Best Ways to Overcome Resistance to Change in a Workplace

They say that change is the only constant. And then, when we are talking about employees, it can be upsetting and hard to manage. It is important that different perceptions are given importance when trying to bring a successful transformation; be it the one initiating a change, implementing it, or is going to be impacted by it.

No one can deny that there are a number of challenges and attributes of high-performing teams. Talking about modern organizations, they are full of flatter hierarchical structures. In such environments, high-performing teams are rare, small, agile, and structured in a way that individual specialization is a benefit. These teams are meant to provide maximum flexibility in an environment that keeps changing constantly and is likely to experience resistance to change.

However, overcoming this battle need not be a constant process. The focus must be on first reducing it and then, eliminating it completely. Let’s now take a look at the best-proven strategies that can help in overcoming resistance to change in the workplace.

- Communication and Education

There is no challenge bigger than the fear of the unknown and not being able to understand why the change is important. It is a fact that people will only accept the change when they realize that the risk of nothing is more than the risk of changing direction. On the other hand, if people don’t understand the reason behind the change, they will probably question the change. That’s why communication and education should be done even before the change is initiated.

- Participation

When the employees don’t understand the motive behind the change, resistance to change is obvious. Likewise, when a change is forced upon them by consulting them for their suggestions and opinions, resistance to change will be there. So, before making a change, it must be made sure that the stakeholders and the ones that are implementing the change are involved from the beginning of the design. With a collaborative effort, people will engage themselves in the change and help identify potential issues and find solutions.

- Support

Organization transformation is all about bringing people out of their comfort zones. This can sometimes make it exhausting for the employees to cope up with the changes. No matter what, employees must be given support to enable new skills that need to be developed so that change burnout doesn’t become a reality. The managers must be able to develop their emotional intelligence and connect with their team.

- Agreement

When people think that a change will affect them negatively, resistance to change is something that the management must expect. The employees might think that their personal and professional lives will be hampered as a result of the change. Offering incentives can be a great way of making employees accept a change including extra pay, structured career plans, and improved benefits.

- Co-Opting

It is obvious for people to feel acquainted with the things that have always been done that way. Over time, people develop emotional connections with the processes and procedures. To help them accept a change, co-opting those who will be more resistant to change can prove beneficial. This can also help you gain the support of the ones who are most resistant to a change.

- Coercion

Coercing people to accept changes becomes important sometimes. This is the time when people are not confident about accepting the change and feel that they won’t be able to understand new skills. People may also think that a change is a temporary fad that can reverse over time. It proves effective when the speed of change is critical.

There is no denying the fact that resistance to change is both a psychological and physiological reaction that comes from within. No matter how beneficial you think a change would be, you must expect resistance to change. Try to understand people’s reasons before you apply any of the strategies.