Resistance to change is a normal human reaction but Managing Resistance To Change is important. Many factors need to be considered for assessing individuals’ and teams’ motivation to change. Change managers and project leads need to create change strategies that can motivate individuals and teams to support that change.
What are some strategies to identify resistance?
There are several ways you can identify change resistance!
⮚ Suddenly there is a rise in absenteeism or sick leaves.
⮚ Teams or individuals who lack buy-in are not engaged and don’t provide any feedback when asked. They don’t attend events, such as town halls, roadshows, or other change-building exercises.
⮚ Resistant employees generally share frustration or lack of buy-in informally and passively. They usually use ridicule or negative verbal and body language in informal settings like hallways, lunch, and water cooler conversations.
⮚ More active resistance leads to individuals or teams boycotting the entire change process.
⮚ Lack of adoption and continually using the legacy systems are apparent negative reactions to change.
⮚ Rumours, lack of trust and loss of enthusiasm are also signs that individuals or teams are not fully accepting the change.
How to find out what’s going on?
There are several ways to find out the underlying causes of resistance.
Assessments
At the start, the stakeholder assessment process, which involves surveys, interviews or focus groups, provides an overview. Other assessments, including change saturation, change readiness, and organization political and cultural assessment, are hugely instrumental in understanding where people are and what they have gone through.
In-Person Feedback
In face-to-face meetings and sessions, people express their concerns, including focus groups, roadshows, early pilot training, town halls, and rollout planning.
Change Champions
Change networks act as a sounding board and feedback loops to relay important feedback to the project team. This includes leadership networks, steering committee members, influencers, catalysts, and super users.
One of the critical contributors to a successful outcome is the organization’s commitment to change. People’s support for change is directly linked to the leadership’s commitment.
Several strategies and tactics lead to buy-in and motivation to adapt to change.