Any organizational change of significance will be met with some resistance. How you manage resistance to change will play a large role in determining the success of the project. Resistance comes in many shapes and sizes; you need to be able to deal with them accordingly.
Below are five steps you can use to manage resistance to change.
Implement a robust change management strategy
Look for it
Identify the source of resistance
Formally address it with a resistance plan
Partner up
Implement a Robust Change Management Strategy
Although it might not seem like a tip, this is the absolute best way to manage resistance to change from the beginning. Implementing a robust change management strategy will proactively do what many of the activities to combat resistance are designed to do.
Use our LEADER Change Management methodology as the foundation for your strategy.
Lead
The most essential component of change management. Without clear leadership and sponsorship, there is no driving force behind the initiative.
Engage (and Communicate)
Both are essential, but they are not the same. Engagement is two-way communication that allows for feedback and networking.
Adapt
Successful change management is a process. Systems must be in place to measure effectiveness throughout the process and adapt accordingly.
Develop
This is particularly important when your change involves a behavioral component for employees. Employees must be given the skills and capabilities to perform.
Employees
People tend to support change when they are a part of it. Taking an empathic approach to change that involves the employees will lead to greater buy-in and success.
Remove
Barriers that are holding back success must first be identified. Then they must be removed. This may include staff who are resisting the change..
Look for It
Of course, many change practitioners are of the need to manage resistance to change and the detrimental effects it can have on an initiative. They might even have a few ideas of what they might do if resistance pops its ugly head. However, it is simply not sufficient to sit back and wait for resistance to appear.
It is essential to be proactive and go out and find it. Sometimes resistance is easy to find, e.g., when employees are outspoken about it. However, it is usually not so obvious, and you need to take action to uncover it. This is one of the many benefits of creating a Change Agent network for your project. A Change Agent network is a group of individuals throughout the organization who serve as an extension of the project team. These agents can be the eyes and ears for their particular departments and report back to the project team on what is going well and what needs additional resources. You can think of them as spies within each department or line of business.
These agents will have their fingers on the pulse of their departments throughout the project. Additionally, they can hold meetings and provide formal avenues for feedback from employees. Change managers can use this feedback to make any necessary adjustments to the change strategy.
See our post on How to Select Change Agents for Your Network
Identify the Source of Resistance
Now that you’ve rolled up your sleeves and went out to find resistance, it is time to identify the source of that resistance. It is foolish to believe that all resistance will magically disappear when you use the same techniques to fight all types. Change managers must know what is causing the resistance in order to correct it.
Here is a simple example. Suppose a company is introducing a new culture and the Change Agent has identified resistance in his/her department. Do you have sufficient information as the change manager to take corrective action? How can you know how to handle this situation when you don’t know why the individuals or groups are resisting?
The individuals might be resisting because they have been with the organization for many years and they are tied to the current culture. They do not feel any culture changes are needed and things are just fine the way they are. In other words, they do not feel the change is right for the organization.
Alternatively, they could be resisting because they heard the new culture will focus on innovation and technology. They might be scared by technology and feel that this puts their jobs in jeopardy. In other words, they do not feel the change is right for the individuals.
This is one simple example, but it illustrates how knowing the cause of the resistance is imperative to defining the action required to correct it. Keep in mind that resistance does not necessarily mean they object to the overall project; they might just resist specific components of it.
Formally Address It with a Change Resistance Plan
Resistance should not be the elephant in the room that no one wants to address. That would only lead to failure. It is important to bring it to the forefront and proactively build a plan to manage it.
The contents of a Resistance Management Plan can vary based on the project, but it will typically include the following:
Change management phase it occurred
Department
Assigned Change Agent
Individuals/Groups resisting
Component of change that is resisted
Change impact to the stakeholder
Reasons for the resistance
Means for correction (action taken, owner, timing, etc.)
Creating the Resistance Management Plan will provide the steps necessary to manage it once it is identified.
Leverage Stakeholders Who Have Been There
When possible, one of the most effective ways to win over a resisting employee is to connect that person with someone who previously resisted the change for the same or similar reasons. This is best illustrated with an example.
Suppose a company is in the middle of a phased software rollout. The software is intended to standardize the hiring processes for every department throughout the company. A hiring manager from Department X is resisting the change because she feels it is not needed considering the small amount of hiring within her department. Among other reasons, she feels it makes little sense to send her direct reports to training for a system they will not often use.
In this case, it would be very effective to connect her with someone who had previously been through the change and resisted for the same reasons. This person can give a real-life account of the process and the benefits he/she is now experiencing with the new software. It would be much more powerful for her to hear it from a colleague who was in a similar situation and has been through it, rather than from a change manager.
The change manager must be proactive in mitigating resistance and develop a formal plan. However, just as leaders of all levels are essential in driving change, they are also essential in handling resistance. They should have a visible presence when it comes to handling objections and moving the initiative forward.
Ready to take your knowledge to the next level? Check out this course on Udemy on how to manage resistance to change.
