Framework library · Change management
Resistance management
Resistance is information about a change: who stands to lose, who does not understand it, who cannot yet do it and who thinks it is wrong. Each cause needs a different response, so the work is in diagnosing the cause before choosing one, and in giving most attention to resistance from the people with most influence on the outcome.
Use it when
- A change is meeting opposition, open or quiet, and you need to decide where to spend leadership time.
- The same response, usually more communication, has been tried everywhere and has not worked.
- You want to separate resistance that is a misunderstanding from resistance that is a sound objection.
Avoid it when
- You have not yet asked the people affected what they think. Talk to them first. A register built from rumour misdiagnoses the cause.
- The objection is that the change itself is wrong and it has not been examined. Test the argument on its merits before managing it as resistance.
- Resistance is spread evenly and comes from not knowing how. Treat it as a training and support problem with ADKAR rather than case by case.
How to run it
Record what you see, not labels
"Approve visits by phone and keep their own rotas" is useful; "negative attitude" is not. Name the group or role, not individuals, unless one person holds the outcome.
Diagnose the likely cause
Ask the people involved. Common causes are not seeing the need, losing something of value, not knowing how, not yet being able to, distrusting the sponsor, and believing the change is wrong.
Score influence and strength
Influence is how much this group can affect the outcome; strength is how firmly it is resisting. Their product sets the priority.
Match the response to the cause
Education for misunderstanding, involvement for loss of control, facilitation for inability, negotiation where something real is being given up. Mandate is quick but costs goodwill; keep it for when speed matters more than commitment.
Take sound objections seriously
Where people think the change is wrong, test their argument. If they are right, change the plan and say so; it is the cheapest way to earn trust.
Review each week while the change lands
Close what has been resolved, re-score what has moved, and watch for resistance that goes quiet rather than away.
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Mistakes to avoid
- Treating all resistance as a communication problem. People who are losing something understand the change perfectly well.
- Spending time on the loudest group rather than the most influential one.
- Dismissing objections as resistance when they are evidence that the design has a flaw.
- Using mandate early. It gets compliance for the go-live and loses the people needed after it.
Where it comes from
Lester Coch and John R. P. French, "Overcoming Resistance to Change", Human Relations 1(4), 1948, an early field study in which groups that took part in planning a change to their work resisted it less. John P. Kotter and Leonard A. Schlesinger, "Choosing Strategies for Change", Harvard Business Review, March to April 1979 (reprinted 2008), set out common reasons for resistance and six ways of responding, from education to coercion. Source.
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