Assignment task: Managing Resistance to Change
Workplace change can be hard for the most loyal of employees. However, it's clear that both our workplaces and our mindsets around how we work need to continually evolve to align with dynamic business needs and technology developments. This can make for uncomfortable situations for employees. The key challenge for those managing workplace changes is how to engage, motivate and inspire a workforce who may be apprehensive, cynical, or resistant. While people might not like what they hear and react in a negative manner, it's positive that they are not ignoring change or in denial. A considered response to resistance can convert negative emotion into positive energy and new thinking. Resistance also provides important feedback to help validate change. Resistance is not always obvious; it can be passive as well as active. Passive resistance is harder to identify as people sometimes hide their true feelings. Whichever situation you may find you in, don't be surprised or de-railed: anticipate and plan for resistance. The ability to articulate how the workplace influences organizational goals helps secure the broader senior-level attention and the support a change program needs to succeed. Analysis helps to recognize the positive influencers you can nurture into a network of helpers and change champions; identify the negative people you can't afford to ignore and put their concerns in perspective. Generally speaking, you can positively influence 75 percent of the population by focusing on just 25 percent. If you have a small enough workforce - say, 20 people - you can put names in the boxes and make strategic choices around who to talk to about what. Remember, champions and role models are not necessarily always senior figures in the organization: sometimes your most powerful champions are exresistors. Successful change is not necessarily about employees getting what they want, rather persuading them to want what they get. Helping employees understand the rationale - how changes impact and benefit them - is key to securing their acceptance, and ultimately ownership, of change. There will be a spectrum of perspectives, concerns and interests among the workforce, as well as preferences around how information is provided. You need to carefully time and plan communications, using a range of creative methods and media to engage people at the right time. It's worth remembering how we handle and manage change outside work and applying similar common-sense principles to the workplace scenario. Make sure you understand the full context of change and mood of the workforce before implementing your change program. There may, for example, be important history such as previously failed change projects or recent redundancy announcements you need to take into account before deciding on an approach.
Questions:
Q1. Change can be planned and unplanned. Compare and contrast between the differences.
Q2. Identify any two [2] reasons, why would people resist change.
Q3. Resistance to change is not bad. Justify your answer?
Q4. Discuss the importance of communication in managing change?
Q5. Elaborate why is it important to learn from history when adopting changes?