Choose Your Attitude deliberately. That does not mean pretending the change is easy or telling someone to “fix” their attitude. Before a difficult meeting, you might decide to bring curiosity and patience; after a frustrating day, you can name the frustration, acknowledge what is still going well, and choose how to approach the next conversation. The choice happens more than once, both before a change and in the moments when plans shift again.
Leaders reinforce this practice through their own example. A manager who says, “I am still getting used to this, and I’m going to stay open to your questions,” gives the team permission to be honest while moving forward.
How can we tell whether people are settling in?
Check in over time rather than expecting one conversation to resolve everything. Ask what feels clearer, what remains difficult, and what support would help this week. Notice changes in confidence, collaboration, and willingness to raise concerns, then adjust training, communication, or workload as needed.
Give the change room to unfold, while continuing to choose the attitude and support that help people do their best work.
Questions like this one, and many more about teamwork and morale, are explored in the FISH! Philosophy upgraded trial, which gives your team 30 days of access to the FISH! film and its digital guides.
