Resistance To Change

Resistance to change is a common obstacle that organizations encounter during change initiatives. While it may not be possible to eliminate all resistance, understanding the drivers of resistance and managing it effectively can help minimize its impact. In this article, we will examine why resistance to change occurs, what it looks like, the costs and risks associated with it, and how to manage it using the Prosci 3-Phase Process.

WHY RESISTANCE OCCURS

Resistance to change is often caused by fear and anxiety related to the uncertainty of success and fear of the unknown. However, other factors can influence an employee’s resistance to change, including the impact on their work, the credibility of people communicating the change, personal factors such as finances and health, the alignment of the change with their values, and the organization’s history of handling change.

WHAT RESISTANCE LOOKS LIKE

Resistance to change can manifest in various behaviors, including emotional reactions like fear, sadness, and anger, disengagement, reduced productivity, non-compliance, conflicts, negativity, avoidance, building barriers, and attempts to control the change. Since change is an individual phenomenon, the root cause of resistance may vary from person to person.

COSTS AND RISKS OF RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

Resistance to change can have negative impacts on the organization and its initiatives, including delayed projects, project abandonment, reduced productivity, greater absenteeism, loss of valued employees, added financial cost and failure risk, inefficient processes, unachieved goals, poor outcomes, and a history of change failures.

RESISTANCE MANAGEMENT AND THE UNIFIED VALUE PROPOSITION

Resistance management involves taking steps to mitigate resistance throughout the project lifecycle to help individuals make successful transitions to the future state with desired levels of adoption and usage, leading to achieving project objectives and organizational benefits. The Unified Value Proposition is an organizing framework for describing and advancing organizational change, including how the technical-side workstream (project management) and people-side workstream (change management) come together to deliver successful change.

RESISTANCE ROOTED IN THE STATES OF CHANGE

Resistance can occur during any of the three states of change – leaving the current state, going through the transition state, and arriving in the future state. The root causes of resistance during each state are specific concerns that impacted people typically have, including a perception that something is being taken away, uncertainty about what lies ahead, and fear of doing something new.

HOW TO MANAGE RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

The goal of resistance management is to mitigate the impact of resistance, not necessarily to try to eliminate it. Resistance prevention is the primary avenue of resistance management, which involves planning for, addressing, or eliminating resistance by effectively applying change management. Resistance response involves developing effective responses when resistance becomes enduring or persistent. During the Prosci 3-Phase Process, resistance prevention actions and activities are built into Phase 1 – Prepare Approach, while resistance response activities for persistent, pervasive resistance are built into the Adapt Actions stage of Phase 2 – Manage Change.

ANTICIPATE, INTEGRATE AND ACTIVATE

Managing resistance to organizational change involves effectively anticipating resistance, integrating resistance management actions and activities into change management plans, and activating the people-facing roles within the organization who will conduct the resistance management activities. Anticipating resistance involves assessing it from three perspectives – by impacted group, by organizational level, and by organizational attributes. Integrating resistance management throughout the project lifecycle involves implementing specific mechanisms to identify resistance, and activating roles that manage resistance, including senior leaders and people managers.

CONCLUSION

Resistance to change is a natural reaction that organizations encounter during change initiatives. However, effective resistance management can minimize its impact and lead to improved project outcomes and benefits realization. By understanding why resistance occurs, what it looks like, the costs and risks associated with it