Ridge Insights - August 2006
Managing Resistance
Ridge Insights
A monthly e-brief from Ridge Training
Date: August 21, 2006
To subscribe: www.ridge.com/insights.htm
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THIS MONTH
1. What We're Thinking About This Month - Managing Resistance
2. Resources for Managing Resistance
3. Questions of the Month
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1. What We're Thinking About This Month - Managing Resistance
Ask any business leader what the biggest threat to organizational change is and employee resistance will be an issue at or near the top of the list. But resistance itself is rarely the whole problem--it's the way resistance is (or isn't) managed that short-circuits transformation efforts.
Managers often confuse resistance with noncompliance, an antagonistic reluctance to try new things. When managers frame resistance this way, they try to manage it by overcoming or pushing through it. Human nature being what it is, employees will push back when pushed. They're more likely to become noncompliant, even if they weren't before!
But beneath the surface-level negativity that is the public expression of resistance lies a form of "social grieving" that is a natural human response to change. Change doesn't begin until something ends. For employees, endings may include the loss of important work relationships, work patterns and definitions of success, to name a few. These powerful commitments to "the way things are" are deeply felt. Since talking openly about their feelings is uncomfortable and risky, employees find collective solace and strength by criticizing the change. While their questions and concerns are legitimate, the energy behind a that-will-never-work attitude comes from employees’ reactions to the loss that change represents.
As a manager, when you look at resistance as a process of social grieving, you'll see new possibilities for managing resistance:
* Invite it rather than avoiding resistance or fighting it. While this may seem counter intuitive, wishing resistance wasn't there isn't an effective change management strategy. By bringing the real source of resistance to the surface, you can accelerate the process of working through issues for the benefit of all.
* Having invited it, shut up and listen. This has three benefits. First, employees' complaints may be legitimate; listening can help you learn how to correct or improve implementation of the plan. Second, it helps you understand employees' endings and losses, and the employees’ felt needs for the future. By tuning into their underlying concerns and worries, you can tailor the change message to connect to them. Finally, listening enhances good will on the part of employees. The good will may not always be verbalized-or even perceptible-but it shifts the conversation from "yes/no" to "how." That in itself is a victory.
* Increase participation wherever possible. People resist change when it's imposed upon them. But they're much quicker to commit if they have some control over how the change effects the way they work. You should look for opportunities to get people involved in the way that change unfolds at the local level.
Managing resistance in these ways should make the job of managing change a little easier. More importantly, it will make you far more effective in keeping people resourceful in the midst of the uncertainty that change brings.
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2. Resources for Managing Resistance
To help you manage resistance and increase commitment to a planned change, we put together a series of worksheets to help you analyze stakeholder commitment, identify the endings and losses, and develop a communication strategy that addresses these issues. You can download these worksheets here: [http://www.ridge.com/news.html]
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3. Question of the Month:
Next month's issue will focus on managing conflict. Our question of the month is: How do you manage conflict productively? To share a success or best practice, please use the form at this link to respond [link no longer available]. Use the word CONFLICT for the topic.
We'll use your responses to help create the next edition of "Ridge Insights."
We will not use this information for any other purpose without your permission.
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Jim Bolton
Ridge Associates, Inc.
[o] 651.225.4101
[c] 651.767.2616
[w] www.ridge.com
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